Agriculture Based Folk Festivals of Different Tribes of Assam

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.

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’. ‘Khar’ means running or taking a pace and ‘Aai’ represents goddess and Kherai is the dance form performed to please the Goddess. Another meaning of this term

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is – ‘Khā’ means to kneel down, Ra means to address a person which means, to dance addressing the God. This dance performance continues even after the end of the Bathou puja finishes. A set of particular instruments like Khaam, Siphung, Ringi, Ramtaal, Uwa, Khuwang, Bongona, etc are played in this dance performance.

Agro-based folk festival of the Rabha tribe:- Rabha tribe performs the ‘Ghar-gheroni’ programme on the day of Uruka while celebrating the Bhogali Bihu. They use to cover all kinds of big and small houses through the roofs of the houses using raw threads. Since the beginning of the ‘Ghar-gheroni’ ritual to three days onwards, they keeps aloof from activities like kitchen works, store house activities and other works that has to be performed by dao, hoe, axe etc. The process of calculating the annual cycle of the Rabhas is very nice. On the day of Goru Bihu, in some areas, twelve ladoos made of clay are kept. These twelve ladoos represent the twelve months of the year. This is used to see which month is going to show more rain and which month is to remain dry by examining the dampness of the ladoos. Bhogali bihu is celebrated as wholeheartedly by the Rabha community people as by rest of the Assamese people. The Rabha youth use to make preparations for the ‘Bhelalok Pura’ ritual in advance from a month/fortnight by using bamboo, straw and hay etc. The ash that is left after the Bhelalok is burnt is used for taking bindi on the forehead and the remaining ashes are carried to their homes. Rabha people gives ‘Ghar- gheroni’ on the roofs of the houses using raw threads on the evening of Uruka. Activities like making the Bhelaghar, preparing edibles like pitha, chira, xandoh etc are completed even before the ritual of ‘Ghar- gheroni’. They have a custom of not using the previously made edibles during the bihu and everything is prepared freshly. ‘Baikho’ is the spring festival of the Rabha community and the first day of this festival is called ‘Nakokhithar kay’ which stands for purification of the entire household. During this time, the households are cleaned. In the evening, Ojapali comes to every household of the village with a bowl of rice flour which is sprinkled on the roofs of every house. They believe that this ritual of rice flour sprinkling is a sign that goddess ‘Khoksi’ comes to take prayers. After this ritual, they start the ‘Baikho’ festival. The following day, other god-goddesses are worshipped. This festival is celebrated to welcome the New Year and with wishes for improvement of the fertility of the agricultural land. Four to five elderly people of the community gather and indulge in prayer of the deity on the day before ‘Baikho’ puja. They sing songs in memory of the valorous Rabha warriors and collects donation from households. Such songs are known as ‘Hoymaru’ geet and instruments like Dhak, Khutitaal are played to accompany these songs. The songs that have a relation with the ‘Baikho’ puja of the Rabha community are classified into two types- ‘Hoymaru geet’ and ‘Sakhar geet’. ‘Hoymaru geet’ are very holy songs and these are performed in correct form. ‘Baikho’ puja is the only festival of the Rabha community that they perform to please goddess Baikho and increase the fertility of the agricultural land. Just like prayers are sung to increase the fertility of the earth, similarly, this festival also encourages the youth of the community to unite and begin a conjugal life. Another festival of the Rabha community associated with their folk religion and folk beliefs are ‘Khoksi puja’. As per the tradition of this puja, the Rabhas of Rangdani Gauri place a piece of stone at the place of the Goddess on the occasion of the puja. They follow the rituals with all necessary resources while worshipping the piece of stone. A seven layer Meji made of a kind of grass is built and then lit in this puja. The priests of the puja dance around the fire. In order for the Rabhas to live a happy life and the production of the main agricultural crops of the livelihood to increase, they pray to the Goddess Khokchi offering the sacrifice of pig.

