It is that time of the year again, the smell of spring lingering in the air, resonating happiness, colours, fragrance, music and dance. Marking the beginning of Assamese New Year which is celebrated as ‘Rongali Bihu’, the atmosphere is abuzz with Bihu Geets, branches laden with ‘Kopou’ flower (Foxtail Orchid) and people dressed in their best Bihu attires and the aroma of freshly cooked pithas wafting through the air.

Even today, as the date to Rongali close by, the child within us gets all excited remembering the yesteryears. Bihu which was predominantly a harvest festival could be classified into three types – Bhogali, Rongali and Kongali Bohu. All three are attached in some way or other to crops, fields and granaries which has almost faded from our consciousness.

One of the most important events of the Assamese calendar, Rongali Bihu falls in the month of Bohag and marks the onset of spring and the new agricultural season. The festival is celebrated over many days – starting the first day with ‘Goru Bihu’, when the livestock and cattle are given a ceremonial bath with a paste of ‘mah-halodi’ which is a paste made of turmeric and lentils.

The second day is the ‘Manuh Bihu’ or the Bihu for the ‘manuh’ (humans). People dress up in their best ‘Mekhela Sadors’ and form a group who would visit the neighbourhood houses, performing ‘Husori’. It was a delight to watch the young ones breaking into Bihu dance steps giving a tough competition to the experienced ones.

These small traditional steps have undergone several changes. There are hardly any ‘Husori’ groups that would come to perform at doorsteps rather people prefer watching them on TV.

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