Evolution Of Bihu Festival

Many changes came in Bihu due to the present socio economic conditions ad relative life style changes of the general people. Modern bihutolis are established as big mandaps with lighting in urban areas. This has become a craze in Assam. Different bihutolis are competing with each other. Many Shops are opened around the bihutolis in these days. There are commercial viewpoints behind modern day Bihu. Original rituals of Bihu are performed only in villages. Middle class people of urban areas are happy with the bihu dance of bihutolis mandap. This became gradually a song and dance festival. Some cassettes of songs are released. The songs are based on filmy pop music. Present folk poets also write bihugaans on moder lifestyles, present needs and demands of the people. Previously men and women did not dance together, but now days they performed all together. Today Bihu is performed on stage and day y day it is becoming a show business. Some groups also performed in the mandaps in the urban areas. In the middle of the 60’s skilled dancers performed together for the first time ad got instant popularity. The bihukumari competition came in 1970 or 1971. The most efficient dancer is awarded with the title of bihukumari or bihukumar. Assamese film songs have a strong influence in the presence of bihu dance and songs formats. Bihu is a folk festival which is a symbol of peace and harmony. Bihu festivals are an integral part of Assam life and culture. Bihu geet or Bihu songs constitute an important part of Assam’s rich heritage and literature. The festivals are true community festivals and promote a spirit of love, brotherhood and sense of oneness among the people. It is therefore, the duty of every Assamese to preserve theses national festivals in their original form and grandeur. 

Choice Of The Life Partner

Earlier in Assam, Bihu was an occasion for the choice of the life partners, and English observer, as early as 1905 recorded that “this is the season of the year when run-away matches are most common.” Another observer Major John Buttler wrote in 1955 thus: “An unfortunate youth having failed to receive the consent of the parents of the girl he has selected to be his wife, he has resources to a stratagem to effect his object. He lays in wait in the road till the dismal passes by to the fair or festival with her female relatives, when, with the aid of his companions, he carries off the feigning reluctant bride, and immediately marries her privately; when in few days the parents are obliged to be reconciled and the consent to a marriage.” It is however customarily to regularize these matches by offering a feast to or otherwise securing a sanction from the community.  Secondly to forestall relationships which were not sanctioned y society there was also the taboo that young men and women of the same village were not to dance together. Under the ordinary circumstances it is usual for the peasantry to seek a bride which does not belong to the same village as the groom’s.

However life partners may have been chosen may be learnt from the songs themselves-

‘Rustlings does the wing below,

The Sali paddy has opened its ears

Our parents have not sought our pairing

The pairing has been effected by god.’

‘My brother heard me singing among the trees,

He drove me out of my home,,

I stayed night and a day among the trees,

Eating the areca-nut which my lover split.’

Caste sometimes stands in the way of union, but it has already been observed that caste was not as rigid in Assam as in other parts of India. Bride-price had also to be taken into accounts. Even then elopements were frequent, as is evidenced in this song-

‘I would dance the whole day, O friend,

I would dance the whole day,

Only do not carry me off while I dance

For heavily you will have to pay.'

Songs For Bihu

Bihu songs are secular original literature. These songs express different content matters like – natural beauty, story of older days, beauty of the youth and their natural characteristics. It also contain the matters of the past, the beauty of the Assam’s mountains trees, plains, rivers, colorful stones etc. Bihu songs are basically agriculture based songs. The racial and economic discriminations, praise of Karpas, tribal sects, social and family relations and many things are motioned through songs.

Baisavism has also its influence o Bihu songs. Shankarcharya is the fore runner of the Baishnab religion in Assam. The religion is liberal where lower caste tribes like “Boro”, “Kachari” people took shelter. Bihugan is also known as Bihuam where the stories of Sri Krisha Leela are performed at Naamghar.

