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 Condolence meeting for Dr. Sunil Kothari December 31, 2020 On 27th December 2020, the world witnessed the untimely demise of Dr. Sunil Kothari, an eminent and influential scholar and art critic, also a Padma Shri and Akademi Ratna awardee. The Sangeet Sattra fraternity, with whom Dr. Kothari was extremely close, assembled together in its Chandmari, Guwahati foundation to pay their heartfelt homage to the legendary soul. 
Swapnanil Baruah, Retd. IAS, Working President, Sangeet Sattra, in his address mentioned all the great works done by Dr.Kothari particularly in the field of Sattriya. In 1967, Dr. Kothari came all the way to Majuli in order to study about the art form of Sattriya in detail, staying at the island for more than a month along with the monks and extensively got to know in detail about the art form particularly from great maestros like Late Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan and several others which in turn led to establish a great relation with Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan. Dr. Kothari was instrumental in popularising Indian art forms overseas through the medium of being a critic. His book 'Sattriya: classical dance of Assam' helped in creating a better understanding of Sattriya in the national and global circuit. Baruah says, "It's like we have lost the one and only MP who made sure that Sattriya expands across the globe." Ranjumoni Saikia and Dr. Anjanamoyee Saikia in their remarks stated how encouraging and heartwarming Dr. Sunil Kothari had always been and how his passing away came as a shock to them. Ranjumoni Saikia also mentioned about the close bonding and the mutuality that Dr. Sunil Kothari had with her father Late Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan and the conversations they had every time Dr. Kothari would visit Guruji in his Hengrabari residence. The meeting, which was an hour long, witnessed the presence of the faculty members of Sangeet Sattra along with their senior students, current students, guardians and others. |
