Assamese cuisine is the cuisine of the Indian state of Assam. It is a style of cooking that is a confluence of cooking habits of the hills that favour fermentation and drying as forms of preservation and those from the plains that provide extremely wide variety of fresh vegetables and greens, and an abundance of fish and meat. Both are centred on the main ingredient — rice. It is a mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences. The traditional way of cooking and the cuisine of Assam is very similar to South-East Asian countries such as Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and others. The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over fire, and strong flavours due mainly to the use of endemic exotic fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, pigeon, squab, etc. are very popular, which are often paired with a main vegetable or ingredient; beef used to be eaten before British colonialism, and some continue to do so. Preparations are rarely elaborate. The practice of bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in the cuisine of Assam. The preferred oil for cooking is the pungent mustard oil.
Bhupen Hazarika was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, artist, editor, filmmaker, professor and politician from Assam, widely known as Sudha Kontho. His songs were written and sung mainly in the Assamese language by himself, are marked by humanity and universal brotherhood and have been translated and sung in many languages, most notably in Bengali and Hindi.
Assamese literature is the entire corpus of poetry, novels, short stories, plays, documents and other writings in the Assamese language. It also includes the literary works in the older forms of the language during its evolution to the contemporary form and its cultural heritage and tradition. The literary heritage of the Assamese language can be traced back to the c. 9–10th century in the Charyapada, where the earliest elements of the language can be discerned.
Assamese cinema, is an Indian film industry of Assamese-language. It is based in Assam, India. The industry was born in 1935 when Jyoti Prasad Agarwala released his movie Joymoti. Since then the Assamese cinema has developed a slow-paced, sensitive style. In beginning the industry were called Jollywood, named for Agarwala's Jyoti Chitraban Film Studio.
Atul Chandra Hazarika (1903–1986) was a prominent Assamese poet, dramatist, children's writer and translator. He was bestowed the epithet "Sahitycharjya" by Asam Sahitya Sabha, the premier literary organization of Assam.
Prof Bhabananda Deka was a pioneer Assam economist and author who conducted novel research on the economy of the far eastern part of India. He was also a leading Indian-Assamese litterateur of the famed 'Awahon-Ramdhenu Era' of Assamese literature during the mid-20th century. He was the author of a total of 115 English and Assamese books including textbooks on a range of fifteen subjects including economics, ancient Assamese literature, philosophy, education, religion, mythology, archaeology, tribal study, poetry, drama, memoirs, civics, political science, biographies; he also edited books and journals. He also authored a variety of research papers and articles about the state of Assam, a state in the north-eastern part of India. He pioneered the writing of books on Economics in Assamese. His Assamese book Axomor Arthaneeti was the first ever research-based comprehensive book on Assam Economics, which was published for the first time in 1963. He was conferred with the honorary title of 'Asom Ratna' -- 'Jewel of Assam' by the intellectuals of Assam on 19 August 2007 at a public meet held under the presidency of Prof. (Dr) Satyendra Narayan Goswami.
Bismoi is an entertainment Assamese monthly magazine published in Guwahati, Assam since 1968. The magazine is published by Bismoi Prakash and the editor is Shashi Phukan. Renowned assamese writers like Baidurjya Baruah and Ranju Hazarika started publishing their novels and stories here.
Mitra Phukan is an Indian author who writes in English. She is also a translator, columnist, and trained classical vocalist. She currently lives in Guwahati, Assam.
Assamese is part of the easternmost group of the Indo-Aryan languages. History of Assamese literature can largely be classified into three periods, including: Early Assamese period, Middle Assamese period and, Modern Assamese.
Pabitra Kumar Deka was a progressive writer, columnist, publisher and editor of monthly magazine, film critic and screenwriter of the State of Assam in India. He is the winner of the Best Film Critic Award in 1988 from the Eastern India Motion Picture Association. The Government of Assam has instituted the State Best Film Critic Award in the name of Pabitra Kumar Deka Award from 2010 after his death.
Imran Shah, also known as Nawab Imran Shah is an Indian Assamese language writer, poet, novelist, and scholar. He also writes under the pen names Ishan Dutta, Anamika Baruah, Kumbhakarna, and Animesh Baruah. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2021, for his contributions to literature and education.
Nalini Prava Deka was an author, poet, storyteller, actress and playwright from Assam, a state in India encompassing the Brahmaputra Valley. She was honoured at a 2012 gathering in Ledo by the Assam Sahitya Sabha. Deka promoted Assamese heritage, traditional customs, weaving and fabric art, cooking and folk music with her husband, Bhabananda Deka. They researched traditional Assamese lifestyle, art, literature and culture. Deka was the first female editor and publisher of a children's magazine, Phul (Flower), and wrote 30 critically praised books. All India Radio broadcast Deka's radio plays on issues related to women and children.
Kamal Kumar Tanti is an Assamese poet from Assam, India.
Prodyut Kumar Deka is an Indian film director, screenwriter and author residing in Assam, India. His films include Dhunia Tirutabur, Samiran Barua Ahi Ase, Surjasta, Borosi, Chiyahir Rong, Ji Golpor Ses Nai and The Government Servant. He turned to writing english fiction gradually from 2016-17 with the anthropological Ambari Series based on the Ambari Archeological site in Guwahati.
Roopkar was the first Assamese language, tabloid-sized magazine about Assamese cinema, theater and culture. Established in 1974, the magazine was founded and edited by journalist and writer Pabitra Kumar Deka. Advisers of the magazine were singer & composer Bhupen Hazarika and writer Nirode Choudhury.
Arup Kumar Datta is an Indian writer and Journalist from Guwahati, Assam. He has written 18 books for adults and 17 adventure novels for young people. In 2014 he was awarded the Life Time Achievement Honour by Association of Writers and illustrators for Children, New Delhi, the Indian chapter of the International Board of Books for Young People. He has also won numerous awards including the Shankar's Award in 1979, conferred to mark The International Year of the Child. He has been awarded the civilian award Padma Shri by Government of India in 2018.
Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi is an Assamese writer. He was formerly deputy commissioner. His first literary creation is a poem named Junbai'(জোনবাই).
Karabi Deka Hazarika is an Indian writer from the state of Assam in Northeastern India.
Surjya Kanta Hazarika is an Assamese litterateur, an eminent scholar, author, publisher, playwright, lyricist, composer, cultural activist, feature film and documentary maker, social worker and philanthropist. Hazarika is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 2008 for his contribution to Literature & Education. He is the current president of Asam Sahitya Sabha.
Rajen Sharma, commonly known as Uddipta Hazarika, was the first publicity secretary of the militant organisation United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Popular for his poem Mor Rakta Borna Protigya, Sharma was killed on 8 October 1989.
