Guwahati (Assam) [India], Apr 13 : The city of Guwahati came alive with the celebration of ‘Rongali’- a colourful carnival of Assam held in the premises of Sonaram field, Guwahati.
The festival saw an extravagant presentation of the rich and colourful cultural heritage of the different states of the region. The festival aimed at promoting 'Bohag' or Rongali Bihu' of Assam in the global tourism platform.
Lip-smacking delicacies, exquisite art and artefacts, folk dance performances, spectacular Bihu ‘Husori’ competition, art exhibition marked the celebration of ‘Rongali’, the held in the premises of Sonaram field in Guwahati.
The three-day-long extravaganza brought to light the best of the north-eastern states to its visitors. The festival also aimed to promote 'Rongali' or 'Bohag Bihu' to the global platform.
Overall, the carnival saw folk dance performances from various states of the region, including- Nagaland's warrior dance, Mizoram's Cheraw dance, Hojagiri dance from Tripura, Manipur's Dhol Chalam, sword dance and Mishing dance of Deshi community, Assam.
The major highlight of the festival was the performance by the ‘Husori troupe’ and the Bihu dance by the young girls and boys that left the audience spellbound.
“Rongali is the biggest carnival of northeast and our motive is to promote tourism potentialities of the region and more particularly to showcase the culture of Assam and promote tourism of the state,” said Shyamkanu Mahanta, the organiser.
The eye-catching ‘Husori’ performance in the backdrop of the traditional Assam houses mesmerised the audience that thronged the cultural extravaganza.
Besides that, Manipur’s Dhol Cholom dance by a group of local artists reflected the rich ethnicity of the state of Manipur.
Thousands of visitors, including young and the old alike, from the nook-and-corner of the region, assimilated the true essence of the culture of the northeast region.
“We are very much overwhelmed. 'Rongali' is celebrated with the utmost pomp and gaiety. We enjoy a lot as it is a kind of cultural amalgamation and it is nice to watch other's performances. We dance together with merrymaking,” said, Kakali Mahanta, one of the performers.
Moreover, the festival also paid tribute to Abhijeet Nath and his friend Nilotpal Das, who were lynched in Assam's Karbi Anglong district when they had gone there last year to capture the sounds of nature.
“Apart from folk dance, 'Rongali' is also about regional delicious cuisine of the northeast. We have a line up of both traditional and modern music. Overall it’s a great cultural amalgamation under one platform,” said, Dr Prasanna Gogoi, a member of the organising committee.
The sounds of ‘dhol’, ‘pepa’, and ‘gagana’ (Assamese folk instruments) reverberates the atmosphere as young boys and girls were seen dancing to the tune of the ‘bihu geet’.
The festival is an attempt to promote the state’s tourism potentialities to the global forefront. It is a community initiative of hoteliers and tour operators of the region and is driven by Trend MMS, the organiser of famous North East Festival, Delhi and North East India Festival, Bangkok, along with the support from Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Assam.