Sending gifts to India on Bihu Festival

Bihu is basically a dance festival which is celebrated in the North East India with much fanfare. It is the national festival of Assam which is celebrated in the month of January, April and October. This festival is also known as Maagh Bihu, Bohaag Bihu and kaati Bihu. The most popular and vital among the three is the Bohaag Bihu, also referred to as the Rangali Bihu that is celebrated to mark commencement of the agricultural season.

This festival is celebrated through 7 days and is accompanied by the traditional Bihu dance which is extensively popular in Assam. During the celebration the guests are served with rice beer.

The Bohaag Bihu represents the New Year and beginning of the seeding time, it is celebrated every year on April 15th. As mentioned it is celebrated for seven days and women prepare delicious dishes such as larus and pitha. The larus are sweets made of coconut and rice and tastes nice. Along with that Jolpan is also given to the guests. This is the time when people buy and wear new clothes and exchange gifts among each other. Pet cows are washed on this day and worshipped as part of the ritual. Even all the statues of gods are washed well and worshipped along with indulging in traditional dances by the local people. The dances are mainly performed by young girls and boys and they look beautiful. Even some of the dance steps are erotic in nature. The festival marks the season of fertility and that is incorporated through mating ritual in the dance as young women act representing their fertility with erotic movements.

The Magh Bihu is celebrated in the month of January which encompasses cock fights, buffalo fights, Nightingale fights and lots of other entertainment. Even people sit in the community and consume meal together. It is also popularly referred to as the ‘bhog’ that is consumed by all the people of the community. The festival is full of enjoyment and every members right from the small kids to the older ones celebrate it and enjoy it fully. On the concluding day people move around the side of a local lake and indulge in playing dhols and singing songs along with. Even buffalo hornpipe also known as Pepa is played during this time. This is the time when the people offer their prayers to the Fire God. The festival is truly colorful and lots of people from other states visit Assam during this season just to witness this major festival.