The Bihu dance has fixed patterns and seems to have a sexual basis, thus indicating its association with some spring time fertility cult of ancient times. Along with both male and female teenagers, even married women may sometimes dance as is indicated in the following song-

‘The dust flies up as they dance

the husband looks peering

if his one has arrived’

This also suggests that though the exchange of hearts may go on all the time the dance for all its sexual suggestions is ceremonial or ritualistic in character. An interesting aspect of Bihu songs is its oral tradition. Generations of Assamese men, women and children have been signing these songs and dances.

The Bihu songs celebrate in enchanting melody the first showers of the rain falling in rhythms on a parched land and filling the arid landscape with fresh green leaves and flowers of flaming colors. Such themes always have an abiding interest especially for the rural Assamese folks. The Bihu songs attempt to depict this renewing of nature, the changing of the reasons making field’s resplendent with flowering creepers and greenery.

‘ Eibeli bihute ramak oi jamak oi

nahar phul phulibar batar

nahar phular gondh pai laharir tat nai

gacaki bhagile jatar’

The handloom has been so closely related to the life and thought of women that they have inevitably drawn upon this institutions for imagery to express some of their deepest feelings. In fact a lot of things may happen to a girl as she sits in her loom. The poor hardworking girl may be deep in her work, but her thoughts and feelings may be somewhere else for her special person. This last situation is beautifully described in a song-

‘Saru hai achilo garu rakhicilo

danger hai lagalo tat

Olotai obhotai, ako marichilo

Mor dhane lagale mat.’

Husori

Husori is carol singing and dancing in a group consisting of only men, led by an elderly one. The term Husori remains unexplained, though there have suggestions as regards its derivation. Some says Hari ucchari after taking the name of Hari (Crying Hari) while some use the term Hachari and explain it to mean moving over land: ha(land) char (to move). This may e also know as folk- etymology.

A village may have more than one band of Husori signers. Each band visits first villages not contiguous to its own village. It is custom to first dance and sing in the yard of the village Namghar, then visit houses of the respectable persons, very old persons, not necessary to be rich or poor. In older days the feudal lords and monastic heads had the first honour from these Husori signers. People take Husori as a respectable way since it is related to religion.

The Husori bands of young ad middle aged men are the symbols of the Raji or community and it is obligation to secure their blessings.

The Husori dance is a ring dance, in which the men move in a shuffling manner, with a leader in the middle, who starts the songs while the others take up the refrain. Husori looks like a Hindu institution, where the songs are completely innocuous, for example 

‘Krishi murote okul phul epali

niyor pai mukoli hol

oi Govidai Ram’
They sometimes echo the language of Bihu songs, sometimes which of Vaishavatie scriptures sometimes even ballads are made use of, while at other times the verses sung are almost nonsensical.

Dressing For Bihu

The energetic dance steps and quick hand movements define the Bihu dance of Assam. But that is not all as any folk dance is incomplete without its costume and jewelry and the performers of Bihu’s traditional Assamese attire. This dance is performed usually by the young males and females to show their joy and merriment on the arrival of spring season. A lot of vibrancy can be seen in the dance outfit of Bihu and that is what depicts the genuine spirit of this dance form. The male performers of Bihu are dressed in Dhotis and Gamosa.

Dhoti

A Dhoti is primarily a long and thin piece of cloth that is worn around the waist and it covers the lower part of the male body.

Gamosa

Gamosa on the other hand is for the head, and both the Dhoti and the Gamosa are bright in colors and have beautiful embroidery in different styles and patterns on the two ends. 

The female who perform Bihu usually wore traditional Assamese attire for the performance. They are dressed in Chador and Mekhela.

Mekhela

Mekhela is cylindrical in shape and is worn on the lower half of the body.

Chador

Chador on the other hand is like a drape which is used for covering the upper portion of the body. The women wears a blouse beneath the chador and the common fabrics used for making the attire are pat silk, cotton and muga silk. Women team up their outfits with gaudy and heavy jewelry and they also decorate their braids were copau flowers that perfectly match the color of the attire worn by them.

