Date: 20 Sep 2020 | Online
You are invited to join an online meeting on Bihu: the Agrarian festival of Assam
Organised by: ICOMOS India (North East Zone) in Association with International Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICICH) and National Scientific Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage (NSC-ICH)
Date: 20th September, 2020
Time: 5.00-6.30pm IST
Bihu is the national festival of Assam. All ethnic groups of Assamese people celebrate this agrarian festival, albeit with slight variations. It consists of three different festivals held in different times. Rongali or Bohag Bihu is observed in April, Kongali or Kati Bihu is observed in October, and Bhogali or Magh Bihu is observed in January. All of them are related to nature and agriculture. The most important one, the Rongali Bihu coincides with Assamese New year. It is a spring festival. It coincides with sowing time. Assamese people celebrate it with feasts, music and sensuous dancing to the accompaniment of Drum, Flute etc. These dances and songs are famous all over as Bihu dance and Bihu songs. People give gifts to their dear ones at this time. Kongali Bihu is related to crop protection and it is observed in a very sombre manner. Bhogali Bihu is a harvest festival and there are great feasts. This festival is cosmopolitan and a great integrating factor.
Hosts :
Sankar Krishna Das, Co-ordinator, ICOMOS, North East Zone
Dilip Kr Changkakoti, Member, ICOMOS, North East Zone
Moderator :
Dr. Sanjib Kumar Borkakoti, President of Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva, Expert Member, ICOMOS International Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICICH)
Panelists :
Dinesh Gogoi, Retired Professor, DR College, Researcher on Bihu
Dr. Pradip Neog, Professor, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Researcher on Bihu
Mridu Moucham Bora, Secretary of Society for Srimanta Sankaradeva, Manuscript painter
ICICH ICOMOS speaker :
Munish Pandit, Vice President of ICOMOS International Committee on Intangible Cultural Heritage
ICOMOS India speakers :
Ananya Bhattacharya, Co-ordinator, ICOMOS, East Zone
Dr Mrinalini Atrey, Co-ordinator, NSC ICH, ICOMOS
