by Bhupen Goswami
Guwahati : Corona has created a stir all over the world. The number of people infected with corona in the North-East is continuously increasing. However, people of Assam and North East are celebrating the festival of Rongali Bihu from today. With the elections, Assam has come under the mode of upcoming Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu festival. Bihu is the most spectacular and famous festival of Assam. Bohag Bihu i.e. Assamese Calendar Month begins on April 14.
The first day is celebrated as Goru Bihu (Cattle Bihu) throughout the state, while the second day is known as Manu Bihu (Human Bihu). The first day of Bihu is dedicated to cattle indicating human connection with nature. That is, Baisakh is not just a season, it is not only a month, but it is the ayurvection of the Assamese caste and the courage of the people. Various festivals are celebrated in different cultures of India. There is as many festivals as there is a winning state. One of these major festivals is the festival of Bihu celebrated in Assam.
The festival of Bihu is celebrated thrice a year in Assam. There are three types of bihu: Rongali Bihu, Kongali Bihu and Bhogli Bihu. Each festival historically means ‘Puchana’ and ‘Hu’ means ‘dena’ and from there the name Bihu originated. Rongali Bihu is the most important of all the three bihus. It falls in the Assamese month of Bohag, so it is also known as Bohag Bihu. In India, it is celebrated seven days after vishuvar sankranti or locally bohag (Bhaskar Panchang) of the month of Baisakh. It usually falls on April 13 the festival is celebrated for three days. The festival of Bohag Bihu shows crop harvesting. Baisakhi festival is celebrated in Punjab on the occasion of harvesting of the same crop. Bohag Bidu marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year.
From morning on this day, shepherds start making ingredients like gourd, brinjal, turmeric, dighalati, makhiyati etc. In the evening, they bring all the cows to the goshala and tie them up. It is believed that cows are not kept open on the day of Urura. Cow shepherds decorate a dalia with gourd, brinjal, etc. A new rope is prepared for each cow. The festival is celebrated for three days in the month of April—April 13, 14 and 15. These three days are known by different names. Gorubihu, Manuhorbih and Gamboribihu. In Assam, Rongali Bihu is taken from many traditions such as Burmese-China, Austro- Asiatic, Indo-Aryan- and is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The festival festival of Bohag Bihu begins in mid-April. People celebrate this festival with laughter and joy. This year, the festival of Rongali Bihu begins on Wednesday, 14th April.
The first day of Rongali Bihu is called Goru or Cow Bihu. As its name suggests, this day is dedicated to cows and other cultivating animals. On this day, people get up in the morning and take their cows to the river and bathe them. Soaked kalai dal and raw turmeric are used at night to bathe cows. Turmeric is coated with cows. After that, they are fed gourd, brinjal, etc. Assamese people sing traditional songs while feeding the cow. (Lao kha, bengena kha, bosor barhija, mar zoru, bepar zoru, toi hobi bor bor goru) which means eat cows, eat brinjals, grow year after year. In the evening, where cows are kept, the cow is tied with a new rope and mosquito-flies are driven away by burning various medicinal plants. On this day, people do not eat rice during the day, only curd chivada. First, in baisakh, the man’s brother-in-aid begins. Even on that day, everyone takes a bath in raw turmeric and wears new clothes and worships and eats curd chivada and various types of petha-laddu etc. It is from this day that the New Year of the Assamese people is considered to have begun. In the meantime, it is also a practice to eat 101 types of green leafy greens within seven days. The second day of Goru Bihu i.e. 15th April is celebrated as New Year in Assam.
This day’s banquet is called Bihu Kaborai. On this day, gamcha is also worn along with new clothes. This special type of towel is in the form of a beautiful towel. In which many shapes are formed. This towel is tied on the head or waist. Women wear attractive silk robes with mekhali sheets and corals. These garments are special garments of Assam. Many parties sing songs and dance to the tune of music to celebrate Bihu. Devotional songs sung are sung by husari method. This method praises And wishes for the blessings of Sri Krishna. During bihu, various types of sports and games are organized in the village. At the same time, ploughing is also done for the first time in farming. The drum behaviour that is done for bihu dance is also of importance. It is said that the sound of drums causes clouds in the sky and starts raining which leads to good farming.