The dance is a part of the Bihu festival that starts in mid-April, when harvesting work of farming is over pregnant with the essence, feelings of youth and energy. The dance covers topics such as nature, dreams and feeling of young lovers, fields of crops, trees, season of the year etc. The dance is performed in an open space during daytime but there is a clear distinction of separate sexes. The youths perform this dance accompanied by songs of sentiment, loud beating of the Dhol, soft strains of Pepa, manjira and tokka (bamboo clappers) and many more indigenous musical instruments. In a course of dancing, the dancers commonly form a circle or parallel rows. The dance has been noted for maintaining authenticity and at the same time displaying the traditional Assamese handlooms and handicrafts in their glory and beauty by the dancers.

Bihu Dace Of The Plains

The artistic Bihu is a dance of the plains performed throughout the length and the breath of Assam by both boys and girls on three occasions during the year.  Every ceremony is ritualistic and backed by some form or other of the mythological themes. Art and religion in rural life cannot be separated from each other. The word Bishu takes its birth from the famous historic king Bishwa Singha.

The Gods enjoy intelligible delights, landscapes, music, dancing, offering of flowers and fruits, those incredibly beautiful offerings made out of the simplest elements into the utmost elaboration. One will see them moving smoothly on the heads of women, winding over invisible paths above the tall green rice, and later forming high walled narrow streets in the temple, a festival of brilliant colour, the walls a mosaic of patterned offerings of great ingenuity and variety of designs; golden –flowered aureoles towering above. There will be rice cakes on various shapes and colours, thin round wafers, white and brown, dried snow white, compressed grains; sweetmeats, bananas green and yellow, oranges and innumerable kinds of fruits.

On the “Bihu” day the Assamias does the Cow’s Bath ceremony. The cattle are tied with new ropes, and are garlanded with brinjals and pumpkins. While doing it the cow is blessed with the following words like:

Lau Kha, (Eat Pumpkin)

Bengena Kha, (Eat Brinjals)

Basare Basare Barhi Ja, (Be Big Year After Year)

Mar Saru, (Your Mother Is Thin)

Baper Saru, (So Is Your Father)

Tui Hobi Bara Bara Goru. (Thou wouldst be a sturdy cow)

According to the custom Til Pithas must be cooked in every home. One kind of sweets is prepared by a mixture of Bara Chaul (a kind of special rice), Til and Gur. Another kind of sweets is Ghila Pitha.

The day previous to the one on which Bihu is falls is called Uruka. The Baisakhi Bihu is a much singing and dancing ad exchanging gifts among friends. Songs in chorus are being sung in praise of Krishna and Hari. 

The famous song is: “Sri Krishner murate Bahul phul apahi nior pai mukali hayane oi Govindaye  Ram” (which means Om Ram and Govinda, the “Vakula” bud on the head of Sri Krishna blossomed with the falling of dew drops.) 

During the Baisakhi and Magh Bihu the boys and girls organize dance parties in the fields, Bihu Tali ad experience the usual freedom of being allowed to dace together. The most remarkable ad rhythmic element in their performances is their clappings which is very pulsating and throbbing. Even Mahatma Gandhi was moved by their clappings and said a few words in appreciation when he visited the Sarania Hills at Gauhati.
In the night to watch these dances from a distance seems to e an unforgettable treat being the soothed by the rows of lighted torches. On this spot, “Bihu Tali” thousands of people coverage from far outlying districts, treading their ways over tortuous mountain passes weaving the paths of the dense forest, and sometimes hilly separation ways amidst the tea-plantations.

Reference;
The Folk Dance Of India - Projesh Banerji

Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu

Celebration Of Magh Bihu 

In the Magh Bihu, there is again much revelry and merry – making happens in the middle of January.  The word Bhogali Bihu is derived from the word Bhog or handiness of rich food. Bhogali Bihu represents a festival of food. Bhogali Bihu is celebrated at the time when all the cultivation works get over and everyone has got the time to celebrate and enjoy.

