A man offers tribute at the potrait of Sobha Brahma on Sunday. Picture by UB Photos

March 11: The city today paid tribute to painter Sobha Brahma who passed away recently.

Brahma, who was born in Bhumka village in Kokrajhar district, was one of those who contributed a lot to the development of art in the state. He was one of the founders of Government College of Arts and Craft. He died of cardiac ailments.

The Bodo Sahitya Sabha (BSS) organised a tribute meeting at its Guwahati office this afternoon where Brahma’s fans and followers gathered and recollected his contribution to the world of art and sculpture.

Brahma studied at Cotton College and Visva-Bharati University. He taught at Tarini Choudhuri HS and MP School and also at Government College of Arts and Craft. He was a member of various state government committees and also associated with Lalit Kala Akademi (New Delhi) and the North East Cultural Centre in Dimapur. He was also the vice-chairman of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra.

Brahma was the author of a number of books, including Bharatiya Sitrakala, Gwdan Uji (in Bodo language), Silpakalar Nabajanma, Leonardo da Vinci: Jiban aru Sitrakala and Golap Ranga Xonali.

Brahma was conferred the Asom Silpi Diwas Award in 1977, the Kamal Kumari Barua Award in 1991, the Bishnu Rabha Award in 1996, the Pranab Barua Silpi Award in 2002, the Sambhawana Award in 2002 and the Lalit Kala Ratna Award in 2007.

“The way Mamoni Raisom Goswami was a prominent name in the field of literature, Bhupen Hazarika in the field of music, Brahma was prominent in the field of art,” said Kamalakanta Mooshahary, president of the Sabha.

Along with the Sabha, the Bodo community in the city will also organise his last religious rites publicly on Thursday at Bathouphuri School at Lokhra in a bigger way.

Meghalaya governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, chief minister Tarun Gogoi and BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary are expected to take part in the function.

Brahma was a resident of Fatasil Ambari.

However, the members of the Sabha today expressed their unhappiness about the way the state government acted after the demise of the artist. They said Brahma was cremated like any ordinary man at the Bhootnath crematorium and the state government did not take any initiative to show respect to him.

“Chief minister Tarun Gogoi could not manage time to visit Brahma’ family or be present during his last rites. People from different religions and communities were present during his last rites but there were no representative of the state government,” said Kameswar Brahma, president of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha.