The Sanskriti Anveshak forum of Vivekananda Kendra Institute of Culture, Guwahati organized a talk cum interactive session on:  Diversified Unity: Focus Northeast India- The Manipur Perspective on Saturday, 15 June, 2013 in the VKIC premises at Uzan Bazar, Guwahati. The talk was delivered by Prof.  W. Nabakumar, Head, Department of Anthropology, Manipur University, Manipur. The lecture was the fifth of the on-going lecture-series on Diversified Unity: Focus Northeast India.

Our 20th Foundation Day was celebrated on January 31 in our Uzan Bazar premises. In the solemn function, Mizo preceptor Puitham Rorelliana was honoured with the prestigious VKIC Sanmaan, for 2016.

Puitham Rorelliana has devoted his life towards protection and promotion of ancient Mizo wisdom, culture, and beliefs among his community. In his endeavour since the time he received enlightenment till present he had to surmount many hurdles; but his ceaseless efforts enabled revival of the early Mizo belief system to a great extent.

More than a decade after the VKIC completed a documentation project on Kamakhya and its adjoining temples, a new effort is underway to photograph the archaeological objects spread across the temple complex.

Vibrant facets of a historic temple-cum-Namghar came alive in a stage performance on August 30. The devotees of Santan Dharma Mandir, Rampur presented several devotional songs and dances to an audience enabling them to get acquainted with a less known but significant cultural heritage of Assam.

Namghars across Assam are synonymous with religious and cultural functions, but many of them are also exemplary in functioning as institutions of self-governance. This was a view expressed by historian Dr Rahul S Mazumdar while delivering the lecture on Namghar on July 26.

Dr Sarat Kumar Phukan, who has carried out research on the life and times of Srimanta Sankardeva, shared his knowledge about the prevailing physical and cultural conditions in which the Vaishnavite saint performed his pilgrimages across a vast area of India.

The Namghars in the urban areas of Assam have successfully retained some of the features of Vaishnavite traditions found in village Namghars. The use of an egalitarian platform to worship one unifying God with prayers and discussions is common to Namghars in cities, towns and villages.

Austrian Anthropologist visits VKIC

  Anthropology researcher Wally Rey from Vienna visited the VKIC to acquire information on Night Visiting husbands among      the   Khasis and Jaintias of Meghalaya.

The researcher was provided necessary information on the subject by VKIC’s Research Associate Kunal Choudhury. She was   provided publications of the VKIC, which have been well received by scholars and researchers. Equipped with information from VKIC she carried out field investigations in part of  Meghalaya.

The two-day seminar on ‘Traditional Systems of the Bodo Community – Change and Continuity’ took place at Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Kajalgaon (VKV) ground on October 31 and November 1, and brought together intellectuals and academics from different backgrounds.