Agro-based folk festival of the Karbi tribe:- A variety of folk beliefs and customs have traditionally been observed in the agricultural folk festivals prevalent among the Karbi tribe. The major agricultural folk festival of the tribe is known as ‘Hasa-Kekan’. The Magh bihu celebrated by the Karbi people is very vivid and beautiful with an assimilation of dance-music and a variety of cuisines. Although they have to do their cultivations in hilly areas, most of them cultivate in the plains. Their festival ‘Hasa-Kekan’ has an inseparable relation with their paddy cutting system. ‘Hasa-Kekan’ itself means ‘dancing in harvest festival’. A similar kind of festival with the Magh bihu, ‘Sojunod’ shows the abundance of various food items along with a local beer called ‘Harlang’ that they offer to their deities. The Karbi people celebrates their ‘Hasa-Kekan’ festival one day after the Magh Bihu celebrations are started in the

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Assamese month of Magh (January). A youth festival called ‘Riso-Nimoso Arong Aaje’ is celebrated in the following month, i.e. in February. The hilly region in the central part of Assam is the abode of the Karbis. The characteristics of the different festivals celebrated by the Karbis are unique in themselves. Like other communities in Assam, the Karbis also celebrate their agricultural festivals in harmony with various events related to agriculture. Outside the plain areas cultivation is done using the ‘jhum’ method in the hilly areas. Karbi people do the cultivation of a particular kind of paddy called ‘Chubok’ which means a kind of red rice. These crops are cultivated in the month of June and are harvested in December. The paddy is tied in the form of certain bunches and are kept in a farmhouse called ‘Mandu’. The paddy is carried to home by putting those in a bag called ‘Mantung’ which is made of a particular fabric called ‘Pelu’. A puja is performed at each stage of the process of harvesting and threshing the grains of this jhum cultivation. ‘Johong’ is the main festival of the Karbi people living in the plain areas. Sacrifices are important elements of this festival and it is celebrated by the community in the house of the village head ‘Bangkher’. Earlier, this festival was observed for seeking the blessings of the deities before going to war by the Karbi people. In this festival, Karbi people, irrespective of all ages, use to dance to the rhythm of ‘Cheng’ and ‘Murip’. Karbi people, in their old capital ‘Rong Hang Rang Bong’ celebrate several festivals at the national level. The festivals are celebrated by the king and main priest of the Karbi people. Sometimes when it is not raining, the priest prays to God on behalf of all human beings. The ordinary Karbi people cannot perform this prayer. This is a significant festival for them. Thus, following the laws of nature, the Karbis have traditionally made a living by holding agricultural festivals and agricultural activities. ‘Dehaal’ or ‘Deuxaal’ is another significant festival of the Karbis which is celebrated on any Monday or Tuesday in the month of Phagun. While preparing for the puja, the Karbi people practices Arnam-Amul (a gathering of the deities) to choose the Talukdar. This person then starts collecting rice for the preparation of meal and rice beer from every household. A week before the festival, Along meal is cooked to purify the Talukdar and Mensohel (a young lady) and the Along Aahar (beer made for the worshipping). Various things required for the puja are collected from that day. After a weeklong collection of things for the puja, the villagers gather on a Saturday and go for community fishing. After the passage of six days like this, the Jogan is invited on Monday and a person from each family of the village starts Jogan with ‘Mir Ki Krong’ (the festival of knitting a garland). The main functions of the puja are completed on Tuesday. Among the festivals celebrated by Karbis, Rasinoja- which is celebrated on the first day of the year, agro-based festival Rongker –celebrated at the start of the cultivation season (practiced since the ancient times) and Sojun puja observed for rain are significant.

