Culture & Festivals of Assam

Assam : A Land of Cultural Diversity & Festivities

Assam has a rich culture of fairs and festivals, dances and music,languages,arts and crafts. Also the land is known for its delicious cuisines. The land is regarded as the anthropological and folklore paradise due to its various people, who are maintaining its unique culture and tradition.Bihu is the greatest festival of Assam.

Assam is a meeting ground of diverse cultures whose roots date back to almost two thousand years. The people of this enchanting state are an intermixing of various racial stocks such as Mongoloid, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian and Aryan. The Assamese culture is a rich and exotic tapestry of all these races evolved through a long process of assimilation. The state has a large number of tribes, each unique in its tradition, culture, dress and exotic way of life.

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Festivities & Culture compliment each other

Important festivals of assam

Ambubasi Mela or Ambubasi Festival ( Haat Loga in Assamese )

Maa Kamakhya Devi temple is one of the strongest Shakti Peeth amongst the existing nine Shakti Peethas if Hindu Goddess Durga, according to Hindu mythology. Shakti Peethas are the places of worship concentrated to the Goddess Shakti or Goddess Sati or the wife of Lord Shiva. Kamkhya Devi temple in Nilachal hills of Guwahati, Assam annually celebrate Ambubasi Mela during the monsoon season to celebrate menstruation course of Goddess Kamakhya.

Rongker & Chomangkan Festival

Rongker is the major springtime annual festival celebrated among Karbis in the month of April at the same time Punjab celebrates Baisakhi. Assamese celebrate Rongali Bihu. Karbis are one of the major ethnic groups in North East India and especially in the hill areas of Assam. They are the primary inhabitants of the Karbi Anglong district. These people are mainly found in North Cachar district, Kamrup, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts of Assam.

Karam Puja

Karam Puja is the most important festival of tea tribe communities of Assam with a view to propitiating ‘Mother of Earth’ – the Goddess of Creation. It is celebrated on the night of ‘Bhado Ekadasi’ which is generally in the mid of August. It is basically an agriculture related festival. It is believed that by the blessing of God “Karam” they will get bumper crops and their family will be saved from evil.

Bare Saharia Bhaona

Bhaona is like drama what is a traditional form of entertainment among assamese people. It was created by Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva. Bhaona is a medium to convey religious messages to villagers through entertainment. It is mainly focused on ultimate victory of good with intercession by the Gods. He characters generally showing fictitious or mythological kings, queens, demons & Gods.

Kaziranga Elephant Festival

The popular Elephant Festival is held in the north eastern state of Assam in India. This Elephant festival is mainly celebrated to encourage people to save and conserve elephants. This festival is a major crowd drawer. The government of Assam hosts annual Elephant festival in Kaziranga National Park every year since 2004. In 2003, 300 elephants participated in the show.

Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu

The Kati or Kongali Bihu is also closely related to agriculture. Kati Bihu is celebrated on the first day ‘Kati’ month in Assamese calender. Kati Bihu is also called Kangali. ‘Kongal’ means ‘Poor’ because there is not much to eat at this time of the year.

Bagurumba – Festivals of Boros

Bagurumba is a folk dance of Assam, India performed by the Boros. It is the usually practiced during Bwishagu, a festival of the Bodos in the Bishuba Sankranti or Mid-April. The Bwishagu starts with cow-worship. Then young people reverentially bow down to their parents and elders.

Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu

Bohag Bihu one o the major festivals of Assam commonly known as Rongali Bihu is celebrated in Assam during middle month of April. It is the most popular Bihu celebrates the onset of the Assamese New Year ( around April 15 ) and the coming of Spring. This marks the first day of the Hindu Solar calender and is also observed in Bengal, Manipur, Nepal, Orrisa, Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu though called by different names.

Baishagu Festival

Baishagu is the major festival celebrated by Bodos with much pomp and enthusiasm in mid of April at the same time Punjab celebrates Baisakhi. Assamese celebrated Rongali Bihu. Bodos are the largest scheduled tribes in Assam. They are the branch of Indo-Mongoloid family. They believe that they have miograted from Tibet and Burma to settle in Assam. They are mostly in lower Assam districts like Kokrajhar.

Jonbeel Mela

Started later than 15th century AD, this was first organized several centuries ago by the Ahom kings to discuss the prevailing political situations. Jonbeel Mela is one of the most attractive and unique festival of Assam where Barter system comes alive. It is the only fair in India where barter system is still alive. Just 30 km from the state capital Guwahati, Assam it is a 3day long community fair held at the weekend of Magh Bihu.

Majuli Festival of Assam

Majuli festival is celebrated on the banks of the River Luit in Majuli, which is the biggest river island in the world. The festival is held in a region located at a distance of 1.5 kms from the headquarters of Majuli, Garamur. The festivities start from the 21st of the month of November and continue for four days ending on the 24th of November.

Assam Tea Festival

The Assam Tea Festival is held in several parts of the state of Assam in the month of November every year. This festival is organized by Assam Tourism. The festivities in Jorhat are reputed during the tea festival in Assam. It is a unique experience being at the festival. The festival comes across an equisite blend of pleasure and work. Conferences are held to address the current issues of the tea industry and delegates from across the world participate.

Ali Aye Ligang – A Festival of Mishings Society

It is the main festival of the ethnic Mishing community of the region, in which they perform traditional rituals and dances. This festival is celebrated on the first Wednesday of the Phagun month, which starts from mid-February.

Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu ( Bihu of Enjoyment )

Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu or Maghor Bihu which is a harvest festival and marks the end of harvesting season comes from the word Bhog that is eating and enjoyment. It marks the end of harvesting season in the meonth of Maagha (January – February ). It is the Assam celebration of Sankranthi with feasting lasting for a week.

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