A festive mood prevails in the paddy fields of Kamargaon ahead of the 89th session of Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha (SSS), the largest socio-religious organisation in the Northeast, to be held at Kaziranga Samavay Khsetra in Golaghat district of Upper Assam from February 5 to 8.

The spontaneous participation of people in preparations for the event, which attracts a large number of devotees of Srimanta Xankardeb, is adding to the joyous mood.

The SSS, which was established in 1930 and now has branches all over Assam and in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Bengal, works ceaselessly to spread the ideals of Xankardeb in India and abroad.

The reception committee for the event is headed by Dharmeswar Hazarika and Chandrakanta Bhuyan as the president and secretary.

The 35 sub-committees of the SSS are busy with preparations to make the event a success.

Almost 60 per cent of the preparations is complete.

Bhuyan said the preparations were made easy because of largescale participation by people. “Residents, cutting across the barriers of caste and religion, have worked for the event, which gives it a new dimension,” he said.

Funds crunch, however, has been a problem, he added.

“We request all the branches, district units, the parent body and other people of the state for financial assistance as early as possible but enough funds could not be collected,” he said.

Altogether 1,817 bighas of land in an open area have been selected for smooth functioning of the mega event.

Repair of roads and development of other infrastructure is almost complete. The naamghar, naatghar (theatre hall), the straw and bamboo camps for delegates, and construction at the exhibition and book fair sites are likely to be completed soon.

A unique camp for accommodation of foreign and domestic tourists coming to Kaziranga and a special structure, constructed on the pattern of Murong ghar (religious hall of the Mising community) to accommodate the SSS padadhikar (head) and general secretary will be the highlights of the session.

Sewa Bahini, SSS’s sister concern, is producing organic vegetables while local women are preparing home-made sweets to welcome the devotees, the organisers said.