Agro-based folk festival of the Garo tribe:- Like the Hasa Kekan festival of the Karbi people, Wangala is the major agricultural festival of the Garo tribe which can well be compared with the Bhogali Bihu of Assamese people. As the Garo people live in the hills, jhum cultivation gets more importance in their society. Some of the rules and regulations of the cultivation process till the time of harvesting and stocking of crops are observed through various festivals, like any other agriculture-based civilization. Like the Uruka celebrated on the eve of Magh Bogu, Garo people celebrate their ‘Ahaya’ festival. One of the major activities performed during the Wangala festival is preparation of ‘Chu’ (local rice beer). They offer prayers to their God of Harvest Michisaljong with the ’chu’, grains and meat. Wangala festival is celebrated amid dancing-singing and a happy atmosphere by the youth of the community. After the Wangala festival, ‘Chachat’ is celebrated, in which the elderly of the tribe dances holding swords and shields in their hands and singing ‘Grika’ songs. They take to narrate the valorous history of their forefathers through such dancing and singing. As a holy mark of Wangala, rice flour is mixed with water and the young men of the tribe applies this mixture on the walls of the houses while also sprinkling some to the people present in the celebration. On the first day of the ‘Ahaya’ festival, a portion of the grains produced in jhum cultivation is offered to the deities. This festival is marked for establishing unity and integrity among all the people of the Garo tribe. The dekachang (a place where youth of the tribe stays together) in Garo society is termed as ‘Nukpanthe’ and these dekachangs are used as a place where the Garo youth takes their local beer and indulges in singing and dancing during the festivities. The young boys of the tribe spend the night at the dekachang itself. Garos, who usually depend on agriculture for their livelihood, cultivate with the help of Jhum system. They cultivate a great

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variety of items like Ximalu, cotton, potato, brinjal, chilli, ash gourd, gourd, arum along with the rice cultivation of different types. The main attraction of the Wangala festival of the Garos is their ‘Dhol’ (an instrument) playing and dancing competition. This competition is seen to be held among the Garo villages and for this competition, hundred and one numbers of long and big Dhols are arranged. People of all gender and age can participate in this competition. The village head (Nokmai) use to dance wearing their national attire, colourful bird wings and leaves on his head and holding a dao. The rest of the senior people of the village dances with Millam in their hands. Like the agricultural festival of Wangala, Garo people also celebrate another harvesting festival called Rongchugala that takes place at the end of the harvesting season. This is one of the significant festivals of the Garos. The term Rongchu means Chita (pyre) in Garo language. The connotation of this festival is that now they start feeding on their grains. Once the crops start ripening, every household in the Garo society starts preparing Chu in their houses and these are collected. Chira is prepared from the half-ripe rice flakes and is first offered to the deities along with Chu. After that, the people of the villages celebrate and indulges in merry making by taking chira and Chu. According to their norms, one cannot eat the newly harvested grains prior to the celebration of this festival.

