DIHANAM: TRADITION AND MODERNITY (With Special reference to Kirttan-Ghosha and Nam-Ghosha)

Abstract

Dihanam is a very prominent aspect of Assamese Folk literature and Lyric literature. Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva are known as the creators of Dihanam. There is a huge difference between the Dihanam created by SankarMadhava or other books related to Naam and the contemporary Dihanam. Today Dihanam is very popular amongst the devotees. There are many new creations of Ghosha-Pods based on Sankar-Madhava's Kirttan-Ghosha, Nam-Ghosha and these Ghosha-Pods have been well adapted to the original without any distortion. Surprisingly, these aspects, which are widely admired by the people of Assam, have not been captured or recorded in any literary tradition or history. Dr. Satyandranath Sarma, Dr. Maheshwar Neog etc., have clearly mentioned other aspects of Folk literature in the history of modern Assamese literature, although there is no mention of Dihanam in any of them. The current Dihanam has found a place for itself in the competition stage. Therefore, in this discussion paper we will humbly try to capture all the important aspects of Dihanam in order to give more impetus to the discussion of Dihanam as one of the sections of folklore, including the study and research of its traditions and changes. Attempts will be made to discuss oral tradition and its transformational aspects in the field of study. This study will focus on analytical methods and in some cases comparative methods.