A xorai is a traditional Assamese offering tray or dish mounted on a pedestal. Usually made of bell metal or brass, it is one of the best-known symbols of Assam and is associated with hospitality, honour, religious offerings and cultural ceremony. Similar dish-on-stand type articles have been in use in the region since the Kamarupa period. pp. 108–109, 112–113. The authors identify the dish-on-stand among the principal forms of kaolin or "Ambari ware". Their catalogue records 90 stand/stem fragments, some interpreted as components of dishes-on-stand used in ritual and ceremonial contexts, and describes the complete form as "a more or less flat dish with decorations on the surface having splayed rim attached on top of a stand"; the vessel is interpreted as having ceremonial, decorative and domestic uses.
A xorai generally consists of a shallow circular tray or plate supported by a stem and base. It may be open or fitted with an ornamental cover. It is commonly used to offer (areca nut and betel leaf), sweets, food, flowers, religious offerings or other ceremonial objects. In Assamese society, presenting a xorai conveys welcome, gratitude and respect.
A related Assamese vessel is the , a bowl-like or covered container which may be used together with a xorai. Although the two objects share a related form and ceremonial function, the xorai is usually a flat or shallow tray on a pedestal, whereas a bota is more bowl-shaped.
Hajo and Sarthebari are among the principal centres of traditional bell-metal and brass craftsmanship in Assam.
History and origin
The xorai has been described as a long-established ceremonial object in Assam, used in royal courts, religious rituals and community ceremonies.
Kamrupa Period
Pedestal or raised dish forms were present in the Brahmaputra Valley since the Kamarupa period. Archaeological studies of the early-medieval pottery tradition of Ambari, Guwahati, identify the dish-on-stand pp. 108–109, 112–113. The authors identify the dish-on-stand among the principal forms of kaolin or "Ambari ware". Their catalogue records 90 stand/stem fragments, some interpreted as components of dishes-on-stand used in ritual and ceremonial contexts, and describes the complete form as "a more or less flat dish with decorations on the surface having splayed rim attached on top of a stand"; the vessel is interpreted as having ceremonial, decorative and domestic uses. among the principal forms of the distinctive kaolin pottery known as "Ambari ware"."It was Dhavalikar (1973: 138) who first termed the Kaolin pottery recovered from the Ambari archaeological site as the ‘Ambari ware’ [...] Principal forms of kaolin pottery include [...] dish-on-stand and horn-shaped vessels." Surviving stands and stems have also been interpreted as components of dishes-on-stand used for ceremonial, ritual and domestic purposes. In his study of the excavations at Ambari, Guwahati, archaeologist M. K. Dhavalikar identified the dish-on-stand as one of the distinctive forms of the fine ceramic assemblage which he termed "Ambari Ware". Dhavalikar suggested that the vessel may have been used serving (betel nut and leaf), as in contemporary Assam, noting that the corresponding dish-on-stand like the or Xorai used in modern times was made of metal. The Ambari Ware horizon represented in the earlier excavation sequence has been dated broadly to the seventh–twelfth centuries CE. Sukanya Sharma notes that the kaolin pottery occurred abundantly in Period I at Ambari, which is approximately dated to the seventh–twelfth centuries CE, with a radiocarbon date of 1030 ± 130 CE. The discovery of kaolin pottery at these sites has been interpreted as evidence of early cultural contact with China and the transmission of ceramic ideas into Northeast India.
Bell metalworking was also known in the Kamrupa period. B. K. Barua, in his discussion of ornaments in early Assam, cites the Kalika Purana for the use of , which he identifies as bell metal.Kalika Purana, ch. 69, vv. 33–34: B. K. Barua renders the passage as stating that ornaments made of other metals, except iron and "bell-metal (kamsya)", were to be worn on the lower part of the body. A comparable change in material from earthenware to metal, while retaining the pedestal-tray form, is also attested elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The National Museum of the Philippines compares prehistoric earthenware pedestalled bowls with the brass tabak of the Maranao and Maguindanao, noting their similarity in form and ceremonial serving function; Cambodian museum collections likewise preserve pedestal trays in clay alongside footed and pedestal trays made of brass.
Late Medieval Period
The archaeological distribution of the dish-on-stand form extended into eastern Assam. It is attested at Bhismaknagar, a site generally associated with the Chutia kingdom. Tage Tada describes the ceramic assemblage from the site as predominantly red and wheel-turned and lists bowls, dishes, dish-on-stand, spouted vessels, jars and decorative finials among its important forms. He further notes that the fine wheel-turned pottery bears close affinity with pottery excavated at Ambari, Guwahati, which he dates to approximately the tenth–twelfth centuries. Kaolin pottery recovered from Bhismaknagar has separately been interpreted as evidence of early cultural contact with China and the transmission of ceramic ideas into Northeast India.
