In Her “original” home, Assamese women weave folk songs for Devi Durga

“Singing naam for the mother goddess must be as old as Assamese folk literature, if not dating back to the early period of devi worship in ancient Assam. But what is most important is that the participation of Assamese womenfolk in durga puja by way of singing naam throughout the celebrations is unique. This tradition probably makes durga worship in Assam totally different from the celebrations in Bengal,” says noted Guwahati-based author, classical singer and music critic Mitra Phukan.

While some modern-day women especially in urban areas do take the help of books of naam, most of them however sing them by-heart. “The very tradition of oral singing in Assam, be it on religious occasions or in festivals, is so strong that most women can easily compose a stanza extempore, keeping in view the immediate environ,” adds Phukan.

No doubt “Namanjali”, the first and finest anthology of ‘naam’ done by Annada Devi Barkataki way back in the 1950s, has hymns for every phase of Durga puja, right from the nava-patrika or invocation on sashthi (the first day when worship begins) to the moment when the idols are immersed in a river after five days or worship. In recent times, at least a dozen such ‘naam’ collections have been published, while CDs of durga-naam are best-sellers in the music market in Assam around this time.

“While the mother goddess is worshipped in various forms in Assam since time immemorial, her durga form stands out in terms of popular participation simply because it symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and that too led by durga, who symbolizes the power of women,” says Tapati Baruah Kashyap, whose ‘Female Voice in Assamese Poetry’ is a pioneering research work that traces Assamese women’s poetry in various forms – hymns, ritual songs, lullabies, children’s play-songs, wedding-songs, work-songs and ballads – back into the 16th century.

Most importantly, Assam also happens to the original place of shakti – mother goddess – worship in the subcontinent. “That singing hymns by women has been a very old tradition in Assam is mentioned in accounts of Hiuen Tsang, the famous Chinese traveler who visited Kamarupa way back in the seventh century. The tenth century kalika purana, said to have been written in Guwahati, too has reference to women singing songs in eight different melodies during Devi worship,” adds Kashyap.

No doubt noted historian HK Barpujari, in his five-volume ‘Comprehensive History of Assam’, while discussing shakti worship in ancient Assam refer to a line in the kalika purana, which says “anyatra virala devi, kamarupe grihe grihe” (meaning “rare elsewhere, devi is present in every home in Kamarupa.