Assamese Brahmins

Brahmins of Assam
Languages
• Assamese / Asamiya (and its dialect variants Kamrupi and Goalpariya)
Religion
Hinduism and Traditional)

Assamese Brahmins, also called Bamuns by the locals, constitute the Indo-Aryan community of the Assam Valley belonging to the Vedic Brahmin caste. Brahmins are found everywhere in Assam and surrounding areas however, most predominantly in Jorhat, Nalbari, Barpeta, Goalpara, Nagaon, Sonitpur , Sivasagar and Darrang districts. Brahmins of the valley also have a significant diaspora in the rest of the mainland India, mainly in Delhi, and are considered to be at the apex of eastern India's caste hierarchy. Common surname families include: Acharjee / Acharya, Adhyapok, Barua Chakrabarty / , Bhatta, Koch, Goswami Mishra,/ Goswami, Thakur / Borthakur, Sharma / Sarma, Bhattacharya etc.

Description

Each Brahmin family within the community belongs to a specific gotra which is unique to a family thereby indicating their origin or lineage. Many of the Assamese Brahmins write the conferred titles either gifted by the Ahom kings or adopted being in Assam for a long time.

Tradition

Assamese Brahmins, like rest of the sect elsewhere in mainland India, adheres to legacy practices of Hinduism. One may realize religious adherence to the aspects of Puja, Temple, Murti, Bhakti, Japa, Bhajana, Yajna, Homa, Tirthadana, Vrata, Prāyaścitta, Tirtha, Matha.Unlike Brahmins elsewhere, Assamese Brahmins appear less rigid in their religious practices. For example, their dietary regime include non-vegetarian food, such as Eggs, Fish, Chicken, Duck, Pigeon's meat and Mutton; less likely consumed by Brahmins elsewhere. It may be also common to see a fewer Brahmins worshipping saints of Asamiya community equally as a part of their religious curriculum.

Lagundeoni

Granting the right to formal education through the symbolic reminder of the sacred thread - "Lagun" (লগুন)

Traditionally, the ceremony of Lagundeoni - one of the Sanskaras or rites of passage marking acceptance of a student by a Guru, is a quite prevalent ritual within the community. A sacred thread - Lagun, given by a Pujari during the ceremony is a symbolic reminder to the young male born to the Brahmin family of his purpose at school, as well as a social marker of the student as someone who has embarked his journey into formal education, where education itself is not limited to ritual and philosophical speculations, but extends to all practical aspects of culture and life in general. The ceremony is typically performed between ages 12 – 14 among Brahmin males.

Pujas

In variably most Brahmin families are involved in performing religious rituals, known as Pujas (পূজা). Brahmins show reverence by performing rituals / pujas to a wide spectrum of gods and goddesses of Hinduism, such as Ganesha (গণেশ), Hanuman (হনুমান), Kamakhya (কামাখ্যা), Navagraha (নৱগ্ৰহ), Saraswati (সৰস্বতী), Satyanarayana (সত্যনাৰায়ণ), Shani (শনি), Shiva (শিৱ), among others.

Some of these rituals may be performed at some occasions in a year, however, a few others may be performed every year as part of continued legacy of worshipping a family deity. These traditions are generally passed on to generations and hence it is not uncommon to see a Brahmin family engaging in rituals that may be as old as 500 years of age or beyond.

Durga Puja

Durga Puja is performed among some Brahmin families which may or not include Murti Sthapana in their homes. Traditionally, the ritual celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga and is observed as Saptami, Ashtami, Nabami and Dashami (where, Nabami and Dashami concluding in a day).

In Asamiya, the goddess Durga has been described as follows:


দৈত্যনাশার্থবচনো দকাৰঃ পৰিকীর্তিতঃ।

উকাৰো বিঘ্ননাশস্য বাচকো বেদসম্মত।।
ৰেফো ৰোগঘ্নবচনো গশ্চ পাপঘ্নবাচকঃ।
ভয়শত্রুঘ্নবচনশ্চাকাৰঃ পৰিকীর্তিত।।[1]


  1. ^ পূজা-বিজ্ঞান, স্বামী প্রমেয়ানন্দ, উদ্বোধন কার্যালয়, কলকাতা, ১৯৯৯, পৃষ্ঠা ৪৪
Jagaddhatri

Goddess Jagaddhatri (জগধাত্ৰী) worshipped among Brahmins starts on Asthami tithi (অষ্টমী তিথি) and ends on Dashami tithi (দশমী তিথি).

Jagaddhatri literally means Holder (Dhatri) of the World (Jagat).

Lakshmi Puja

Some Brahmins of Assam show reverence to the Goddess Lakshmi by performing Lakshmi Puja (লক্ষ্মী পূজা) in their homes every year. They pray for prosperity and well-being for their families and businesses and involves Sculpture installation of Lakshmi idol or Murti with Bhakti, Japa, Bhajana, Yajna, Homa (ritual). Where the rest of the mainland India performs Lakhmi Puja during Diwali (দিৱালী), Assamese Brahmins perform this ritual after Diwali on full moon night.

Raas Puja

Much like Lakshmi Puja, some families adhere to Radha Krishna as their family deities and show reverence to the god and goddess as the supreme power of all. Raas Puja is performed in the later Autumn spanning across two days - Adhibash, followed by Puja in the subsequent day.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Meet the Axomiya Sikhs". The Tribune. Chandigarh. 24 March 2013.
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