Among the Garos, the most important festival is the Wangala or the
Hundred-drum Festival held from Nov. to Dec. This is a harvest festival
celebrated in honour of Saljong, the Sun-God of fertility. The festival
marks the end of the period of toil in the fields, bringing a good yeild of
crops. Everybody - young & old joins in the festivities. The men beat
the drums and move forward in rhythmic union. Doregata Dance Festival is
another interesting dance. In this dance, women try to knock off the turbans
of their male partners, using their heads. Another dance that requires
exquisite skill is the Chambil Mesara or Pomelo Dance. This is a solo dance
form, in which the performer dangles a pomelo or any other fruit on a cord
tied to his waist and then hurls it round & round.
The Khasis have two important festivals - Nongkrem Dance held in Oct. /
Nov. and Shad-Suk Mynsiem, held in April. Nongkrem Dance is held annually
for five days together. It is a religious festival for thanksgiving to God
Almighty for good harvest and to pray for peace and prosperity in the
community. It is celebrated in the month of November. An important part of
this festival is 'pomblang' or decapitation of the goats, offered by the
subjects to the Syiem of Khyrim. The Syiem is the administrative head of the
state. Offerings are made to the ancestors of the ruling clan.
Behdienkhlam is the most important dance festival of the Jaintias. It is
celebrated after the sowing period is over. At Jowai town, this festival can
be seen being celebrated in July. Youngmen make a symbolic driving away of
the evil spirits by beating the roofs of every house with bamboo poles. The
climax of the celebrations is the tussle, as seen in a tug-of-war, for a
large undressed beam of two groups of people opposed to each other. The
Jaintias have also another Dance festival for entertainment called the Laho
Dance, where young men and women dance to the merriment of the audience.