The use of Xorai is recorded in Chutia, Ahom and Dimasa contexts. Its association with honour and hospitality continued through the Chutia and Ahom periods and remains prominent in contemporary Assamese culture. A passage in the Satsari Buranji refers to the Chutia king presenting two golden xorais and two pieces of cloth to Phrachengmung Gohain, indicating the use of such ceremonial objects in the political and courtly culture of the period.Bhuyan, S. K., Satsari Buranji, p. 58: "" An explicit Buranji reference to specialist bell-metal workers occurs in connection with the conquest of the Chutia Kingdom. According to the Banhgaria Burhagohain Buranji, preserved in the Satsari Asam Buranji, following the fall of the Chutia kingdom, the Ahoms obtained, along with people belonging to various other occupational groups, (bell-metal workers) from the conquered territory. Among the Dimasa, the word is used for a xorai-like vessel. Dimasa textile traditions also include a motif known as , associated with the form of the horai.
Comparative context
Objects comparable in broad form or ceremonial function to the xorai occur in other Asian cultures, including the thali in North India and the phan of Cambodia and Thailand. Pedestal bowls, trays and covered offering vessels are also found in Tibetan, Burmese, Indonesian and Philippine traditions. However, the Assamese xorai is distinctive in its bell-metal craftsmanship, local terminology and central role in Assamese hospitality and religious culture.
High-stemmed trays, bowls and offering vessels comparable in general form to the xorai occur in several parts of Asia. Such similarities do not by themselves establish a direct line of descent for the Assamese xorai, but they indicate that pedestal vessels have long been used in religious, domestic and ceremonial settings across East, Himalayan and Southeast Asia.
In ancient China, high-stemmed food and ritual vessels known as () were used in ceremonial settings. Archaeological examples occur in Neolithic and later Chinese contexts, and the form became associated with ritual food offerings during the Zhou dynasty. Linguistic studies place the earliest diversification of the Sino-Tibetan languages in northern China during the Late Neolithic period. The Bodo-Garo languages of Assam belong to the wider Tibeto-Burman branch of this language family.
Tibetan and Himalayan vessels
Pedestal bowls, trays and offering stands are also found in Tibetan Buddhist material culture. The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art describes stemmed offering bowls as objects used in religious rites as well as in daily consumption. Tibetan Buddhist mandala offering sets often employ a stand or base to hold grain or other offerings arranged as a mandala. Other Tibetan ceremonial vessels include pedestal bowls, covered tea bowls and offering sets, which are used in offerings to protective deities and may contain tea, alcohol, grains, sweets or ritual food.
Myanmar
Pedestal dishes and covered offering vessels are prominent in the material culture of Myanmar. The Burmese word () means “tray”, while ' () has a related meaning. An open Burmese pedestal dish is often called a kalat. Covered offering vessels known as are used to carry or present food and offerings in Buddhist contexts. Such vessels commonly consist of a pedestal, a bowl-like container, internal trays and a domed or spired cover; they are often made from lacquered bamboo or wood. Covered offering vessels similar to the Burmese hsun-ok are also found in the Shan regions of northeastern Myanmar. Their form is especially associated with Buddhist offering traditions, although open pedestal trays occur more widely across mainland Southeast Asia.
Cambodia, Thailand and the phan
In Cambodia and Thailand, pedestal trays used for offerings are generally known as or related forms such as pan and ban. Linguist Roger Blench has discussed an Austroasiatic word family for “pedestal tray” or “pedestal dish”, including Proto-Mon-Khmer *baːn, Kui phian, Surin Khmer piːan, T’in phɨan and Nyah Kur kǝbíǝn. He compares this vocabulary with Old Chinese *bˤan, meaning “tray”, and suggests that the Khmer, Thai and Shan forms may plausibly all be regional Chinese borrowings. Pedestalled dishes and bowls are documented in pre-Angkorian (300–500 CE) archaeological contexts in Cambodia and northeastern Thailand. Similar forms have also been noted among ceramics from Angkor Borei. Khmer inscriptions and studies of Khmer silverware also record trays and pedestal vessels among ceremonial objects. The Thai phan remains an important ceremonial object, including in the ritual of northeastern Thailand, where food and ritual offerings are placed on such trays. In the Ahom language, a related tray or pedestal vessel was called (). The same word could also refer to a maihang, another Assamese pedestal vessel or tray.
Other comparable vessels
Comparable pedestal trays and offering vessels are also used elsewhere in Southeast Asia. In Bali, the is a raised tray used to carry offerings in religious and ceremonial contexts. In the southern Philippines, the Maranao and Maguindanao use brass pedestal vessels known respectively as and during special occasions and communal food service; these vessels evolved from earlier earthenware forms. Examples of offering trays and pedestal vessels are also known from medieval Java and other parts of island Southeast Asia.
Usage
Xorais are used in Assamese religious, social and ceremonial life. Their principal uses include:
offering (betel nut and betel leaves) to guests as a sign of welcome, respect and thanks; placing food, offerings or ritual objects before an altar in a namghar, temple or household shrine; holding offerings during religious ceremonies and Neo-Vaishnavite observances; serving as a decorative symbol during traditional functions, including Bihu dance performances; being presented to guests, artists, public figures and dignitaries during felicitations and official ceremonies.
The Government of Assam describes the offering of on a xorai as a customary expression of devotion, respect and friendship, and also notes its use for placing prasad and other offerings in namghars or places of worship.
Tamul-pan and hospitality