Basudev Than (pronounced as axudew tʱan or Narua Satra is a

satra Satra Corporation was a US trading and metal processing company. It is primarily known in the United Kingdom for its Satra Motors Limited subsidiary, which was the official importer and distributor of Soviet Union cars and motorcycles in that co ...

located in

Dhakuakhana Dhakuakhana is a sub-division of Lakhimpur district in the north-eastern state Assam, India. History It started functioning in 1989 when naturalist-bureaucrat Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury of Assam Civil Service, joined as the first (founder) Sub-div ...

, Lakhimpur,

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. It was first established in the 14th century by the Ahom king Jayadhaj Shingha.Originally known as ''Laumura Satra'', this satra is well known in Assam and other parts of India.

Etymology

Damodar Ata established this satra in the 17th century as Laumura Satra. However, the plot of the which was originally donated by

Ahom Ahom may refer to: *Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam * Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people *Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people *Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language * Ahom kin ...

king Jayadhaj Shingha was transferred to many people many times. This led to the name ''Na-rua''. ''Na'' means "Not", "rua" means "to stay" which translates to ''Not-to-Stay''.

Legends

According to the legend constructed in the 16th-century poem Rukmimi-harana by

Srimanta Sankardev Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...

Rukmini Rukmini ( sa, रुक्मिणी, , ) is a Hindu goddess and the first queen and chief wife of Krishna. In Vaishnava tradition, she is described as Krishna's principal queen in Dvaraka, as well as the chief of his wives. She is an inc ...

made the statue of

Basudev ''Basudev'' is a 1984 Nepali language film, adapted from Dhruba Chandra Gautam's '' Kattel Sarko Chotpatak'' by Neer Shah in his directorial debut. The film starred Harihar Sharma as the eponymous character, with Shakuntala Sharma, Subhadra A ...

/Krishna for her desire to marry him.

History

Although the original temple was built in 14th-15th century during the rule of Chutia kings Lakshminarayan and Satyanarayan, it was shifted to the present location in mid-17th century by the grandson of

Sankardeva Srimanta Sankardev( শ্ৰীমন্ত শংকৰদেৱ )(; ; 1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of im ...

, Damodar Ata as Laumura Satra, during the rule of

king

Jayadhwaj Singha Sutamla (1648–1663) Jayadhwaj Singha was the 20th king of the Ahom kingdom. During his reign the Mughal viceroy at Bengal Mir Jumla II invaded and occupied his capital Garhgaon as a result of which he had to retreat to the Namrup area, a ...

. There is controversy whether Damodar Ata came from Bijani or from Upper Assam. The land of the Satra (where it was originally located) was donated by the Chutia king of Sadhayapura/Sadiya, Satyanarayan in 1392 A.D. to a Brahmin named "Narayan Dwij" for Bishnu Puja. Later, a Brahmin family took the land and finally a member of the Brahmin family 'Bahude' gave the land to Damodar Ata in the 17th century. According to others, in 1401 A.D., Sadhayapuriya/Sadiya Chutia king Laxminarayan devoted the land to Ravidev Basaspati for Bishnu Puja. From this family, the land was eventually transferred to Damodar Ata for setting up the Satra in the 17th century. From then on, the temple and the satra merged and it was known as Narua Satra. After Damodar Ata's death, Ramakanta Ata took the place of the ''Adhikar''. However, having to look two other Satras a well, Basudev Than, due to neglection, almost turned into a forest. In 1683, Ramdev Ata took the place of the Adhikar, after the death of Ramakanta Ata. Here the land of the temple was granted to a priest named Ravidas Vanaspati whose descendant Bahude finally gave the land to the Vaishnavite saint Damodardev Ata for setting up the Satra. From then on, the temple and the satra merged and it was known as Narua Satra. During this time, the temple was finally transferred to the present-day location. By that time, the Ahom kings started to pay respect to the Satradhikars. In 1707, Ahom king Gourinath Singha decided to visit this satra. However, he had to return from a place now called Uvata Sampara (Uvata meaning 'to return'xobdo.org xobdo online dictionary search result of 'ubhata' in Assamese). Knowing this, Satradhikar felt sorry, left this satra and went to live in

Barpeta Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is also ...

. Later on, when king came to know of this, he regretted and sent Mahidhar Dangariya there and bestowed a Bor-Kah. Gradually, this place became deserted. This remained so till the arrival of Rangain Aldhara. Later on, Achyut Ata, with the help of Aldhara established a temple there. The Basudev Mandir was established in 'Maghi Purnima'. And thus, people organize Pal Nam every year on Maghi Purnima till date. His brother, Mahesh Ata built a big Namghar there. Over the years priest like Rupendra Dev Goswami, Bhupendra Dev Goswami have taken charge of the temple. According to the copper plate inscriptions found in Dhenukhana, the statues of the former temple included Basudev, Amba and Ganesha. During the days of Damodardev, another statue of Basudev carved out of black stone is said to be transferred from Kundil in Sadiya which was the capital of Chutia kingdom. According to the manuscript Thakur Charita, a statue carved out of black stone was transferred from Sadiya during the rule of the Ahom king

and established in the Noruwa Satra. The statue is about 4 feet in length. This indicates that the Satra and the temple merged during the 17th century to form the Basudev Narua Satra. The other statues and artifacts found in the temple dates back to 1392 when it was established by the Chutia kings.

Access

The Lakhimpur railway station is the nearest railway station, and Lilabari Airport is the nearest airport. It is 10 km away from Dhakuakhana town.

Notes

References

* *{{citation , first = S L , last = Baruah , title = A Comprehensive History of Assam , year = 1986 , publisher = Munshiram Manoharlal Satras (Ekasarana Dharma)