[Assam] AT: Namphake welcomes Thai princess

[umesh sharma]

Namphake welcomes Thai princess
 Pores Aind
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=feb0309/at01

 NAMPHAKE VILLAGE (Naharkatia), Feb 2 – Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn
of Kingdom of Thailand on her maiden visit to Tai Namphake village in
the Dibrugarh district was amazed to find how a small group of Tai
Phake community was successful in preserving the rich culture, customs,
traditions, rituals and language of their ancient land despite living
amidst diverse ethnic and linguistic population. Princess Sirindhorn,
who seemed emotionally moved seeing people of her own kinfolk,
communicated in Phakial language, expressing that she felt proud that
the Tai Phake men and women in the remote village still valued their
language and cultures. Tai Phake is the branch of the great Tai race
that entered Assam in the latter half of the 18th century. Princess was
interacting with the villagers of the Tai Phake community inside the
Namphake Buddhist Monastery.

The Princess also took part in a
short prayer inside the monastery. Some eleven Buddhist monks led the
prayer. She then got her wrists tied up with the holy thread, which
according to the Tai Phake customs is tied only on the dear ones. She
was offered a set of Tai Phake wedding dress and officially welcomed to
the village.

Princess Sirindhorn, was later escorted to a
temporary museum at the Namphake lower primary school where she had a
look at the traditional handicrafts, weaving tools, agricultural and
fishing kits, costumes of the Tai Phakes, Books on Tai Phakes, and
traditional food of the community. She also visited a house of one
Aijanta Gohain in the village, to have a first hand knowledge about the
living habits of the people. The villagers were also delighted to
receive donation of some 500 dollars and some books from the Princess
for the Namphake ME and High school.

The Princess landed in the
Namphake ME and High school ground by a special IAF helicopter at 1:40
PM. She later left for Jorhat at 3:45 PM. On her arrival, hundreds of
villagers, including women and children surrounded the helipad, waving
their hands to greet the Princess. Additional Deputy Commissioner,
Prasenjit Gogoi and village headman Chamthoun Weingken received the
Princess. She was then accorded a welcome with the traditional
drumbeats and dance all along the road upto the monastery, where she
interacted with the people.

The crowd in the Namphake village
included Tai Phakes from Margherita, Bor Phakial, Ningjam, Phaneng,
Long Gaon, Mamo and Molang of Tinsukia district. There are as many as
eighty Tai Phakial families in Namphake, which lies in the reverine
area of Burhidehing.

Umesh Sharma



Washington D.C. 



1-202-215-4328 [Cell]



Ed.M. - International Education Policy

Harvard Graduate School of Education,

Harvard University,

Class of 2005



http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)



http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)









www.gse.harvard.edu/iep  (where the above 2 are used )

http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/







http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/