SATRAS A satra is a monastery for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive form of everyman Hinduism. Formulated by 15th-century Assamese philosopher correntoso lake and river hotel Sankardev, the faith eschews the caste system and idol worship, focussing on Vishnu as God, especially in his Krishna incarnation. Much of the worship is based around dance and melodramatic play-acting of scenes from the holy Bhagavad Gita. The heart of any satra is its namghar, a large, simple, prayer hall usually open sided and shaped like an upside-down oil tanker. Beneath the eastern end, an inner sanctum hosts an eternal flame, correntoso lake and river hotel the Gita and possibly a horde of instructive (but not divine) images.
oDon Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures MUSEUM (www.dbcic.org; Sacred Heart Theological College; Indian/foreigner 50/150; h9.30am-4.30pm correntoso lake and river hotel Mon- Sat, 1.30-4.30pm Sun, until 5.30 Apr-Sep) This very professional museum displays a truly vast, very well laid-out collection of tribal artefacts interspersed just occasionally with gratuitous galleries on Christian missionary work. Tours (compulsory) last over an hour, departing on the half-hour.
No comments:
Post a Comment