Log in
EN हिंदी
Joynacharan Bathari
← All heroes
Culture & heritage · Assam

The drum and flute of Dima Hasao

For decades Joynacharan Bathari kept two lives going side by side: a government job, and the songs of the Dimasa people. In his village, he was also the elder people turned to.

Joynacharan Bathariजयनाचरण बथारी
WhatsApp X Facebook

Joynacharan Bathari. Photo: India Today NE

Listen to this story0:00 / 1:34
Narrated with an AI voice
Born
1 July 1940
Village
Jorai Bathari, Dima Hasao, Assam
Music
Dimasa folk songs; Khram drum and Muri flute
Honour
Padma Shri 2025
1940born in Jorai Bathari
4All India Radio stations he performed on
2025Padma Shri

A senior bearer of Dimasa song

Joynacharan Bathari is a senior bearer of the Dimasa folk-music tradition of Assam’s Dima Hasao. According to his official citation, he was born on 1 July 1940 in Jorai Bathari village. He worked in government service, but through all those years the thread of Dimasa songs, drum and flute ran alongside.

On air and on stage

He sang Dimasa folk songs with traditional instruments like the Khram drum and the Muri flute, and performed on All India Radio stations including Silchar, Haflong, Dibrugarh and Shillong. Stage performances across Assam, the Northeast and in Delhi brought this little-known tradition to wider audiences.

Music and community

His cultural role was tied to community life too. He served as Assistant Khunang, Khunang (Gaon Bura), Mouzadar and community priest, and was associated with the Dimasa apex body Jadikhe Naisho Hoshom. So his story is not only that of a performer, but of a keeper of community memory, joining music and social institutions in one life.

It matters that minority and tribal music finds a place in broadcast archives. And even when recognition comes late, the value of what was preserved is no less.

Sources