Smt. Kunjoboti Sinha: One of the oldest and popular Bishnupriya Manipuri Raasdhari and Sutrodhari

Smt.Kunjoboti Sinha is one of the oldest and popular Bishnupriya Manipuri Raasdharis and Sutrodharis in the Bishnupriya Manipuri Community. She is originally from Bhakatpur, Silchar. At a very young age, she started her musical career performing with her teachers (Ojas) in many parts of Assam. She is now 72 years old living with her family in the Rengti Village, Ambikapur. At this age also, she still sings pitch-perfect.

Early Life: Smt. Kunjoboti Sinha is the daughter of Lt. Kameshwar Sinha and Lt. Rosomi Sinha of Bhakatpur, Silchar-Cachar. She was married to Lt. Raghunath Sinha and got settled. She got married at the age of 23 years and is a mother of three children.

Musical Career: Smt. Kunjobati Sinha started her musical career at a tender age when she was barely 12 years old. She started to take dance and music seriously and decided to take up traditional song/dance (Raasor Nasha/Ela) professionally. She began her musical career under the guidance of many teachers and mentors (Ojas). In the initial period, she learned from Chandrakirti Sinha of Bhakatpur, and started to accompany him in teaching and training performing Raas Leela in nearby villages. Later on, she took her training under the guidance of the legendary Senarik Rajkumar of Kalinjor Village, Behari Sinha of Rengti Village (Both were associated with Shantiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore), Dhananjoy Oja of Kochu Dorom Village, Bhatia Oja of Chincoorie Village, and Bidhya Oja of Bhatirgram village.

According to her, the "Raas Leela" is originated from Manipur which was introduced by Maharaja Bhagyachandra, King of Manipur. Later on, the Raasdharis and Sutrodharis although followed the old version of Raas Leela but with a lot of new changes and of late, it has undergone many changes losing its originality. She is really sad to see that slowly and steadily this original artform is getting vanished due to a lack of knowledge and lack of urge to learn. There are very few Raasdharis/Sutrodharis nowadays and not even 1/3 of them can be found as professionals. Even the young generation is not so much keen or interested to learn this art form which might affect our traditional songs/dances in the future.

Memories: One of her memorable performances was at the age of 17 years in Unam, Patherkandi. She was invited as a "Sutrodhari" with Raasdhari Purnamashi Sinha of Patherkandi. The place where she went to perform was a huge traditional temple (Malthep). Nearby there was another Malthep in close proximity to each other where there was another Raas Leela was organized. She was the "Sutrodhari" of the other Raas Leela. While both the Raas Leelas started at the same time, her voice was so powerful that it started to attract the people on the other Malthep. People started to leave that Raas Leela and started to flock to the Raas Leela where she was performing. Some of the people present in the Raas Leela were "Meitei Manipuris". After witnessing her powerful voice, they requested her to perform in the "Meitei" language also. She sang one of the songs of Raas Leela she knew in the Meitei language and surprised everyone over there. She was applauded and appreciated by everyone present there including the "Meiteis" for her performance.

Another incident that she fondly recalls was at Baskantilla in Hingala. In the earlier days, the Raas Leela's were done in a grand way. And in special events and occasions, many people used to hire "Gopis" (Traditional Dancers) from different places to make the event special. In one of such big program, Smt. Kunjoboti Sinha was invited as one of the hired "Gopis". There were eight "Gopis" who were hired for that particular Raas Leela. It was a huge gathering and already there were almost five Raasdharis/Sutrodharis invited to perform in the Raas Leela. Since the crowd was huge, there was a lot of noise and the five Raasdharis/Sutrodharis were not able to control the noise of the crowd. It was not audible. Then she started to sing the first song which is called the 'Raagogoh' to start the program named "Muruli Baje Se" in one single breath. Since she had mastered the 'Raagogoh', she sang the song in one long breath at one go without any break. The uncontrollable noisy huge crowd heard her voice and went to pin-drop silence. There was complete silence in the whole area. She kept on singing the "Raagogoh" without break and made everyone stunned with her powerful voice. When she was able to hear her voice amidst the maddening crowd, she continued with her next item "Bongshi Horon". In the Baskantilla Raas Leela, the Raasdhari was Oja Kutumai Sinha of Patherkandi.

During that time in the late '80s, she used to earn Rs.500 & Rs.1000 in one program which was considered a huge amount for a professional Raasdhari/Sutrodhari.

Popularity: She was famous for the first "Raagogoh" which is sung in any Raas Leela. There is a belief that the first "Raagogoh" determines whether the Raas Leela will be a success or failure. It is considered as one of the prime aspects of any Raas Leela. When asked about her favorite song/part of Raas Leela, she simply said that all the songs/parts of Raas Leela are her favorites, and she cannot choose which one is the best.

Message from Kunjoboti Sinha to all the readers:

" Raajdari goh oya ela dilu ouhan morka prabhur seba han. Ebaka nwa nwa raasdhari/sutrodhari re utsaha korouri hoba kore hikoka matia, monaile morang aya hikani partai. E bida han mangoya najak gah. Habiye tiloya ehan jingta koria thoik"

Kunjoboti Sinha is an inspirational figure for the new aspiring Raasdharis and Sutrodharis. It is very unfortunate that after her huge contribution to the community she has not been provided any recognition or acknowledgment by any of our organizations till now. We as a community should preserve these legendary artists work documented for our future generation. Their work is timeless and represents our identity in all respect.