PREFACE

It has been truly said that ‘there is no part of India which is more interesting in some respects to the student of Hinduism than the Assam Valley’. The fundamental streams of the brahmanical religion had penetrated into Assam at an early period. Saivism, Saktism, and Vaisnavism held sway in various forms. These cults under- went certain modifications in Assam. It is true especially of Saktism.

In India sculpture, fine arts and literature are closely connected with religion. It is the religion which fostered the growth of temples and images.In Assam alsotemple building and the arts of architecture and sculpture grew hand in hand with the spread of religion. The erection of temples in Assam goes back to an early century.

At any rate, the existence of numerous shrines dedicated to Siva, Surya Vishnu and Devi and other deities is fully. Attested to both by inscriptions and contemporary literature. But today not one of these early edifices exist, and the only memorials of ancienttimes consist of jungle cladmounds scattered in such places as Gauhati, Tezpur, Nowgong, Sibsagar, Sadiya and a few big temples belonging to a compara- tively late period.

Author - B.K.Barua & H.V.Sreenivasa Murthy

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