Ri-Bhoi villagers seek Assam's help to rebuild 116-year-old namghar

Residents of two villages in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district have asked the Assam government for money to rebuild a century-old namghar that has kept Assamese religious and cultural traditions alive on the Meghalaya side of the border, The Sentinel reported.

The Sri Sri Kalia Thakur Namghar, also called the Gosain Ghar, was set up at Baregaon in 1910. It stands on about three bighas of land between Baregaon and Umsaw, villages near the Patharkhmah sub-divisional headquarters and about 35 km from Rani on the western edge of Guwahati.

A Rabha community that kept its traditions

Around 270 Rabha families live in the two villages, about 160 in Baregaon and 110 in Umsaw. Although they live outside Assam, they continue to follow Assamese customs and rituals, and the community is cited locally as an example of peaceful coexistence with Khasi and other neighbours.

The namghar is the centre of that life. Women gather there every Monday evening for naam-prasanga (devotional singing), and similar gatherings are held on full-moon and new-moon nights. The calendar includes the annual worship of Sri Sri Kalia Thakur Gosain, Janmashtami, and the death anniversaries of the Vaishnavite saints Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva.

The villagers also observe the Suweri festival on the eighth day of Bohag, and mark Uruka, the eve of Magh Bihu, with a community feast followed by the lighting of the Meji bonfire the next morning.

Rusting roofs, no funds

Most families depend on farming, daily wage work and small businesses, and say they have not been able to raise money to repair the structure. In 2018, the then MLA of Jirang constituency arranged for a boundary wall under a government scheme. But the main prayer hall, the granary and other buildings are in poor shape, and the tin roofs have rusted through over the years.

The management committee, led by president Suren Sinal with vice-president Prasanna Mego, secretary Kumar Diya and treasurer Hari Pathak, says the namghar remains essential to preserving the community's heritage. The villagers have specifically appealed to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for help with a complete reconstruction.

No response from the Assam or Meghalaya governments to the appeal had been reported by Monday.