Artistes perform during the Asam Satra Mahasabha annual session at Tezpur on Thursday. Picture by UB Photos

Tezpur: Dec. 22: The Asam Satra Mahasabha, the apex body of all the xatras in the state, is setting up a model xatra on a 12-bigha plot near IIT-Guwahati to better expose tourists to Assam’s xattriya culture.

President of the mahasabha, Leelakanta Mahanta, said here today the model xatra would help tourists get a better idea about xatras in Assam.

Talking to The Telegraph, Mahanta said the land was donated to the mahasabha by the state government to be used for a noble purpose. “Some primary works like levelling the ground and preparing the architectural plan are under way,” he added.

Mahanta today attended the second day of the 97th annual session of the mahasabha, which is under way at the Sankardeva Natya Mandir and Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi Girls College at Mission Chariali in Tezpur, around 190 km from Guwahati.

But, paucity of funds, Mahanta said, had hindered the smooth functioning of the Rs 5-crore project. “Once set up, tourists from other states and countries visiting Guwahati can get a fair idea about xatras in Assam from the model,” he added.

Besides the regular features of a xatra like naamghar and manikut, the model xatra will have an archive, specimens of the rich mask art (an integral part of the xattriya culture), research centre and a library.

He said although the state government had donated the land to the mahasabha, some parts of it were yet to be freed from encroachers. “We are trying to get possession of the entire plot. When we requested the encroachers to vacate the plot, they demanded Rs 40 lakh for it. But when we explained to them about our plan, they lowered the amount to Rs 15 lakh. We have already given them Rs 3.5 lakh, which we had received as donation from various people,” Mahanta said.

Mahanta said the mahasabha also had a plan to open a school for the poor on the campus of the model xatra.

On the other hand, after an executive meeting today, the mahasabha sent a memorandum to chief minister Tarun Gogoi through the deputy commissioner of Sonitpur district Tapan Chandra Sarma. In the memorandum, the mahasabha demanded that the state government take steps so that the increasing theft cases in the xatras could be stopped.

Thieves took away some valuable items from the Ganakkuchi Xatra yesterday. Members of the xatra said several such “planned” theft cases were recorded in different xatras across the state this year, which has become a matter of concern.

The memorandum said protecting the xatras was a “moral obligation” of the state government.

“Asam Satra Mahasabha is a body of around 900 xatras of the state. To break the barrier between different communities and build a unifying bridge among them, the mahasabha was set up in 1915 as Asam Xanta Sanmilani. It was renamed Asam Santa Sangha in 1945 before being called by its present name,” said Mukul Goswami of Nikamul Xatra.

Around 200 representatives of different xatras of the state attended the second day of the conference, which was marked by various functions from the morning till the evening. The bi-annual function will be held at Sivasagar next year.

The day started with ukha kirtan at 5am followed by reading of the Bhagavad Gita by bhakats and then by flag hoisting by Leelakanta Mahanta.

Assam governor J.B. Patnaik will attend the conference on its last day on Saturday.