History
Borgeets (or “Celestial Songs”) are devotional songs composed by Srimanta Sankardeva and his disciple Madhavadeva, used in daily prayer services. These are passionate prayers seeking shelter at the feet of the Supreme Being. High Philosophical thoughts, moral broodings and devotional sentiments get expression with lyrical lucidity. According to Guru-carita-katha, Sankardeva composed 240 such Gitas. But the manuscript containing the same was consumed by a wild fire, and only 34 such songs survived. Madhavadeva followed his Master and composed 191 such songs. Beautiful metaphors, similies, alliterations, rhythmic felicities and musical accents are some of the characteristics of Borgeet. They are tuned to classical Ragas and the number can go upto 32.
(Sourced from The Sattriya Dance of Assam – an Analytical and Critical Study by Jagannath Mahanta)