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Art and Craft of Sattra Institute:                                                             
contd....

by the similar religious fervour of the bhakti cult, it has developed distinct features of its own.However, the painting of a later date gradually becomes more detailed and descriptive where an attempt an narrations is obvious. Although the composition is still linear, there is greater complexity within the frame, sometimes continued narration is obvious. Although the composition is still linear, there is greater complexity within the frame, sometimes continued narration is also attempted. The area of the painting surface also gets larger at times covering the full page. The artist's eye for detail and small anecdotes are obvious in the representation of different birds and beaststhat inhabit are the foils from the Gita-Gobinda etc.

Here the themes itself provided the artist the scope to ex-aggerate, elaborate and provide a romantic backdrop for the eternal lovers. The costumes are local - the two-pieces garment worn by Assamese women-the mekhala-chadar, while men wear the short dhoti, tangali (waist band) and alwan (scarf) .

There are passing reference to the local costumecs and environment but Krishna is the universal godhead. The identification of the figures by labelling them is also common to many of the manuscripts where the idea is to grasp the narrative quickly and easily. In this way paintings are an extension of the story in pictorial form to be literally read in sequence of events that take place. This format is also followed in the wood reliefs and painting of other are objects.

Another special development in the sattra was the architecture which has evolved over the years, pictorial depicition of which are seen in painting sometimes. The sattra monuments are not gigantic in scale but they have the dignity of their own stature. The basic layout of a sattra is a quadrangle surrounded by walls. A full-fledged sattra usually consists of a well laid out plan arrangement of the essential areas. The namghar (prayer hall), place of the residing monks (bhakats) within which each area is marked out for a definiate function.

The centre of the main activities of a sattra is the namghar which faces the east. It is a large open hall with gabled roof having an apsidal façade in the western and over which is a 'top' or the dome on the roof. The apsidal roof has an elaborate structure in wood which is very typical of namghar construction. The interior is a simple nave and two aisles with pillars. These pillars are in the number of 5, 7 and 7 pillars.(khutas) usually, which divide the area loosely into chambers. Erected with wooden beams supportingan architrave over which rests the roof. These wooden beams are known as the chati and are either carved with motifs or painted. The false ceiling which is made by joining the chatis are used for stocking the large bamboo masks and accessories of the drama performance . The compelling purity of the proportion and the effect of lightness which invests the low structure is achieved by the spaced rhythm of the vertical and horizontal surfaces. From the level of the architecture a nave is