Folk festivals of the Mising tribe:- The Mising tribes are predominantly riverine. In order to worship the fire-god, the Mising community observes various rules from the time of making the Meji to the day of burning down the Meji. According to custom, they go for community fishing and hunting and enjoy a feast together. Their custom of praying the fire of the Meji and then feasting on Apong (local beer), Kath aloo (a kind of potato that tastes sweet and fiber) are important. They too have a custom of tying the fruit-bearing trees with straws with the wish of increase in fruit production. The main ritual on the day of the Magh bihu is to offer prayers to the God of Fire. Such prayers generally involve recalling the necessities of human life in presence of Agni Devata and wishing for a prosperous future without suffering. Preparation of a wide variety of pithas (edibles sweets), making the Meji and Bhelaghar, community feasting and ‘buffalo fights’ are some of the integral parts of the Magh bihu celebration of the Missing community. They call the Magh bihu as ‘Ma:go’. They consider the ‘Donyi-polo’ (the Sun and Moon) as the origin of creations of this universe. While blessing a person, they are heard to have said, “Do Nyoka: Tei Ka Po: Lo: Ka Teika” which means the Sun and the Moon are there to do well to all and their blessings are essential for the human life to survive. From the first day of the month of Pooh, the village youth of every family collects the Nol-khagori grasses from the wood, bushes from river banks etc. They term this activity as ‘Miru Trirnaam’, which means collecting wood for the purpose of Meji making. These woods and grasses are piled up at one place to make the Meji and such activities are done amidst the cheerful singing of Oinitom (a folk song of Mising community). During this time, the girls and women folk of the Mising community gets busy in a variety of activities like separating the rice grains from the paddy, weaving, wood collecting, digging ground for finding potato, arum etc., keeping the grains under the Sun, preparation of Apong, collecting herbs like the seed of the elephant’s apple, the skin of the Ximalu tree, Khalihoi etc for hair care and washing and so on. The womenfolk of the community also do other activities like cleaning their houses, especially the upper and lower areas of their Chang Ghar (a house with a raised platform), the front and backyards etc on the day of Uruka. Towards the evening, they put roasted rice grains in Urals (big hand grinders) to make rice flour from these. It is this roasted rice flour that is formed into ladoos after being mixed with jiggery and served to the youth and elderly and everybody else of the community. Each household use to prepare their favourite cuisine Purang, which is a meal prepared from Bora rice (a variety of rice with sticky nature) by wrapping it in the leaf of Tora tree. The Ali-Aye-Ligang festival, celebrated on the first Wednesday of the month of Fagun by the Misings, is one of their main festivals. The Mising people have been celebrating the Ali-Aye-Ligang festival as an agricultural festival from the ancient times. The term ‘Ali’ means crops, ‘Aye’ means fruit and ‘Ligang’ means sowing seeds. The missing society has an integral relation with the harvesting festival of Magh Bihu and the sowing festival of Bohag Bihu. With the advent of spring, this festival is celebrated in various ways to engage in agriculture. For them, ‘Wednesday’ is the most auspicious day. From a few days before the starting of the main festival, everyone goes for community fishing in the ponds, rivers or goes for hunting pigs, birds and enjoys community feasts. Following the prevailing folk-belief in the Mising society, they wash their household equipments like the

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dao, hoe, shovel, plough etc with their local rice beer Apong and keep them on the chang (rack). In addition, on the day of Ali-Aye-Ligang, people go from house to house wishing good luck to the families and everyone eats together. The item prepared for the feasts are offered in memory of the ancestors and in the name of the deities. After the feasts, the youth of the community enjoys the night further by dancing and singing. While dancing bihu at night, the young boys and girls wear their special traditional attires ‘Gapa’ and ‘Gare’, which are woven at home. This is noticeable that the dancing rhythm and postures that youth dancers use to make in the Ligang festival are not repeated in another festival. Like the Ali-Aye-Ligang festival, Po:Rag too is an agricultural festival of the Mising community which is also termed as ‘Nora Chiga Bihu’. This festival is celebrated only after the harvesting is done and is observed for three days.

