Cultural Overview Of Assam

Assamese films have made their presence felt in recent times. They are reflections on the social milieu with emphasis on the plight of the downtrodden and deprived. Literature and music are interwoven in the social fabric and transcend barriers of class and caste. For instance, a mother would be up all night singing to her baby who is ailing – the traditional songs have been passed down the generations and are believed to have special powers. A wedding, birth, death, festival, sowing of crops, departure for foreign lands or return of the prodigal is incomplete without the 'lokogeeti' (folk songs). Assamese pop songs are heard all over India especially since the advent of Bhupen Hazarika, the golden voiced maestro. Indira Goswami has recently won acclaim for "Dotal Hatir Uiye Khuwa Howda", a work of fiction encompassing the entire village without class emphasis.

From ancient times, artist and sculptors, masons and architects, and others craftsmen such as weavers, potters, goldsmiths, artisans working with ivory, wood, bamboo, cane and rawhide have flourished in Assam. Weaving is the traditional craft of the Assamese. Women of almost every rural household take pride in the possession of a handloom and use their handloom to produce silk and (or) cotton clothes with exquisite designs. The important silk products of Assam are Eri, Muga and Pat. "Anthera Assam" is the scientific name of silkworms that produce exquisite muga silk. These worms cannot survive in any climate other than that of the Northeast.