r/AssamValley

Song clip source: Lalungoni 2025 by Maitrayee Patar.

(Pic: A Durga Puja pandal in Dibrugarh, Assam)

With Durga Puja approaching, I thought it would be interesting to look at one of the lesser-known chapters in Assam's history, how the tradition of worshipping Durga through an earthen image became established in the Ahom kingdom.

Assam had traditions of Shakta worship long before the Ahom period. Places such as Kamakhya, Digheswari, Ugratara, Maha Bhairavi and other ancient shrines had long-standing traditions of worshipping the Goddess. So it would be incorrect to say that Durga worship itself was "introduced" to Assam by the Ahoms.

What changed during the Ahom period was the emergence of the earthen-image Durga Puja as a public and royal festival, and one of the earliest accounts connecting this tradition to the Ahom court takes us to the reign of Swargadeo Susenghphaa, better known as Pratap Singha (1603–1641).

The story also connects Assam with the neighbouring Koch kingdom and its famous ruler Nara Narayan.

According to historian Benudhar Sarma, Pratap Singha came to know about the elaborate Durga Puja celebrated by Nara Narayan in Koch Bihar. One of the people through whom he learned about the practice was Sondar Gohain, who had spent time in the Koch kingdom.

The Koch tradition particularly impressed the Ahom king because of the use of earthen images of Goddess Durga and the grandeur with which the festival was celebrated.

Pratap Singha then decided to learn the art himself.

Historical accounts describe him as sending Ahom artisans to Cooch Behar to learn the technique of making earthen images of Durga and other deities. An account reproduced in Assam Buranji specifically says that, after hearing about the use of earthen images in Durga Puja, the Ahom king deputed artists to Cooch Behar to learn image-making. The artisans eventually returned along with Koch envoys named Gaja Singha and Patal Singha.

The first recorded Ahom royal Durga Puja involving an earthen image is associated with Bhatiapara, near present-day Sivasagar. A modern historical account places this tradition in the early 17th century, with the clay images being made by local khanikars following the techniques associated with the Koch tradition.

Bhatiapara itself is not some random name attached to the story. It was an established locality in the Ahom kingdom, and historical records also associate the area with royal public works. The Census of India still records Bhatiapara as a village in the Sivasagar district.

This episode is especially fascinating because it shows how cultural exchange worked between the different kingdoms of medieval Assam and the eastern Himalaya.

The Ahom kingdom and the Koch kingdoms were not culturally isolated from one another. There were wars, alliances, marriages, diplomatic missions, exchanges of hostages and envoys, and movement of skilled people between their territories. Pratap Singha himself strengthened his relationship with the Koch sphere through marriage and diplomacy.

In fact, the reign of Pratap Singha was an important period of cultural and political transformation in the Ahom kingdom. His reign saw growing interaction with the wider Hindu cultural world, the development of new institutions, expansion towards western Assam and increasing contact with the Koch and Mughal powers.

The Durga Puja story fits into that larger picture.

It is also important to understand what we mean when we call this the 'first Durga Puja in Assam.'

That wording can be misleading.

Durga worship was certainly not new to Assam in the 17th century. The Shakta traditions of Assam are much older, and Kamakhya in particular represents one of the major centres of Goddess worship in South Asia.

The actual historical accounts are talking about the beginning of the present-style tradition of worshipping Durga through an earthen image as a major public or royal festival in the Ahom kingdom.

In other words, Pratap Singha did not introduce Goddess Durga to Assam. Instead, the tradition of making and ceremonially worshipping a clay image of Durga, which he had encountered in the Koch kingdom, was adopted and developed within the Ahom kingdom.

The Koch ruler Nara Narayan (r. 1540–1587) was one of the most powerful rulers of medieval northeastern India. His kingdom had extensive political and cultural connections with Assam and Bengal. By the time of Pratap Singha, these connections had already produced generations of interaction between the Koch and Ahom courts.

According to the historical folk tradition, Pratap Singha's curiosity about the Koch form of Durga Puja eventually resulted in him sending craftsmen to learn how the images were made. And from there, the making of earthen images of Durga became part of the religious landscape of the Ahom kingdom.

One account specifically states that the first such celebration took place at Bhatiapara near Sivasagar, and that this was the first time Durga Puja with an earthen image was celebrated for the wider public in this part of Assam, alongside the older temple-based traditions of Goddess worship.

There is another fascinating detail in the historical tradition, the artisans associated with this development are described as Khanikars of Marangiyal. Which means, this was not simply a matter of importing a finished idol from Koch Bihar. Knowledge of image-making was learned and then incorporated into the local craft tradition.

Over the centuries, Durga Puja developed far beyond that original royal setting.

Today, it is celebrated across Assam by communities of many different backgrounds. From the huge celebrations of Guwahati and Silchar to the traditional pujas of Upper Assam, the festival has become deeply woven into the cultural life of the state.

And that makes the old Bhatiapara story especially beautiful.

A tradition that once travelled between neighbouring medieval kingdoms through diplomats, craftsmen and cultural exchange eventually became one of the most recognisable festivals of modern Assam.

So when we see a Durga idol being shaped from clay during Puja season, there is a fascinating piece of Ahom history behind that tradition.

Pratap Singha heard about the magnificent Durga Puja of the Koch kingdom. He wanted his own kingdom to learn the craft. Artisans were sent to Cooch Behar, they learned the art of making earthen images, and the tradition was subsequently established at Bhatiapara near Sivasagar.

And that is one of the many examples of how Assam's religious culture was shaped not only by its own ancient traditions, but also through centuries of interaction with neighbouring kingdoms and communities.

Happy Durga Puja in advance!

Source:

• E. A. Gait, A History of Assam.

• Assam Buranji.

• H. K. Barpujari (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam.

• Benudhar Sarma's historical account.

An article on the history of Durga Puja in Assam: https://aknandy.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/durga-puja-in-assam/