Festivals of North-East India

North-East India is rich in culture. There are a large number of ethnic groups and tribes present in northeast India and each one of them have their unique festivals. The list is so large that it is impossible to cover them all in a single post. So, here we will discuss only the important and major festivals of each of the eight states of northeast India.

Festival of Arunachal Pradesh:

(i) Losar

• Celebrated by the Monpa tribes
• Five long day festival, to welcome the New year
• Religious flags are hoisted atop the houses of the people

(ii) Reh

• Celebrated by Idu Mishmi tribes
• Celebrated to foster peace and prosperity among the people

(iii) Ojiale

• Celebrated by the Wancho tribes
• Celebrated for six to twelve days during March-April
• Villagers exchange bamboo tubes of rice beer as a mark of greetings and goodwill and pigskin is offered to the village chief as a respect

(iv)  Tamladu

• Celebrated by the Digaru Mishmi tribes
• They offer prayers to the God of earth and water to protect them from natural calamities.

(v) Khan

• In this festival, the priest ties a piece of wool around everyone's neck. It is believed that this thread will bring good luck to each one of them
• The festival also signifies an occasion of the reunion of the people

(vi) Sangken

• Celebrated to realise, in depth, the images of Lord Buddha
• It heralds the new year.

(vii) Mopin

• Celebrated with much funfare
• Smearing rice powder on each other's face marks the beginning of this festival.

Festivals of Assam

(i) Bihu

• Bihu is largely based on agriculture.
• The people of Assam celebrate three Bihus in a year - the Bohag Bihu, the Kati Bihu and the Bhogali Bihu
• The Bohag Bihu is the spring festival of Assam. It is the more colourful among the three Bihus and hence it is popularly known as Rongali Bihu. It marks the advent of the sowing season and the charm of this festival is the unique and graceful Bihu Dance.
• The Kati Bihu is celebrated in the Assamese month of Kati. The farmers get ready to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity. It is done by lighting chaki (earthen lamp) under the tulsi plant. Kati Bihu is the time when granary is empty and hence also known as Kangali Bihu.
• The Bhogali Bihu is the harvest festival of Assam. It is called Bhogali Bihu because its celebration is mostly centred around a community feast. The most significant part of this Bihu are the large bonfires called Meji around which people gather on the eve of Bihu and feast.

(ii) Ambubachi Mela

• The important religious festival of Assam, which is held at the Shakti Temple of Maa Kamakhya
• Thousands of devotees, from distant places, visit this temple during the festival

(iii) Shivratri

• Famous and widely celebrated festival of Assam
• Places in Assam where Shivratri is held in large scale are- the Sukreshwara Temple (Guwahati), the Shiva Dol (Sivasagar), the Umananda Temple (Guwahati), the Mahabhairav Temple (Tezpur), etc

(iv) Birth and Death Anniversaries of Srimanta Sankardev and Madhabdev

• Festivals of Vaishnavites of Assam
• Celebrated by performing Naam, Bhaona, etc in the premises of Naamghar.

(v) Apart from these, the people of Assam also celebrate Me-Dam-Me-Phi, Tusu Puja and the common Indian festivals like Holi, Durga Puja, Mahavir Jayanti, Christmas, etc. The Muslims of Assam celebrate Eid, Muharram, etc.

Festivals of Manipur

(i) Yaosang

• Celebrated on the full moon night of Phalgun (February-March)
• Thabal Chongba folk dance is associated with this festival

(ii) Lai Haraoba

• Spring Festival held in April-March and is symbolized by a traditional, stylish and ritualistic dance performed collectively for peace and prosperity
• Celebrated in honour of forest deities collectively known as Umag Lai. It is celebrated in the honor of Thangjing, the most venerable deity.

(iii) Heirku Hindongba

• Regarded as the festival of joy and merrymaking.
• This festival features a boat race between two groups of Meiteis along with a 16-metre wide boat.

(iv) Cheiraoba

• Celebrated in the month of April
• Rituals include villagers climbing the nearest hilltop in the belief that it will enable them to rise to greater heights in their worldly life.
• Special festive dishes are prepared which are offered to various deities

(v) Ningol Chakouba

• Domestic Festival of Meities.
• Grand festival of the feast, generally arranged by male group (father/brother) of a family in honor of the female group (daughter/sister). Corresponds with the North Indian festival 'Bhai Dooj'.

