Assam: People celebrating Magh Bihu with age-old tradition

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Magh Bihu marks the end of the harvesting season in Assam and it is the festival of feasting. The three-day-long festival starts on January 14 with the people traditionally holding community fishing using different Assamese fishing gear.

A picturesque view can be witnessed throughout the state in the fresh-water lakes locally called as ‘beels’ braving the spine-chilling water. Community fishing is unique in nature in Assam during the Magh Bihu, also called the Bhogali Bihu.

“This is an age-old tradition. Of all the three Bihus, we celebrate the Magh Bihu enthusiastically. During Magh Bihu, people engage in community fishing in the nearby Bomani, Parkhali and Jalikhora beels. The king and villagers take part in the event equally. People get down in the beel daring the spine-chilling water as we do it only once in a year and as it is a time of merrymaking.

Some People get big fish, some get small and some return empty-handed but the people do not have any regrets. People come here from far-flung places, some even come from central Assam to participate in the event,” said a local resident of Dimoria Anup Das.

“I have been fishing here since morning but did not get hold of a single fish but I am still very happy. Many of us have got some good catches. We come here every year, especially for merrymaking. We like fishing. Our forefathers started this tradition and we are keeping it alive,” said local villager Pankaj Deka.

The festival starts with feasting at night, as communities cook and eat together to celebrate the harvest they have reaped. It is in and around these ‘bhelaghars’ that the community feasts are held and the next day, those are set ablaze along with ‘Mejis’.

The culture of Assam is agrarian in nature and the main livelihood is dependent on agriculture. Due to this, the festival assumes importance in the Assamese calendar.

Community fishing was not allowed inside the Kaziranga National Park this year. The Golaghat district administration had issued an order under section 144 of CrPC banning community fishing in Kaziranga. Illegal entry and community fishing in beels, rivers and wetlands in the Kaziranga National Park under the Golaghat district had been prohibited.