Festivals of North-East India

Saga Dawa

  • Celebrated by Buddhist communities in Sikkim.
  • It is celebrated on full moon day that falls in the middle of the Tibetan lunar month called the Saga Dawa.
  • The festival is celebrated to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death (parinirvana) of Buddha.

Losoong Festival

  • Celebrated in honour of the Sikkimese New year.

Bihu

  • Bohag Bihu is one of the most popular festivals of Assam for celebrating the Assamese New year.
  • Although the Assamese celebrate Bihu thrice in a year, the Bohag Bihu is the most anticipated one.
  • Three Bihu’s are:
    • Bohag or Rongali Bihu
    • Kati or Kongali Bihu
    • Maagh or Bhogali Bihu

Hornbill Festival

  • It is one of the major agricultural festivals celebrated in Nagaland.
  • All the major Naga tribes attend this festival and congregate at the Kisama Heritage village.

Kharchi Puja

  • This festival primarily originates from Tripura.
  • Celebrated in the honour of Lord Shiva.

Cheiraoba Festival

  • This festival is celebrated across Manipur, as it is the New Year according to the Manipuri tribes.
  • The festival is also related to the domestic deity called Sanamahi worshipped by the Manipuri people.

Wangala Festival

  • The dominant Garo Tribe primarily celebrates the Wangala festival in Meghalaya.
  • The festival indicates the beginning of winter and is celebrated as a nod to the post-harvest season.

Kand Chingba

  • The festival of Kang Chingba is one of the biggest Hindu festivals celebrated in the State of Manipur.
  • It is like the ‘Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra’ and draws many antecedents from the same.

Ambubachi Mela

  • Held in the premises of the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati in the State of Assam.
  • The festival falls in the month of June and is one of the major festivals in Northeast India, so much so that it has been dubbed as the ‘Mahakumbh of East.’

Sekrenyi Festival

  • Celebrated in February by the Angami tribe of Nagaland.

Lui-Ngai-Ni Festival

  • All branches of Naga tribes celebrate this festival.
  • Celebrated all over Nagaland and in some Naga inhabited parts of Manipur State too.
  • Celebrated after end of harvest season.

Majuli Festival

  • One of the more modern festivals held in Majuli in the State of Assam. (Note: Majuli is the largest riverine island

Dree Festival

  • Apatani tribe that resides in Arunachal Pradesh primarily celebrates the festival.
  • Note. Apatani are a tribal group living in the Ziro valley in Arunachal Pradesh. India has proposed Apatani Cultural Landscape in the Tentative List of World Heritage Site. Their practice unique rice-fish cultivation.
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