Bir Chilarai: Glorifying a war hero of eastern Bharat

In a mesmerising ambience on the bank of mighty river Brahmaputra in the full moon night, the stage was readied to narrate the inspiring story of bravery, clever diplomacy, patriotism and scholarly personality, belonging to none other than Bir Chilarai, the younger brother of Maharaj Naranarayan, the 15th century great Koch king of eastern Bharat. A wide makeshift platform on the river bank welcomed thousands of enthusiastic audience as the evening Sun set on the horizon. The illuminating stage at Lachit Ghat under the open sky with the full moon overhead slowly started unfolding the events that gave birth to Chilarai, who was born on a Maghi Purnima and so initially named as Shukladhwaj. The dramatic journey caught rapt attention of the spectators till the end, where Chilarai was on his death bed on the bank of Ganges and finally died in comfort of his beloved elder brother Naranarayan.
Presented by Pragya Foundation on 514th birth anniversary of legendary general Bir Chilarai, the play (staged on 24 & 25 February 2024) highlighted various unique qualities of the supreme commander of an organised Koch armed forces, who emerged as an unbelievable warrior, a brilliant strategist and also an art connoisseur. A cavalry warrior, who always offered adequate respect to the defeated kings, Chilarai was also a Sanskrit scholar, who along with his elder brother Malladhwaj (before emerging as Naranarayan) went to Varanasi to study literature, art and culture under the mentorship of Guru Brahmananda Swami. During the days of learning, they lost their father Biswa Singha, founder of the Koch royal dynasty in 1515 AD. After their return, Naranarayan and Chilarai started an aggressive warfare and expanded the territory of their Kamrup Kamata kingdom to cover the present day Assam with neighbouring localities and also parts of northern Bangladesh.
Based on a novel titled Kowbanch Bir Chilarai penned by the engineer turned writer Nayanjyoti Bhattacharya and adopted & directed by eminent theatre personality Purnima Pathak Saikia, the action-packed play created some golden moments from the pages of eastern India’s history five centuries back.
The temporary stage decorated with different backgrounds in blocks and guided by judicial use of illumination along with thundering background music and character voices choked the theatre goers (including Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the second day’s performance), who also witnessed four horses with riders in costume made roundup movements time to time to add more excitements to the event.
Assamese cultural icon Pranjal Saikia (Biswa Singha /Sutradhar) along with Biki (Naranarayan) and Parag Barua (Chilarai) came alive with their the characters, where Nayan Nirban Barua, Partha Dutta, Ashim Krishna Barua, Pol Phukan, Manmoth Barua, Bijit Deb Choudhury, Bitupan Saikia, Tanmoy Saikia, Kalpajit Saikia Gayatri Mahanta, Sunita Kaushik, Shilipi Shikha Bora, etc justified their roles. The play was enriched by the playback voice of Anup Hazarika set designing by Nooruddin Ahmed, playback singing by Bidya Sagar, Shruti Buzarbarua, Babita Sarma, Birina Pathak, etc. The costume was designed by Rani Dutta and music arrangement was made by Tarun Tanmoy, where Holi Geet was contributed by Sarat Raag. The lighting arrangement was done by Tapan Barua and animation as well as visual special effect for LED display was looked after by Abhijit Handique. Lyrics of the title song and music composition were created by popular singer and Pragya chief Jitul Sonowal. Prior to the second day’s performance, Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria lit the sacred lamp, who was assisted by distinguished personalities like Abinash Sarma, Basistha Bujarbaruah, Khagen Saikia, Pramod Kalita, Sudarshan Thakur, etc.
People of Assam can never forget Koch dynasty king Naranarayan and his brother Bir Chilarai for their enormous contribution in rebuilding Kamakhya temple (one of the major Shakti Peeths of Bharat atop Nilachal hills in Guwahati) and also much needed patronage to great Vaishnavite saint, philosopher, scholar, artiste, singer, poet Srimanta Sankaradev, who preached Ek Saran Naam Dharma in this part of the country five centuries back. Visionary king Naranarayan and his army chief Chilarai not only adored Sankaradev, but also gave protection and shelter to the socio-cultural reformer, who shaped Assamese art, culture and literature. Chilarai, incidentally married the niece of Sankaradev (Kamalapriya/Bhubaneswari), wholeheartedly supported the Vaishnavite movement and later both the Koch brothers preached Vaishnavism. With the sustained royal support, Sankaradev could engage himself in creative exercises and composed many prose and poetry on Vaishnavism. They also erected Madhupur Satra (Vaishnavite monastery) near present day Cooch Behar for Sankaradev.
The birth anniversary of Chilarai is observed every year on the full moon day of Magh in Hindu calendar year with various programs. The State government celebrates the day as Bir Chilarai Divas on the particular date and also declares it as a state holiday. Moreover, the government confers an important award in memory of the great warrior. Historians say, Sankaradev was chased by the then Ahom king and he had to move towards the west for survival. Without the initial protection of Chilarai, Sankaradev would not have survived. Various people interpret this fact differently and some make it as hate speech to Ahom rulers, without realising that if Ahom General Lachit Barphukan could not defeat the Mughal invaders, this part of the land would have been changed forever. Thus Bir Lachit saved not only the north-eastern region but also many parts of southeast Asia from forced conversion into Islamism.

Nava Thakuria