Gagan Hazarika at Guwahati Press Club on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Feb. 17: In another three years’ time, when a Srimanta Sankardeva devotee travels to London, he won’t have to miss his evening prayers at namghar.

A group of Assamese NRIs settled in Britain has got together to popularise the cult of the famous 15th saint and have even decided to build a namghar, an all-religion prayer hall first set up by Sankardev.

That is not all. The diaspora will also set up a Sankardeva Cultural Centre for North East India, a library on his literary works and a guesthouse in London as part of a project to educate the world about the saint.

Gagan Hazarika, an Assamese NRI living in London for 42 years, wondered why no one thought of such a project before. “There are temples, mosques and gurdwaras in London. Why cannot we set up namghar here? It symbolises religious tolerance. It would be a place to assemble for everyone from the region living in the UK.”

“Sankardev was versatile personality. He was a saint-scholar, playwright and social-religious reformer. He provided a thread of unity to Assam and created a religion that gave shape to a set of new values and social synthesis. If we see his religion called Mahapuruxiya Dharma, there were many similarities with the Bhakti movement that was popular in India centuries ago. He could inspire bhakti in Assam just as Ramananda, Kabir, Basava and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu has inspired it elsewhere in India,” Kamal Hazarika, a retired UK government official said.

Hazarika, who has been living in London for 52 years, said it was unfortunate the rest of the world knew nothing about this great man.

“His teachings have great relevance even today to unite people across the globe at a time when we are witnessing terrorism, intolerance and a divided world. About 560 years ago, Sankardev mooted the mantra of peace and unity to do away with all social evils,” he said.

Karuna Sagar Das, another NRI, said there has been overwhelming response from over 200 Assamese who currently live in London to execute the project. He said the idea of the project cropped up when Padmashree Surjya Hazarika visited London last year and met the NRIs.

“We cannot escape from globalisation. The project like this, if executed, will make Sankardev a saint for the globe. We must make this effort successful for the greater interest of Assamese society,” Hazarika had said.

“They (the NRIs) are now determined and will execute the project under any circumstances. It will cost about Rs 5 crore and is expected to be completed in three years. We have already started looking for a suitable plot in London and are confident of buying it soon,” Das said.

Ismail Hossain, a literary critic and professor of Assam Engineering College who recently delivered a lecture on Sankardev in London, said: “If one studies Sankardev’s life and philosophy, he or she will be surprised to learn how his teachings crossed boundaries.”