Folk festivals of the Tiwa tribe: The primitive tribe of Assam Lalungs possesses various cultures. The Khasi Jaintia tribe calls the Lalung people as Lala and the Karbi tribe calls them as Lalung. The terms ‘Lang’ and ‘Lu’ connotes water and child. They have been observing their festivals like Sonkhong puja, Sogra Miswa, Borot festival, Gosai uliuwa festival Xingaal puja etc with a particular set of rituals and beliefs. They are mainly an agricultural tribe and hence, most of the festivals celebrated by them are agriculture based. The spring festival that Tiwa tribe celebrates with their specific rituals and customs is ‘Sogra Miswa’ which is celebrated in the midst of the month of Phagun with great reverence by all. This festival is celebrated either on a Sunday or a Wednesday. The Tiwa people worship Lord Shiva (Mahadev). The ‘Lali Hilali’ song, ‘Wansuwa’ songs are well admired in the Tiwa society. The Tiwas live in villages by forming various sects, called ‘khel’s among themselves. The role of the Borjela, Lor and Sangdole of the sect is immense when it comes to managing the social activities of the community. There are different folk beliefs and customs among the Tiwas. According to their rules, marriage does not take place within the same clan, race or family. Like other communities in Assam, the Tiwa people also have the tradition of Dekachang. It is very important in terms of their problems, good start-ups, maintenance of public property. ‘Nu-bar Banupar’ is the community prayer place of the Tiwa people and it is a major place of worship for them where almost every religious activity is performed. Another social prayer place of the Tiwa tribe is Sevaghar. Moreover, two other main festivals of the Tiwa tribe are the commercial centric Junbeel Mela and Borot Utsav. In the Junbeel Mela, various commodities are exchanged through the barter system. This mela is celebrated for two days every year on the Friday and Saturday that falls immediately after Magh Bihu. During this festival, the Tiwa people do community fishing as well. Besides, the Tiwa tribe residing in plain areas also organize various festive activities like fishing, buffalo fight, egg fight, hen fight etc during the time of the Magh Bihu. The Tiwa people makes Meji in Magh bihu and they offer a prayer with a pair of betel nuts and leaf along with a certain token before beginning the preparation of the Meji. The Dhuliya (person who plays the dhol), cattle man, young boys of the village etc gathers at one place on the day of Uruka. They also invite the elderly people of the village to become a part of their fun and sports activities. The elderly people gather at the place later and take their local drink after praying to the God and after that they celebrate by singing and dancing Bihu. At around 4 or 5 in the morning, the head of the cattlemen adds fire to the Meji following which everybody present at the place of the Meji recalls the almighty and enjoys the burning of the Meji. The cattleman/cowboy pulls the half burnt straws out of the Meji and goes to take bath in the pond. They return to their homes after the Meji is completely burnt. Some of the people present at the place of Meji may stay back to offer traditional beer or other edibles to the priests seeking their blessings for the fulfilment of their wishes. On the day of Bohag Bihu, the farm equipments are neatly cleaned and rolled up in front of the storehouse. In the evening, blood of the sacrificed chicken is sprinkled on the farm implements. Sogra Misawa, the festival of dance and song observed on a Wednesday in the month of Fagun, ends on the following Monday. After a hard day's work in the fields, they seek the blessings of the deities in the form of dance and music and offer their farm implements to the deity for the time they are away from farming. In some parts of the Tiwa villages in Assam, an agricultural festival called ‘Yaling’ is celebrated for three days.

Agro-based folk festival of the Dimasa tribe:- Dimasas are simple people living on farming. Their main festivals are ‘Rajini gabra’ and ‘Hani gabra’. They usually reside on the fertile banks of river or streams for farming. Along with jhum cultivation, they also do

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water cultivation. In addition to the cultivation of rice, they also cultivate pumpkin, pineapple, ginger etc. In addition to jhum cultivation in hilly areas the Dimasa tribe is witnessed to have done farming in plain fields too. They can be seen doing a variety of worshipping seeking the blessings of the almighty for increasing the fertility of their agricultural soils and agricultural productivity. Amongst such festivals, the harvest festival 'Bishu' is significant. Dimasa people celebrate the New Year festival by bidding farewell to the departing year and welcoming the New Year on January 27 every year. Again, the Dakshinayan Bishu, Jal Bishu and Uttarayan Bishu are celebrated in the months of Ahar, Ahin and Magh, respectively. Accordingly the Dimasa tribe living in Cachar used to celebrate a Bishu festival called 'Gati Mayajara'. In the following times, the Baishagi Bihu is celebrated. The meanings behind the celebration of the 'busu' festival are - 'Busu' means Bihu and 'Ma' means biggest and thus Busuma Basain (Basain means days) are the most significant and holy days of the Dimasa Bihu. Busu is of three kinds- Busujidab, Busu Surem and Busu Hangseu. If they celebrate the bihu for one day then that particular day, if they celebrate it for three days then the second day and if it is for seven days then the third day is called as Busuma bihu.

