Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha

Born:     31 January 1909

Died       20 June 1969

Bishnu Prasad Rabha was a communist political figure from the Assam, well known for his literary and cultural contributions. As an advocate of peoples' cultural movement, he drew heavily from different genres of classical and folk cultural traditions. In his home state, people affectionately called him Kala Guru.

Cultural Contribution

Songs:  Bishnu Prasad Rabha  was an established singer and song writer. His songs are opularly known as “Rabha Sangeet”.  He had learnt Borgeet of Shrimanta Shankar Deva and gave the genre a new significance for the modern times. There are more than hundred songs composed by him. Some of his evergreen songs are “Porojonomor Subhalogonot”, “Logon Ukoli   Gol” , “ roi roi keteki”, “tilai tilai”, “kurua botah”,  “Xurore Deulore”, “Bilote Halise” etc.

Films:  He was music director of movie “Siraj”. He acted in “Era bator Sur” and Bhupen Hazarika’s “Pratidhwani”.  Rabha assisted Jyotiprasad Agarwala in making of first assamese film Joymoti.

Theater: There have been many live performances at the Baan theatre in Tezpur which is famously connected to Bishnu Rava. This theatre (Ban Stage) where many of Bishnu Rabha's plays have been staged is designed by renowned architect Upendra Kr. Baruah

Dance: Bishnu Rabaha was an prominent dancer. His “Tandava” dance in Varanashi was so mesmerizing that Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrisnan awarded him the title “Kalaguru”.

Books: Rabha was a noteworthy writer. His works include: Bono-Kobang, Mising Coneng, Sonpahi, Axomiya Kristir Samu Abahash and Atit Axom.

Politics and social works: He actively participated in the freedom movement and this affected his education. He wrote many slogans and hoisted Indian tricolour falgs in many government buildings in Calcutta. This forced British police to issue non-bailable warrant against him. Bishnu Rabha fled from calcutta to Tezpur and started his activities from there. He led Assam in the freedom movement and parallely expressing his in born artistic talents. He donated all his inherited 2500 bighas of land to the poor farmers.

Borgeet

Borgeet is form of devotional songs immortalized by Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev and  Srimanta Madhabdev. Those songs are written in 15th and 16th centuries and used as prayers in Satras and Namgharas. Borgeet is the integral part of Eksaran Bhagabati dharma and its practice throughout the Vaishnab Satras in Assam.

The first Borgeet mana meri rama-caranahi lagu was composed by Srimanta Sankardeva during his first pilgrimage at Badrikashram in c1488. The borgeets are written in the pada form of verse. The first pada, marked as dhrung, works as a refrain and is repeated over the course of singing of the succeeding verses. In the last couplet, the name of the poet is generally mentioned. The structure of borgeets is said to model the songs of 8-10th century Charyapada.

The language Sankardev used for all his borgeets is Brajavali, an artificial Maithili-Assamese mix, though Madhavdeb used Brajavali very sparingly.

The specialty of the lyrics of Borgeet is in the reticence. The principles of Vashnavism and also life of Lord Shree Krishna, Rama are depicted in a very simple manner in these Borgeets. The lyrics don't have an insight to the love-romance activities of Bhagwan(God) Shree Krishna. Instead the songs are fully devoted to the religious and spiritual aspects of God's life.

Apart from the simple spiritual lyrics, the Borgeet are bound to very melodious classical music. These are close to Hindustani Classical music, but has it's own signature. Borgeet(Bargeet) follows various Ragas like any other Hindu classical music. Tala(beats) are mentioned of some of the Borgeet(Bargit), but for the rest there is no mention by the two Mahapurusha. 

Number of Borgeet by Sankardev is 34. It is said that this number is around 200 but unfortunately most of them were burnt in a wildfire. Madhabdev wrote around 157 Borgeet.