Ojapali is a traditional shamanistic type of indigenous folk dance from Assam in the northeastern region of India.[1] Ojapali is believed to have evolved from Kathakata tradition and is performed in a group; it is believed to be one of the oldest art forms of Assam.[citation needed] Originally evolved in the Kamata state the western and northern part of river Brahmaputra later limited to Darrang area under the patronisation of Darrangi King Dharmanarayana. The repertoire of this performance consists of songs, dialogues, gesture, improvised acting and dramatisation etc.[2] The group consists of an Oja, who leads the performance and four or five palies, who supplement the performance with continuously playing cymbal. Among the Palies Daina pali who stand on the right-hand side of the Oja is the active one and he and Oja take the performance forward. Many believe that Shankardev took inspiration from Ojapali to create his Ankiya Bhaona. Moreover, he also created his own Sattriya Ojapali. Generally Darrangi Suknanni Ojapali sings the lyrics written by Sukabi Narayanadeva in Padmapurana. Padma Purana covers the story of serpent goddess Maroi(manasa devi). Ojapali is associated with Shakti Puja, including the deities manasa,[3] kali, durga, kesikhaiti, kakogoshani etc.

MANASA DEVI FIRST ORIGINATED IN ASSAM . THE SOI GAON WITH THE MEMORY OF BEULA AND LAKHINDAR EXISTS HERE . SHE IS KNOWN FOR ANGRYNESS WITH CHAND SADAGAR .
SHAKTA GODDESS DEVI PADAMVATI{MANASA MAA}
byah gowa ojapali : darang

Present day Ojapali is limited to Darrang, Nalbari, Kamrup, Bajali, Baksa, Mangaldoi, Sipajhar, some other parts of Tezpur and Udalguri district.[4] Lalit Chandra Nath and Kinaram Nath have been awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for their contribution to this art form. Presently Lalit Chandra Nath Oja's family is working towards Ojapali's development in Sipajhar. [5][6]

Ojapali can be divided into three forms based on the occasion and style:

  • Byah or bigoya ojapali
  • Sukananni ojapali or maroi goa ojapali
  • OJAPALI IS ASSSOCIATED WITH IS DEVDHWANI NRITYA .
    DEVDHWANI NRITYA
    Ramayani ojapali[7][8]

Noted personalities

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In Mangaldai Baloram konwar and his team performed Byakh ojapali for about two decades around 90s to 2010. Baloram konwar is the disciple of Oja late Upendra kalita. They were all government service holder and to continue their hobby they learnt it and performed. It was a saying that people around mangaldai and other localities were very much eager to see this group performing as they were the first educated performer and also able to bring the performance in fantastic manner.

References

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  1. ^ Baruah, Sudarshana (2017). Ojapali : the ancient music tradition of Assam, its application in Vaishnav sattra and classical elements. Guwahati: Chandra Prakash. ISBN 978-93-244-0673-6. OCLC 1155996408.
  2. ^ Pathak, Namrata (2015). Trends In Contemporary Assamese Theatre. Partridge India. ISBN 978-1-4828-4654-6. OCLC 1152278199.
  3. ^ Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (1987–2005). History of Indian theatre. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. p. 91. ISBN 81-7017-221-7. OCLC 18270064.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  4. ^ "A Few Folk Performances Of Assam Beyond Bihu". www.guwahatiplus.com. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  5. ^ TI Trade. "Assam Tribune online". Assamtribune.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  6. ^ [1][dead link]
  7. ^ "Oja-Pali Assam | Oja-Pali Dance Of Assam | OjaPali Dance Of Assam | Traditional Dance Of Assam | Assamese Culture". Assaminfo.com. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  8. ^ "Oja-Pali in India". India9.com. 7 June 2005. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  9. ^ Maheswar Neog (1980). Early History of the Vaiṣṇava Faith and Movement in Assam: Śaṅkaradeva and ... – Maheswar Neog – Google Books. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. ISBN 9788120800076. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  10. ^ [2] Archived 5 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Fare, Eastern (31 December 2010). "North-East India | NE Blog: Ojapali – A performing art form of Assam". Neblog.in. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Artiste dedicated to oja pali, body and soul". The Telegraph (India). 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  13. ^ Debajit Bora (2016). "Politics of performance and the creation of Darangi identity:looking at the ojapali performance of Assam- Debajit Bora – Routledge". Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance. 21 (4): 465–470. doi:10.1080/13569783.2016.1220245. S2CID 151953161.
  14. ^ "Theatre of the People". Sur Samalaya Resource centre for Arts. 28 June 2019.