'Srimanta Sankardeva, the Assamese polymath is credited with inventing the beautiful creation named, 'Bhaona'. Bhaona is a traditional form of entertainment written mostly in Brajavali script and founded in the 16th century with a social message inscribed in it. It's most prevalent in Assam. The staging of different plays or Ankiya Nat assorted with different characters, vivid costumes and ornaments make Bhaona a completely different affair from any other traditional entertainment forms. One of the very famous 'Bhaona' written by Sankardeva is 'Parijat' Haran' (stealing of Parijat- Flower).

Srimanta Sankardeva's idea of spreading the message of 'Bhakti' through Bhaona has somehow attracted a bunch of French artists based in Paris. Their interest has made them take a flight from Paris to perform in the 1st Srimanta Sankardeva International Festival at Srimanta Sankardeva Kalashetra in Guwahati. Under the skilful guidance of Bhabananda Borbayan of Uttar Kamalabari Sattra, the group performed the 'Parijat Haran' in French. They have been doing the rehearsals from last 20-25days. The play has been earlier translated by Dr. Dayananda Pathak, an eminent Assamese scholar. Later, the team translated it to french. Following are the persons who played the different characterization of Bhaona:

Sutradhar- Mattis Dalton, Krishna- Benedetto Zurlo, Basumati/Rukmini- Fanny Steinmetz, Satyabhama- Maite Jeannolin, Narad- Malo Bara, Sakhi- Charlotte Bauduin, Indra- Fabrice Jean-Marie, Shachi- Patricia Sicre, Narakasura- Nicos Dalton and Garuda- Xavier Jallais.

The team is supported by many young Gayan-Bayan artists from Uttar Kamlabari Satra and Dibrugarh University. The team will return to Paris on 5th January 2015. For the first time, people witnessed a performance that touched their inner core breaking the boundaries of language.

Photo and text - Prabir Kumar Talukdar

( Prabir Kumar Talukdar is a freelance journalist. He travels around the country to capture stories. He is a recipient of 2015 Trust Women Photo Award by Thomson Reuters Foundation and Microsoft. He can be reached at [email protected]. His mobile no is 73995-02650 )