Agro-based festivals of the tea tribes:- The tea tribes celebrate a festival called Tusu-Parav that resembles the Magh bihu. The objective of this parav is to worship the Tusu Devi. In this puja, a young girl is disguised as 'Tusuma' or 'Ma' (goddess) and worshipped at her own home. The Tusu Parav rituals are performed in two parts-one in the girl's home and the other on the bank of a river. The people participating in the puja on the bank of the river sing and dance to make the atmosphere very joyful. After the puja and celebrations, Goddess Tusu is immersed in the river. The tea tribes also practise their traditional folk culture and games. They predict profits and losses to be made in the coming year from the outcomes of the games of cock fights. The tea tribes considers Goddess Tusu as a human being while performing Umola geet (lullabies), Adoroni geet (welcoming song), songs sung in praise of the beauty of Goddess Tusu, Tusu's marriage song, song for the first night of marriage, song sung for in-laws and brother and sister-in-law, Juranaam etc. The Karam puja celebrated by the tea tribes are of two types- Rajah Karam and Jitiya Karam. Rajah Karam is celebrated within the Panchami tithi and Ekadashi tithi in the month of Bhado. Jitiya Karam has no hard and fast time frame for celebration. Karam puja is celebrated with the singing of the Bondona geet (prayers), Khemta geet, Rongeet etc. In addition to these, the Jhumur dance and song are particularly noteworthy. The young boys and girls of the tribe dance hand-in-hand in a wide open place to the tune of Jhumur's song and the sound of Madol(a musical instrument). The Jhumur dance songs describe various stories and facts related to growth, development and production of tea plantation by tea workers. Moreover, the social and economic facets of their lives are also expressed in these songs. The tea tribes sing telling about the stories of their day-to-day lives as tea labourers while dancing to the tune of the jhumur song throughout the night, keeping their sorrows and pain aside. In the next morning after the Karam festival, they shifts Lord Karam and the branches of Karam tree placed with him from the elevated surface and immerses the idol in a nearby river or pond following their folk customs. The seeds in the branches of tree are sprinkled on the paddy fields while praying for an affluence of livestock and crops. In this way, they bid farewell to their Karam festival for that year. Such festivals are like energizing forces for the tea tribes living in Assam. Karam Parav or Karam puja is a symbol of agriculture and fertility. ‘Jhawa tula’ is a very essential factor for this puja. Those girls and women who want to participate in this puja, they go to the rivers three, five or seven days before the day of the puja and take bath there by playing musical instruments like Dhol, Madal, Flute etc., and offering prayers with incense stick, earthen lamp and prasad and collect a handful of sand in their baskets. The worshippers of this puja sprinkle the grains and pulses that they carry for the puja and keep a sign of their worshipping site. The pulses and grains which germinate till the day of the puja are called ‘Jhawa’.

Conclusion The agricultural festivals of Assam are ancient and universal. In ancient times, various prayers and worships took place in many parts of the world which were centred on agriculture. In Assam too, various folk-festivals have sprung up centred on agriculture. There are mentions about cultivation using the plough in the mythological holy books of Ramayana (2000 AD) and Mahabharata (1400 BC). In Ramayana, it is mentioned

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that King Janaka had found Sita while digging the ground using a plough and Lord Rama had asked his brother Bharat to take special care of the farmers so that peace and happiness are maintained in the kingdom. People of different ethnic groups organize the agricultural festivals at the end of the harvesting periods to celebrate their happiness. During this period, agricultural people do not have any shortage of things. Such a festival evokes a sense of harmony. Assamese culture, too, is centred on the culture of paddy field. The rich and unique history of the Assamese culture which it has gained through the ages has been beautifully expressed through agro-based festivals. Assam is the home to several ethnic groups like Austric, Dravid, Mongolian, Nordik etc who have inhabited in the state since ages. The greater Assamese culture is the creation of mutual sharing, exchange and assimilation between these ethnic groups. The influence of various ethnic groups such as Bodo, Rabha, Karbi, Dimasa, Tiwa, Mising, Deuri etc. on the nourishment and development of the greater Assamese culture is immense.

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