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Bihu
The Rangali Bihu is a dance festivel. The highlight of this dance is a group of young boys and girls, dancing in separate groups with drums beats & pipes. On its eve, the womenfolk clean the clothes and prepare special Bihu delicacies like 'Chira' & 'Pitha'. The menfolk collect necessary items like
'Tara Pogha' (ropes for the cattle) and vegetables like raw turmeric, brinjal, gourd etc.
Bihu dances performed by brisk stepping, flinging and
flipping of hands and swaying of hips represents youthful passion, reproductive urge and
'Joie-de-vivre'.
The Magh or the Bhogali Bihu, the harvesting festival is celebrated in January by community feast, buffalo fight and such other entertainment, compared to "Rongali" and
Bhogali Bihu, "Kati Bihu" is a tame affair celebrated in the month of Kartika. Tribal groups like the Misings the Deoris and the Morans celebrate "Bihu" with dances of their own distinctive style. In more recent time Assam saw a fairly large scale migration of people from other parts of India, the
Santhals, Gonds, Mundas and others from Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, brought as indentured laboures for tea gardens also carried with them distinct cultural heritage which blossomed forth in exotic festivals like
Tusu Puja, Sarak Puja, Karam Puja and captivating dance like
Jhumur.
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