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International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 05, (2020), pp.13670-13677 Agriculture based Folk Festivals of Different Tribes of Assam Sanjukta Baruah Research Scholar, Department of Assamese Gauhati University, Assam, India Abstract Every nation in the world has a common purpose behind the creation of different festivals. Many religious and non-religious meanings are hidden behind these folk festivals. A unique feature of such festivals celebrated by people from different ethnic groups and tribes is that these reflect an assimilation of varied cultures. In the case of Assamese culture as well, addition and subtraction of the traditional festivals of different castes and tribes have reflected a vivid panorama of unity and integrity. With the evolution of civilization, the human race has come to realize the issues through religious, social, psychological and natural experiences and such instances are being well-preserved through the folk festivals. Among the various national festivals of Assam, the cultural thinking of the ethnic tribes has been witnessed to be ascended. In the agricultural state of Assam, various agricultural festivals are celebrated. For example, in case of celebrating the Bihu festival, there are specific social customs and traditions according to the place and way of life of the tribal people. Magh Bihu, one of the three Bihus, is basically an agricultural festival. Magh Bihu is a festival full of entertainment which starts with Uruka, when community feasts are organized and continues with various games and other entertainment activities. Various customs and practices, rituals, manners etc. are reflected in observation of the Bihu. Various customs and rituals followed by the tribes of Assam like Boro, Mising, Garo, Karbi, Tiwa, Tea-tribes, Deori, Dimasa, Rabha etc. while observing the agriculture-based festivals are also significant in the field of the rich Assamese culture. Keywords: Magh Bihu, festival, Meji, tribe, customs, folk. Introduction Bhogali or Magh Bihu is a famous festival of the various seasonal festivals celebrated in the North-Eastern Indian state of Assam. Magh Bihu is celebrated on the day of transition of the Assamese month of Puh into the month of Magh. The day before the bihu is termed as ‘Uruka’ and on this day, the village people, irrespective of any age, come out to build the ‘Bhelaghar’ from the dried up straws, hays and dry banana stems. They stay awake the whole night guarding the Bhelaghar and offers betel leaf and nut at the dawn. This is followed by adding fire to the Meji by the elderly people of the village and then the Bhelaghar too is burned down. Several offerings and edibles are offered to please the God of fire (Agni Devata). Following this, the villagers assembled at the site enjoy the morning eating and sharing various edibles like pitha (Assamese sweet made of rice flour), ladoo, sweet potato, maah-korai (An Assamese food made by grinding fried pulses) etc. On the way back from the Meji, everyone brings half-burnt piece of wood to their house. On the day of Magh Bihu, the head of the family ties the house, trees, etc. with a strip of green bamboo or straw. It is believed that on doing so, productivity of fruit-bearing trees increases. It is in this festival of Magh Bihu, a wide variety of traditional sports like buffalo fight, egg fight, hen fight, Bulbul birds’ fight etc are celebrated across Assam. Magh Bihu is an agricultural folk festival of Assam. The state of Assam is the land of integration for the tribes and castes of different types. Magh Bihu has been celebrated by the tribes like Bodo, Karbi, Rabha, Tiwa, Mising etc in their own traditional ways. Although the form of folk festivals has changed in the age of globalization, it has not disappeared completely. As rural life became more and more interested in urban life, folk festivals also took on new forms, environments, and ideas. Through the celebration of folk festivals, every Assamese has taken care to preserve the pride, unity, solidarity and harmony of the Assamese people. The Magh Bihu is a significantly entertaining festival that starts with a community feasting on the night of Uruka and continues through the following times when people get busy with a number of games and festivitites. Basically, this festival of agricultural civilization reflects the customs, manners and aspirations of different tribes through the process of revelry and enjoyment. ISSN: 2005-4238 IJAST 13670 Copyright ⓒ 2020 SERSC International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology Vol. 29, No. 05, (2020), pp.13670-13677 Objective A research is always done with an underlying objective. The objective of this research paper is to study