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The folklore of illiterate people consists of their myths, tales, proverbs, riddles and verse, together with their music and comprises the least tangible expression of the aesthetic aspects of culture. (Herskovits: 2012: 414). Oral narratives are the floating history of anything. In fact, these have the pivotal role in shaping the stature of anything else. No doubt, they have to be filtered for extracting the actual matters related with anything through the introspection and cross verification of the oral data. The oral texts are to be set upon the context. The Billeswar Devalaya has a plethora of oral narratives. These are collected from the mouths from a considerable number of people of various age and social strata. Every kind of effort has been employed to decipher the core of the oral text and to reach at the factual part of the narratives. As a matter of fact, the oral narratives found associating with the different aspects of the Devalaya, very often, have to cope with the variations due to the psychological differences, intellectual variations and interpolation with the instincts of the narrators.

Oral narratives and the Billeswar Devalaya are organically fused-without each other鈥檚 cohesive force-the continuation of the both is not possible. The thousands of people intend to visit the Devalaya due to the adherence with the oral narrative. It is evident with the idea of interacting with the devotees and visitors taken into actions during the great observance of Durga Puja. The intrinsic but strategic interaction reveals the fact that almost all the devotees and visitors come to the complex of Billeswar Devalaya being obsessed with the oral narratives stored by their memory and sharing with the fellow visitors. Rarely, they go through the written texts composed by a section of educated people of the locality on the Devalaya. From this pragmatic view, it may be said that oral narrative is the most effective tool for propagating the historicity, legacy of culture, mythical stories, legends and everything related with the Devalaya. These are being transmitted to the new generation people from their predecessors in an unbroken flow but with modification suiting the taste of the current trend. As Billeswar Devalaya stands to be the repository of enduring religious faiths, haven for religious practices, ideal place for emptying the monotony of life, ultimate resort of psychological inclination for a large number of people for centuries, the creations of oral narrative and reverence to these is a very common habit for the commoners. Before touching the various segments and aspects of the oral narrative or oral tradition, some of the definitive versions on it are fetched judiciously for bringing better comprehensibility to the overall study.

1 Creation

The Devalaya is treated differently by the people coming from different walks of life who create narratives continuously. In perusing the activities of the Devalaya, the people use their own attitude and experience. But it is very interesting to observe that the Devalaya has no function from its own part. The activity of the Devalaya is a transferred epithet. In fact the people associated with the Devalaya undertake its functions or activities. So, their psychosomatic involvement reflects the overall activities of the Devalaya. Accordingly their gathered experiences are being manifested for centuries and they are handed down to their off-springs. So, they usually create the narrative suiting their own taste and making befitting with the current context. But in present times we may find a plethora of written version of the oral narratives. So, the same contents of the same subjects are found in varied forms. Moreover, the religiocultural matters are collectively sensitive but treatment of these matters is highly individualistic. Therefore the judicious forms and traditions of the Devalaya only may be reached through an intellectual verification. As it is a repository of religio-cultural faiths and beliefs emerging as Devalaya Mores for a very long period; the study of the oral narratives are of paramount importance. The study reveals that the narratives are being created and recreated simultaneously which have formed a relgio-cultural continuum of the specific geographical locality which is supposed to be the operational area of the Devalaya.

2 Meaning

Oral Narrative means spoken story echoing the historical elements of anything such as events, place, objects, monuments, individuals, temples and anything else. It ranges from the petty to the profound things. Tradition of telling story about anything else is ageless. Speech precedes writing in human civilization. Human beings feel the impulse to narrate various things in front of others falling prey to their own indomitable instincts. This has made narrative the natural companion of mankind throughout the history of civilization. Along with it, another fact is that-human beings have linguistic limitation. So the humankind cannot express their thoughts as per as their magnitude of their urge. Majority of thoughts of general people are expressed by other linguistic tools i.e. gestures, postures, utterances, icons etc. As the thoughts receive artistic forms they turn into arts and crafts. Factually people die with a very limited expression and its transitory impact. Prior to the invention of printing press, the ancient ways of recording the feelings obviously did not suffice the need of the humankind. Since that time oral narrative was the only way of exchanging the ideas amongst the same linguistic community and disseminates these to the next generation. So the oral narratives i.e. stories, myths, legends, tales, proverbs, riddles etc. were the ultimate ways of storing the ideas, experiences, thoughts of the preceding generation for the next. These are able to adapt themselves to any local and social climate. They are old and venerable, but they are also new and up to date. (Dorson,1972, p-53). Folkloristic study on anything historically important essentially requires a plethora of collection and analysis of oral narrative. The essence of it lies in the fact that nothing embodies a concrete data which are to be presented to portray exact nature and stature of historical structure like Billeswar Devalaya. Though the historicity of it is not found in chronological order or in systematically inscribed epigraphy; but it continues to stand undoubtedly of the ancient times. Before the presentation of the oral narratives associated with the Devalaya, the definition of oral narrative has been given that may favor better understanding about the issues of the Billeswar Devalaya.