(vi) Rath Yatra

• One of the biggest festival of Hindus in Manipur
• Celebrated in the month of June-July in the honor of Lord Jagannath

(vii) Kwak Yatra

• Festival of the Thangkul Nagas
• Celebrated during the month of October, held after the harvest.

(viii) Gan-Ngai

• Festival of Kabui Nagas
• Celebrated for five days in the month of Wakching (December-January)

(ix) Ramzan, Eid

• Celebrated by the Muslims of Manipur

(x) Christmas

• Celebrated by the tribal Christian populations of Manipur

Festivals of Meghalaya

(i) Shad Suk Mynsiem

• The important festival of Khasis
• Three days festival celebrated in the month of April

(ii) Wangala Festival

• The important festival of the Garos
• Celebrated during the month of October

(iv) Nongkrem Festival

(v) Behdeinkhlam

• The colourful festival celebrated in the month of July
• Four days festival celebrated in order to ensure that the crops just sown yield a beautiful harvest.

Festivals of Mizoram

(i) Pawl Kut

• Harvesting Festival
• Celebrated from December to January

(ii) Capchar Kut

• Spring Festival
• Celebrated in March every year

(iii) Mim Kut

• Celebrated in the month of August and September
• Also known as Maize festival as it is celebrated after harvesting maize

(iv) Christmas

Festival of Nagaland

(i) Amongmong

• Celebrated by Sangtam of Tuensang district in the month of September
• It is a harvesting festival

(ii) Aoling Monyu

• Festival of Konyak
• Marks the end of the old year and heralds the new year

(iii) Monyu

• Celebrated by Phoms of Tuensang district in the month of April for twelve days
• Prayers are offered to propitiate spirit and offerings are made to God for a successful crop

(iv) Meleyingi

• Zeliangrong people celebrate this festival every month
• It welcomes the spring season and it runs for seven days

(v) Metemneo

• Five-day long festival bearing five names - Sito, Shito, Zhimto, Chiresok and Siresok
• Yimchunger people celebrate this festival after harvesting millet crops

(vi) Miu and Tsokum

• These two festivals are celebrated by Khiamngans of Tuensang
• Miu is celebrated before sowing the seed and Tsokum is associated with harvesting

(vii) Moatsu

• Celebrated by Ao community after sowing seeds
• Celebrated for a period of six days in May

(viii) Naknyulum

• Celebrated by Chang Nagas of Tuensang district
• Celebrated for six days in the month of July

(ix) Ngada

• Celebrated by Rengmas
• Celebrated in the memory of dead relatives

(x) Sekrenyi

• Also known as Phousanyi
• Agamis celebrate this festival in February for 10 days. All works cease during the festival

(xi) Terhunyi

• Celebrated by Chakhesangs and Angamis
• It is a harvesting festival and Chakhesangs call it Erunyi

(xi) Tokhu Emong

• Harvesting festival of the Lothas of Wokha
• Celebrated on November 7

(xii) Tulini

• Festival of Semas of Zunheboto

Festivals of Sikkim

(i) Buddhist Festivals

• Saga Dawa
• Lhabab Dhuechen
• Drupka Teshi
• Phang Lhabsol
• Losoong
• Losar
• Bumchu
• Tendong Lho Rum Faat

(ii) Hindu Festivals

• Dasain
• Tihaar
• Magh Sakranti
• Maha Shivratri
• Chaite Dasain or Ramnami

Festivals of Tripura

(i) Garia Puja

• Celebrated on the 7th day of the month of Baisakh
• Celebrated by tribal people who believe that this will bring prosperity and enjoyment for the whole year

(ii) Sarda Utsava

• Autumn festival held every year after Durga Puja
• Celebrated in each sub-division of the state

(iii) Kharchi Puja

• Celebrated during the month of July
• It is a tribal festival celebrated in Chaturdas Devta Temple in old Agartala by worshipping the fourteen deities

(iv) Ker Puja

• A traditional tribal festival celebrated during the month of July
• During the puja period, no person is allowed to enter or come out of this specified boundary

(v) Ganga Puja

• The tribal festival held to offer prayers to the River Goddess
• Celebrated during the month of March-April