Satra (Ekasarana Dharma)

Satras (Assamese: সত্ৰ) are institutional centers associated with the Ekasarana tradition of Vaishnavism, largely found in the Indian state of Assam and neighboring regions.[1][2] Numbering in the hundreds, these centers are generally independent of each other and under the control of individual adhikaras (or satradhikars), though they can be grouped into four different Sanghatis (orders).

Sanctorium of the Dakhinpat Sattra in Majuli

These centers, in the minimum, maintain a prayer house (Namghar, or Kirtan-ghar), initiate lay people into the Ekasarana tradition and include them as disciples of the Satra from whom taxes and other religious duties are extracted. Although the culture of setting up religious institutions like Satras started in Sadiya, the Neo-Vaishnavite satra culture started in the 16th century. They grew rapidly in the 17th century and patronage extended to them by first the Koch kingdom and later the Ahom kingdom was crucial in the spread the Ekasarana religion.[3] Many of the larger Satras house hundreds of celibate and non-celibate bhakats (monks), hold vast lands and are repositories of religious and cultural relics and artifacts. The Satras extend control over their lay disciples via village Namghars. Satras in which the principal preceptors lived, or which preserve some of their relics are also called thaans.[4]

The first Satra in Assam was established by a Brahmin priest named Sankarisan in Sadiya under the patronage of the Chutia king Ratnadhwajpal at the start of the 13th century. It was named Ghaimora and later came to be known as Gharmora Satra.[5]Another satra was established by a king named Samudrapal at a place known as Yogihati in the same period(1232 AD) as evident from a stone inscription found in Ambari.[6] The neo-Vaishnavite satras were established by Assamese Vaishnavite monasteries for religious practices at the initiative of the Ahom Kings of Assam in the middle of the 17th century[7] to propagate neo Vaishnavism.[8][9] Sankaradeva is said to have established his first Satra at Bardowa, his birthplace, and then in different places of Assam.[10][11][12]

In the 20th century the authority and orthodoxy of the Satras was challenged by reform movements, most notable under the Sankar Sangha. The Satras coordinate some of their activities via the Asam Satra Mahasabha, an umbrella organization of all the Satras. According to the Mahasabha's count on its website there is altogether a total of 862 Satras including the satras present in both the states of Assam and West Bengal.[13]