3 Functions

Folk mind is depicted in popular culture more intimately than in the elite one. Therefore the study of popular culture or folklore is of significant value from this perspective鈥�..鈥�.The heritage of the popular culture of an area is treasured in the oral literature, performing arts, and crafts, amusement and sports magic and belief etc. (Das: 1999: 108)

Oral narratives being a part of the memory heritage of the community, the audience also cultivate the same sense of absorption of structures and patterns, and become familiar with the conventions and devices of performance. With such inheritance and sharing of performance culture between the performers and the audience, oral narratives smoothly float as cultural texts and continue to generate a sense of social value and celebration at a time when mass media are manipulating a remote control of our cultural longings and turning us into consumers of entertainment products.(Awasthi: 1994: 159)

The most common strategy adopted in performing oral narratives is the elaboration and embellishment of the sung text. Oral narratives are a kind of floating texts, shaped and reshaped from performance to performance and from generation to generation. There is fixed core text, which is learnt by heart by narrators and is transmitted from one generation to another. Along with the fixed text there is also a free text, of which the content alone belongs to the tradition. The textual material is newly complied and composed, differing from performer to performer and from performance to performance; and therein lies the whole charm and freshness of these narratives in performance. The creation of free text and its amalgamation with the free text are facilitated because oral narratives have internal patterns of arrangement and deal with known and shared myths. This applies to both the textual and the musical content.

Depending on the skill in improvisation, circumstances of performance and the composition of audience, the performers make change and elaboration within and around these internal patterns. For centuries the existence of our country depends upon on oral transmission. This mode of communication plays a pivotal role in its freedom movement, the incidence of illiteracy being very high. (Singh: 2000: 56) Likewise every social phenomenon which is of public usage is echoed in the form of oral narrative. This truth is highly relevant in case of the Devalaya. Most of the people of the locality know almost all things related with the Devalaya through the medium of oral narrative.

Billeswar Devalaya stands as a social organ of faiths, religiousness and sacredness among the people with a very long historicity perpetuating thousands of events i.e. the prayer of Gadadhar Simha during his exile, visit of Hiuen Tsang, holding of bartering fair under the aegis of the King of Bhutan etc. Obviously, that historicity is being stored and transmitted through the generation in forms of oral narrative only. Therefore the oral narratives prevalent in the society are found to be extremely essential to decipher the actual stature of the Devalaya. The Billeswar Devalaya is such a sacred complex where religious practices and interaction with a large of number of people involved with. Herewith the definition of 鈥楩olklore鈥� is presented, in brief, as the 鈥極ral Narrative鈥� is the one of the rudimentary vehicles of folklore propagation. Folklore means 鈥榝olk learning鈥�, it comprehends all knowledge that is transmitted by word of mouth all crafts and other techniques that are learned by imitation or example, as well as the products of such crafts鈥�.Folklore includes folk art, folk crafts, folk tools, folk costume, folk custom, folk belief, folk medicine, folk recipes, folk music, folk dance, folk games, folk gestures and folk speech, as well as those verbal forms of expression which have been called folk literature but which are better described as verbal art.

In a major article "Four Functions of Folklore," Journal of American Folklore published in 1954, Bascom argues that folklore can serve four primary functions in a culture:

a) Folklore lets people escape from repressions imposed upon them by society.
b) Folklore validates culture, justifying its rituals and institutions to those who perform and observe them.
c) Folklore is a pedagogic device which reinforces morals and values and builds wit.
d) Folklore is a means of applying social pressure and exercising social control.

The term 鈥榝olk鈥� can refer to any group of people whatsoever who share at least one common factor. As a matter of fact, the Devalaya is a repository of almost all folk elements and its practices.

There are a good number of shrines and religious sites in Nalbari district which are either identical in nature or religiously inclined to the Billeswar Devalaya. Various oral narratives are in support to relate with the other shrines and religious establishments. 

These are: 

1. Bhangra Gosair Than, 
2. Dhamdhama Shivar Than, 
3. Kulbil Shivalaya, 
4. Borbarir Shiva Mandir, 
5. Joypal Devalaya, 
6. Kaliya Gosair Than, 
7. Gandhiya Kanduli Gosai Ghar, 
8. Kakaya Chaitanya Devar Mandir, 
9. Lankta Gosair Than, 
10. Pipalibari Kali Mandir etc. 

It is amazing to notice that all the above sites are co-related or co-existed for centuries through the religious practices in similar mode with the Billeswar Devalaya. The analysis of the facts and figures says that all the temples or religious sites belonged to the same territory under the monarchial system of that time. As the Billeswar Devalaya was the biggest site possessing a huge area of land granted by the kings of various times being scattered in different areas could influence the people of those areas. The oral narratives were in operation to influence the people to a great extent. It could be possible during that time; because, irrespective of caste and creed, majority people were believer of Shaivite tradition. The narratives move round the Lord Shiva-who is the chief deity of Billeswar Devalaya.

