Borgeet

Borgeet
An imaginary portrait of Srimanta Sankardeva, the founder of Borgeet.
Stylistic origins	Devotional song
Cultural origins	Early 1500s – late 1700s Assam, Neo-Vaishnavism
Typical instruments	Khol, Taal
Regional scenes
Assam, India
Local scenes
Sattra, Namghar
Other topics
Hiranaam, Dihanaam, Bhaona, Ankia Naat, Katha Guru Charita

Borgeets (Assamese: বৰগীত, romanized: Borgeet, lit. 'songs celestial') are a collection of lyrical songs that are set to specific ragas but not necessarily to any tala. These songs, composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and Madhavdeva in the 15th-16th centuries, are used to begin prayer services in monasteries, e.g. Satra and Namghar associated with the Ekasarana Dharma; and they also belong to the repertoire of Music of Meghalaya outside the religious context. They are a lyrical strain that express the religious sentiments of the poets reacting to different situations,^[1] and differ from other lyrics associated with the Ekasarana Dharma.^[2] Similar songs composed by others are not generally considered borgeets.

The first Borgeet was composed by Srimanta Sankardeva during his first pilgrimage at Badrikashram in c1488, which is contemporaneous to the birth of Dhrupad in the court of Man Singh Tomar (1486-1518) of Gwalior.^[3] The Borgeets are written in Brajavali dialect that is distinct from the Brajabuli used in Orissa and Bengal—it is a language where Maithili inflections were added to Assamese vocables and poruniciations—^[4] created by Shankardev and Madhabdev.