Assam gears up for “Bihu” festival

GUWAHATI - Assam is getting dressed up to greet “Bihu”, a weeklong annual festival that marks the onset of Assamese New Year.

In Guwahati, locals are thronging market to buy the traditional articles, particularly those associated with Bihu.

The merry making festival Bihu is associated with dance, called Bihu Dance, a folk dance in which both young and old people dance, to the sounds of drums and other instruments. Many workshops have been organised to teach Bihu dance to the younger generation.

“Earlier Bihu dance did not happen in cities much as young boys and girls do not know the traditional Bihu dance. So, we are trying to take Bihu dance to its original place, where it was so popular,” said Mausami Pathak, a Bihu dance expert.

“With time Bihu dance has been commercialized. We cannot learn traditional Bihu dance from CDs. We learnt a lot here in this workshop,” said Bhabesh Deka, a dancer.

Bihu, which falls on April 14, marks the first day of the Hindu solar calendar and the day is also observed in other states like Bengal, Manipur, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu though the festival goes by different names.

Bihu is a time of merriment and feasting and continues, in general, for seven days.The farmers prepare the fields for cultivation of paddy and there is a feeling of joy around. (ANI)