4 Sacredness

Sacredness is such an ascetic state of mind by dint of which people feel solace in some specific locations. Billeswar Devalaya is such a location where people feel abundant joy and can feel transcendental thoughts. The sacred locations have no contemptuous ideas regarding the superstitions, prejudices, malpractices etc. All the things pertaining to the sacred complexes are regarded to be absolutely benevolent. People never worry about any kind of physical or psychological penance. It already has occupied such a position amongst the huge number of Devotees of Hindu religion. Even the devotees coming from the distant places spend time with pleasantness. It is a judicious idea to state the Billeswar Devalaya as a sacred place. Like other temples in India for harnessing the sacredness amongst devotees and visitors the process of putting conditions are presented before their entry. The process of conditioning starts from the entry gate of the Devalaya and it culminates inside the Garbhagriha. The devotees, coming to worship the deities, have the usual preconceived obsession about the sacredness of the Devalaya. So the activities to be done for worshiping and visiting the deity are not realized by the devotees as painstaking. Devotees remain carefree for this type of activities inside the Devalaya. The sense of sacredness is disseminated and instilled in the minds of people aspiring to visit the Devalaya by the different genres of oral narratives. The oral narratives have the vehement force to affect the folk people because they learn majority of the things by listening others. It is not far away from the fact that oral narratives are intensified, magnified, exaggerated by the narrators at different times to make this convincing in front of the folk people. This is common practice among the folk people which covers various things of human life. In case of Billeswar Devalaya the narratives are let loose and allowed to reach the people with comfort and ease with the acute sense of religious chauvinism.

5 Factlore Related with the Devalaya

This section of the entire study attempts to present some historical facts about Belsor under a coined word 鈥楩actlore鈥�. It is combined by two base words 鈥楩act鈥� and 鈥楲ore鈥� which means the union of truth and knowledge. The truthful knowledge about Belsor is rightly synonymous to the Devalaya. The whole range of narrative about the Devalaya is flowing through the people of greater Belsor which is regarded to be a census town in present times. Statistical data of Belsor as a census town is already presented in the previous chapter. The historical background of it does not clash with the historicity of the Devalaya. Rather, the facts to be presented here may attain the potential to reveal the factual knowledge about the Devalaya. Due to the existence of the Billeswar Devalaya at Belsor; certainly, it claims to be the focal point of Nalbari district from the point of religious practice. Even the name of the place-Belsor itself is a philological derivation of Bilweswar; though both the names represent two different revenue villages according to the land records of Assam. This record may easily be found in Paschim Nalbari Revenue Circle office due to absolute functioning of the Dharitri-software for revenue records and administration used by Government of Assam. (Appendix) It is relevant to say here that the kings of ancient and medieval period were used to offer copper-plates after granting lands to saints, priests, temples, subsidiary rulers and workers. These were written in Pali, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Assamese, Bangla, Tamil and Telegu etc. The interpretation of such inscriptions has made a great contribution to the writing of history. (Kalita:2005:7). The historical records whether these are concrete or fragmentary or non-chronological but all these are in support of the royal patronage. Despite the facts of erection by the Koch or Mech King-Nagakhya who dreamed a dream of Lord Shiva who uttered the gospel to the king of Louhitya dynasty for worshipping Him; the Devalaya was patronized by primarily by the Koch kings and Ahom kings. The major portion of the patronage was received from the Ahom kings in subsequent times due to their vehement adherence to the Shaktism. The re-construction of the Devalaya by king Lakhmi Simha (1769-1780 A.D.) is evidenced by a stone inscription which was made in 1767 or 1768 A.D. The text laid upon the stone inscription was interpreted by Lt. Dandiram Datta who was a field investigator and an exponent of Kaitheli Ganit hailing from the same village where the Devalaya is located by the help of Bijoy Bhushan Dev Choudhury-an oriental scholar. Of course, the interpretation is stated to be erroneous and incomplete. Brihat Barphukan-a descendant of Lahan Dynasty who was an officer of Ahom kingdom was entrusted with the responsibility of repair of the Devalaya. (Neog:1974:61).

Like overall Indian society, Assamese society also emerges as the result of fusion of Aryan and the non-Aryan people. Again the Assamese society people may rightly be grouped under two broad groups: a) Tribal and b) Non-Tribal. Under the tribal group the ethnic groups like Bodo-Kacharis, the Rabhas, the Karbis, the Mishings, the Dimacas and the Tiwas may be included. Many tribals have already entered into the Hindu fold by the process of Sanskritazation or Hinduisation. Or by going one step forward we may say that the different ethnic groups living in the present state of Assam have emerged into the main stream of the composite Assamese culture by the process of assimilation. In Assam context it should be mentioned that there is no difference between the tribal and the non-tribal of Assam set an outstanding example of the process of acculturation and integration as well as assimilation and make tremendous impact in the making of the unique composite culture of Assam. Rightly does observe P. Goswami: 鈥業ndian folklore is as much the Hindus as it is the tribal. There are differences, but there is a large common ground where the Brahmin and the so-called tribal meet at their mutual ease鈥�.The so called tribes are not exactly tight self contained communities; converts from them have formed the basis of the Assamesesociety people鈥�. (Sarma: 1988: 58-59)