A festival night during Bihu, Assam

Assam is getting ready to welcome yet another festival season with the spirit of Bihu, the national festival, in the air. Most of the celebrations are held at night and the village is vibrant and lively until the day breaks. The nights go colourful with splendid performances of Assamese art forms, especially the Bihu dance. The sound of the local drums gently tears away the silence and the villagers make it a time for sharing love and happiness.

In the dance performances, themes vary from national integration to personal woes. Forgetting all social differences, the society of Assam begins to live in an awakened spirit. The festival is celebrated in the interval between harvest and the next farming.

During the festival, men and women of all ages flock together to dance, to sing and to be merry. There are special music instruments for this festival, which are made of bamboo, animal skin and horns. Most of the steps of Bihu dance are handled over from generations to generation so that the steps are in perfect harmony. It will not be incorrect to say that this art form, inseparable from the agrarian life of Assam, has become an organic part of the Assamese life.