Meji

Harvesting over, the festival begins on the last date of Pousa. A meji is put by each group in a village: that is the high temple like structure of firewood piled up and help together by bamboo poles from the four corners. To stay for the night also known as Uruka Night, people build temporary houses called as Bhela Ghar which are made of hay. All night long the festivity goes on with singing, dancing and merry making. In the morning, on the first day of the Magh, after taking the ceremonious bath, the meji is lit by an old member of the society or village to the chanting of mantras and prayers. The fire over, the people go back to their field with pieces of burnt wood as auspicious tokens. It is believed that the fire of meji burns the winter out.

Cock Fight

The Magh festival is like the Lai Haroba provides immense scoop bull-fights, javelin throws and swords, egg- fight, cock-fight,

Buffalo Fight 

Nightingale-fight and other games and sports. 
The dances had got more similar with Bahag Bihu but these are more vigorous in character. The ladies of the 

Nightingale Fight

society prepares for this Bihu for many days. They cook various snacks, sweets for this day. Jolpan and pitha are served to everyone. Magh Bihu is one showing the respect to the elder one with Gamosa and also greeting exchanged among friends and relatives.

All the three bihus are an occasion where all differences are forgotten and people unite to celebrate the occasion in a good manner.

Sweets

References;

http://onlinesivasagar.com/lifestyle/magh-bihu.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihu
Traditions Of Indian Folk Dance - Kapila Vatsyayan.

Kati or Kankali or Kongal Bihu

Kati Bihu

Kati Bihu is also known as the Kankali Bihu by some, is an austere affair compared to the colorful Bahag Bihu. It happens in the middle of October. Kati Bihu is celebrated on the first day of ‘Kati’ month in Assamese calendar. The word Kati is also called ‘Kongal’ which means “poor” because there is not much to eat at this time of the year.

Paddy Field

Paddy seedlings begin to grow at the time of the year and are transplanted. Offerings are made to the Tulsi plant and clay lamps called saaki are lit and prayers are offered for a good crop. The Tulsi plant not only carries medical values, but also it supports to a very auspicious in Hinduism.

Tulsi Plant

During the evening the cattle are fed specially made rice items called pitha. In the ceremonies connected with this Bihu, we noticed how the purely agricultural rituals have been superimposed by a series of other cults and practices. The villages of Goalpara district give this Bihu greater significance than others. 

Akabonti Lamp

The Bihu is also associated with the lighting of akabonti lamps at the tip of a tall bamboo poles to show the respect towards their ancestors. Scientifically these lamps used to attract insects of the paddy fields and they fall prey into the fire of these lamps. This helps the crops to be healthy and free from insects.

Offering Prayers To Ancestors

 ‘ Tulokhir tole tole!!
Mrigo pohu sore sore!!

Oi ram kar gore loi harinam!!’

References;

http://onlinesivasagar.com/lifestyle/kati-bihu.html
http://www.assaminfo.com/festivals/11/kati-bihu-or-kongali-bihu.htm#

Types Of Bihu

The Bihus had been celebrated in Assam since the ancient times. Each Bihu meets with a special phase in the farming calendar. The most important and colorful of the three Bihus is the Bahag Bihu or Rongali Bihu. This marked the beginning of the agricultural season. Next is the Kati Bihu and last one is the Magh Bihu. Astronomically the Bahag Bihu is associated with the vernal equinox, the Kati Bihu with the autumn equinox and Magh in the winter solstice. The first is celebrated at the time of preparing the field, the second at the stage when the young paddy seedlings are transplanted and third when the harvest has been gathered.

Rongali or Bahag Bihu ( বৈশাখ )

Bahag Bihu

The Bahag Bihu is the most colorful and gay. It begins usually on the last day of Chaitra, although different communities begin it on different days of the week. Sometimes it lasts for a month, at others for four to five days. Sometimes it lasts for a month, at others for four to five days happens in the month of April.
 It is divided into four phrases each lasting a day or a few days.

