Songs For Bihu

Bihu songs are secular original literature. These songs express different content matters like – natural beauty, story of older days, beauty of the youth and their natural characteristics. It also contain the matters of the past, the beauty of the Assam’s mountains trees, plains, rivers, colorful stones etc. Bihu songs are basically agriculture based songs. The racial and economic discriminations, praise of Karpas, tribal sects, social and family relations and many things are motioned through songs.

Baisavism has also its influence o Bihu songs. Shankarcharya is the fore runner of the Baishnab religion in Assam. The religion is liberal where lower caste tribes like “Boro”, “Kachari” people took shelter. Bihugan is also known as Bihuam where the stories of Sri Krisha Leela are performed at Naamghar.

The Bihu dance has fixed patterns and seems to have a sexual basis, thus indicating its association with some spring time fertility cult of ancient times. Along with both male and female teenagers, even married women may sometimes dance as is indicated in the following song-

‘The dust flies up as they dance

the husband looks peering

if his one has arrived’

This also suggests that though the exchange of hearts may go on all the time the dance for all its sexual suggestions is ceremonial or ritualistic in character. An interesting aspect of Bihu songs is its oral tradition. Generations of Assamese men, women and children have been signing these songs and dances.

The Bihu songs celebrate in enchanting melody the first showers of the rain falling in rhythms on a parched land and filling the arid landscape with fresh green leaves and flowers of flaming colors. Such themes always have an abiding interest especially for the rural Assamese folks. The Bihu songs attempt to depict this renewing of nature, the changing of the reasons making field’s resplendent with flowering creepers and greenery.

‘ Eibeli bihute ramak oi jamak oi

nahar phul phulibar batar

nahar phular gondh pai laharir tat nai

gacaki bhagile jatar’

The handloom has been so closely related to the life and thought of women that they have inevitably drawn upon this institutions for imagery to express some of their deepest feelings. In fact a lot of things may happen to a girl as she sits in her loom. The poor hardworking girl may be deep in her work, but her thoughts and feelings may be somewhere else for her special person. This last situation is beautifully described in a song-

‘Saru hai achilo garu rakhicilo

danger hai lagalo tat

Olotai obhotai, ako marichilo

Mor dhane lagale mat.’