
Smt. Bhaswati Kalita of Guwahati, Assam successfully presented her seminar paper on Charyapad at The International Seminar held at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, organized by the Education Department of Jadavpur University.
The topic of her Seminar paper was “Charyapad and the folk society of Assam”. She got accolades from the organizers and brought pride to Assam.
The basic details about The Charyapada as intimated in Wikipedia tells that (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese/Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha.
It was written between the 8th and 12th centuries in an Abahatta that was the ancestor of the Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Odia, Magahi, Maithili, and many other Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, and it is said to be the oldest collection of verses written in those languages. Charyāpada written in the script resembles the closest form of Bengali–Assamese languages used today.
A palm-leaf manuscript of the Charyāpada was rediscovered in the early 20th century by Haraprasad Shastri at the Nepal Royal Court Library.[6] The Charyapada was also preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.
News and Photo by Ms. Miranda Choudhury , Assam