Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala's arm chair preserved at Gohpur

BISWANATH CHARIALI: A wooden arm chair, reportedly used by Rupkonwar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, has been preserved for long by the Santhalia brothers, businessmen by profession, at Gamiri under Gohpur subdivision in Biswanath district.

According to Raju Santhalia and his brother Uday Santhalia, their father's maternal uncle Keshar Dev Murarka once used to live in the present house of the Santhalias. At that time, Jyoti Prasad Agarwala was working in and around Bholaguri Tea Estate, Gohpur. He started making the first Assamese feature film Joymati in the makeshift studio constructed in the tea garden.

The equipment required for the film and also the actors and technicians were brought to Bholaguri by the waterway of the Brahmaputra and they were stationed at Gamiri, a big village on the bank of the river.

Gamiri played a pivotal role in transportation during the British era as there existed a big 'ferryghat' there at that time. Gamiri then became a hub of Gandhibadi activists involved in the freedom struggle and also of culture and literary workers. Jyoti Prasad used to take rest at Keshar Dev Murarka's house while travelling through Gamiri and interacted with local people sitting on this arm chair. In due course of time, the wooden chair was handed over to the next generation.

After Keshar Dev, his three sons Damodar, Shyamsundar and Sajal preserved it properly. Later, the whole property was inherited by the Santhalia brothers. Since then, they have been protecting it from decaying. People often throng their house to have a look at this chair. They have now urged the Department of Culture, Government of Assam, to take steps for the preservation of this memorable property of Jyoti Prasad Agarwala.

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