about the subject of this paper and to present the latest information, facts and conclusion learnt about it. The aim behind the study about the subject matter is to primarily gather knowledge about the similarities and differences between the rules and rituals of the tribes of Assam and the agriculture based festivals. Our objective is to learn about the contributions of various festivals observed by the ethnic tribes of Assam towards to the greater Assamese culture. Method Study is the essence of a research activity. The research will be proper only if the approach to the study is methodical. We have adopted Analytical Method along with Descriptive Method for this research. Moreover, the rules of the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Paper have been followed. Subject-Matter Agro-based folk festival of the Bodo tribe:- ‘Magou’ is the major agro-based folk festival of the Bodo tribe. Their stories related to food production, fertility, shelter or self-defence are deeply connected with the ‘Magou’ festival. ‘Magou’ festival starts on the last day of the Puh month and runs for three days. On the last day of the month of Puh, a young boy of the family ties the big and fruit-bearing trees of the house at a height of around 2 and a half feet with a special kind of grass string before bringing the cattle back to the cattle shelter. This particular grass string is ‘Tora’ grass which is used for tying the ripened bunches of rice while carrying those from the paddy field to home and they call this grass string as ‘tharai’. Folk belief is that while tying the ‘tharai’ on the trees, if a little kid is carried on the back of the person, the fruits of the trees become bigger. Moreover, as ‘tharai’ strings are used for tying the ripened bunches of rice, the crops give much more fruits. The day following this witnesses the beginning of the Magou festival. On the day of the Magou festival, people wake up very early in the morning and get ready for the celebrations taking early baths. They believe that if they get to hear the crows screaming before they could take bath, they get impure. Maah-korai (An Assamese food made by grinding fried pulses) is one of the main edibles prepared in the festival of Magou. On the first day, it is customary to offer cakes to the deceased. They believe that by doing so, they will have the opportunity to enjoy rice cakes of new crops even after death. The easy-go-living people of the Bodo society hold the kitchen and the store in high esteem. They believe that Lakshmi Devi resides in the kitchen and the storehouse is the place where Lakshmi Devi's all property are kept. They try not to bring paddy out of the store during the period from Magh Bihu to Bohag Bihu. They make an arrangement of keeping the necessary paddy out at a separate place for those months. However, if they need to go to the store and get paddy out before time, they does it only after practicing a particular ritual called ‘Brakhri dang nai’. While practising this ritual, they can enter into the store only after offering chicken eggs. Bodo people offer prayers to the Bagraja so that they do not get attacked by wild animals on entering into the deep jungles. On the first day of the month of Magh, the head of the family recites a mantra by Kaviraj at the entrance of the storehouse and sacrifices the chicken. Bathou puja is significant out of all major festivals celebrated by the Bodo people. They believe that the Bathou Burha and Bathou Burhi are the origin of the gods and goddesses on earth who also represents ‘Hara-Gouri’ (Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati). For Bodo people, the Siju tree (Euphorbia antiquorum) is a sign of peace and brotherhood, for which, they are seen to plant the Siju tree in the North East direction of their households. 18 bamboo sticks and 5 numbers of bamboo or can strips are used to cover the Siju plant from all over, keeping small gaps in between for the air to pass. Such elevated structures are being worshipped and purified through priest. Basil plants are also planted along the Siju tree. There were customs of sacrificing duck, hen, pigeon, pig etc., in the ancient times and gold and silver were used to prepare and sprinkle peace water. This is followed by the Deudhani (a folk dancer) dancing around the elevated structure holding sword in his hands and this particular dance form was widely prevalent amongst the Bodo people by the name of ‘Kherai’ dance. Bathou puja was celebrated in open space or inside the house. In later ages, the Bathou puja started to be practiced inside the temple. The Kherai dance, associated with this festival, is a seasonal dance. The etymological meaning of the term Kherai is – ‘Khar’ + ‘Aai’.
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