Goru Bihu

The first phase is dedicated to cattle and is called the Goru Bihu. Cows and other cattle are besmeared with mustard oil and taken to the nearest watershed or rivers or ponds accompaniment of songs and music. The people also take the bath in the river to receive the cattle with great ceremony in the evenings. After feeding the cattle with salted rice-cakes there is festivity, including music and dance. On this day is performed the Go-Lakshmi Puja.  

Manuh Bihu

The second phase is dedicated to human beings, and is called Manushya or Manuh Bihu. After ceremonious bath, new clothes are worn, presents are exchanged between families, relatives and friends. On this day, there is a puja to Mahadeva for protection and well being. During this phase are also arranged many Husari parties of group singing and dancing. The Husari parties visits homes and perform Bihu dances in the open. The first part of the dance is consisting of a kirtan known as Husari kirtan accompanied by slow body movements. One man sings the refrain and the others repeat it. The participants dance in a circle; as is usual, the tempo is slow and gradually it increases and ends in fast tempo. The musical accompaniment is the dhol, taal, and toka. Besides the Husari singing and dancing, there are other Bihus which are held under the sheds of giant trees. Here young men and women both take part and dance to the lilting music of the Bihu songs. Musical accompaniment is more elaborate in these Bihu dances: besides the dhol, taal and toka, there is also pepa and gogona. The vocal music is consists of short couplets love which are constantly repeated. The dance begins into circle and soon breaks into parallel lines. The drummer is the natural leader; he often utters the bols first and then plays them on the drum and also sometimes dancing with the fantastic skills with his drum.

The third phase is dedicated to the gods and is called 'Gosani Bihu'. On this day prayers and performance of music and dance is held at Namghar.

Finally the fourth or last phase is called the 'Bihu Urva' or 'Bihu Thowa'. This is performed ceremoniously at a distant place from the village, in a forest or lonely paddy field. All the articles are used in this festival are left at this place: this marks the formal end of the festivities. 

One trends to get a little forgetful in the atmosphere, songs seen to spring to one’s lips, and if one is young the heart flutters a little, perhaps in yearning. One sings:

‘Aikai cenehar mugare muhara

Atikai cenehar mako

Tatokai cenehor bohagar bihuti

Nepati kenekai thako?’

Origin Of Bihu ( বিহু)

Performance Of Bihu

Bihu denotes three different festivals of Assam, celebrated by the Assamese and it is the National Festival of Assam. Its inclination is mainly on the agricultural side than the religious side. Bihu is a festival of rejoice, offer thanks and pray for a bountiful harvest celebrated by all the tribes and others regardless of what their caste, religion faith and beliefs.It is believed that the festival of Bihu originated in the pre – Aryan days around the 3500 BC. The name ‘Bihu’ is said to be originated from the Sanskrit word ‘Bishu’. It is also noted that the word ‘Bihu’ is derived from the ‘Dimasa’ community. Bi means "to ask" and Shu means "peace" and “prosperity”. The word Bishu gradually became Bihu for linguistic preferences.  Even though this festival has ancient significance and practices, it is eventually become a very popular urban festival in recent decades.

Bihu Dancer With Pepa

Instruments Needed For Bihu

The Bihu festival involves Bihu folk dance and songs. Instruments such like Dhol, Toka, Taal, Pepa, Gogona, Xutuli and Baanhi are used during this festival. Assamese considered their supreme god as Brai or Father Shibrai.  During this festival, the season’s first crop is offered to their god and they pray for peace and prosperity.

communities of Assam Tribal and non- tribal is akin to the place of Lai Haroba in the life of the people of Manipur.  It is celebrated by the Ahoms and Bihu is placed in the life of all heir sub- groups. Unlike the Lai Haroba , this is an agricultural festival which is dearer than anything else to the Asamiya.  They often repeated refrain of many songs is:

‘Very dear to me is the muga bobbin

Very dear is the shuttle;

Dearer still is the Bihu of Bahag
Could I do without it?’

References;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihu

http://festivals.iloveindia.com/bihu/bihu-history.html

http://www.mapsofindia.com/assam/society/bihu.html
Traditions Of Indian Folk Dance - Kapila Vatsyayan