Gopiram Bargayn Burabhakat

Gopiram Bargayan Burabhakat was a monk and master of the Sattriya tradition of Assam who, over more than nine decades, served as performer, director, designer and sculptor. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Assam ^[1].

The Sattriya tradition

Sattriya arts grew from the 15th century as part of the Vaishnava bhakti movement in the monasteries of Assam, called sattras ^[2]. The monks, known as bhakats, developed them as dance-dramas on the stories of Lord Krishna ^[2].

A life in the sattra

Gopiram was born on 1 January 1925 and was five when he was brought to live at the Sri Sri Uttar Kamalabari Sattra in 1930 ^[2]. He was trained in Borgeet, the devotional songs of Srimanta Sankardev, in Ojapali and in other Sattriya forms by teachers including Giuram Ozha, Khageswar Gayan and Anandiram Bargayan ^[2].

In 1982 the Sattra Mahasabha of Assam gave him the titles Bargayan and Borojah for his mastery of Borgeet, the songs of the Bhaona plays, the hymns on the lives of Sankardev and the gods, and all twelve chapters of Sattriya Ojapali ^[2]. In 1990 he became the Samuhiya Burabhakat, the cultural, religious and administrative head of all the monks of his sattra ^[2].

Teacher

He trained many younger Sattriya artists who have taken the tradition to other parts of the world ^[2]. He never sought publicity ^[2]. At 96, at the time of the award, he was still practising the arts regularly ^[2].

He received pensions as an artist from the Assam government in 1995 and from the Government of India in 2011, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Tagore award in 2012 ^[2].

Gopiram Bargayan Burabhakat died in September 2026 ^[3].