Guwahati gears up for Rongali Bihu celebrations with vibrant Bihu dance workshops

Guwahati: As the country gears up for Lok Sabha elections, the festive ambiance of Rongali Bihu fills Guwahati and other parts of the state with vibrant arrangements being made to celebrate Assam’s most significant festival.

Preparations to celebrate the biggest festival of Assam are in full swing.
Many Bihu organising Committees have organised Bihu dance workshops in different parts of Guwahati.

Pub-Guwahati Bihu Sanmilan has organised a Bihu dance workshop at Chandmari field in Guwahati, where more than 700 students have participated.

Simanta Thakuria, General Secretary of Pub-Guwahati Bihu, while speaking to media, said, “This year, Pub-Guwahati Bihu Sanmilan has entered 63 years and we are trying to teach our culture to the new generation. We have organised this Bihu dance workshop. This is a 10-day workshop and it will continue till April 11. Along with students, many guardians also participated in this workshop. As of now, more than 700 students have participated in the workshop,” Simanta Thakuria said.
The Bihu dance workshop started on April 2.

Rongali Bihu, also known as Bohag Bihu, is one of the most important festivals celebrated in the Indian state of Assam, particularly by the Assamese people. It marks the beginning of the Assamese New Year and usually falls in mid-April. The festival signifies the onset of the agricultural season and is celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervour.

Rongali Bihu is a multi-day festival that typically spans seven days, each day known as ‘Xaat Bihu.’ The celebration involves various cultural activities, traditional rituals, and feasting.

On the first day of Rongali Bihu – the cattle are washed, and smeared with a paste of fresh turmeric, black lentil, etc while people sing to them – “Lao kha, bengena kha, bosore bosore barhi ja, maar xoru, baper xoru, toi hobi bor bor goru (Eat gourd, eat brinjal, grow from year to year, your mother is small, your father is small, but you be a large one)” and then the people also worship the cattle.