Guwahati, April 07: With the advent of spring and the cuckoo’s sweet call, Assam is all prepared to welcome the most awaited festival of the region, marking the onset of the Assamese new year, Rongali/Bohag/Xaat Bihu.
Assam, this year, seeks to embrace the colors of spring with the extravagant vibrations of Dhul(drums) in Sarusajai with the Nasoni(dancers) flashing the bright saffron of the Jetuka (Egyptian Privet) smeared in their palms & the beautiful moves of Bihu.
The State Government hopes to enter the largest-ever Bihu Dancing recital, which will feature 11,000 Bihu dancers, into the Guinness Book of World Records with the ratio of Bihuwa (drummers & male dancers) and Bihuwati (female dancers) to 30:70 with participants from each district of Assam.
According to what the chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said in an interview, “If we can do it as per plan, it will be the largest Bihu dance recital at a single venue. The duration of the dance will be 15 minutes. It will be a short and sharp program. All the participants will be given an allowance of Rs 10,500, from which they will also buy two pairs of costumes. The government has already sent a sample video of the Bihu dance with limited dancers to the Guinness World Records, which has given its initial clearance. We will also invite all the governors and chief ministers of India. Our ministers will travel to the States from March 20 to 30 to invite them. After registering Bihu in the Guinness Book of World Records, our next attempt is to include the Bagurumba dance of the Bodo community in the record book next year. We are already talking to the Bodoland Territorial Council.”
Invites will be made to all ambassadors and high commissioners of the G20 nations
and South-East Asian countries in India to witness the spectacular programme,
says Sarma.
King Pramatta Singha created an amphitheater called the “Rang Ghar”. It is one of the biggest structures of its sort in Asia, a two-story round pavilion in Sivasagar, of which, the beautification has been planned to be rolled out by the Prime Minister, during the function. The state government will also try to inaugurate the AIIMS at Guwahati as well as lay the foundation stone for the Palasbari-Sualkuchi bridge over Brahmaputra, on the said date.
Also Read: Tripura Government Criticized for Hosting G20 Dinner at Ujjayanta Palace’s Durbar Hall
The Assamese scarf known as " Gamocha" which is the warp and woof of the Bihu festival which is used to customarily greet visitors to Assam, has lately been awarded the coveted Geographical Indication (GI), and the chief minister declared that police will conduct an “intensive operation” to restrict sales of the ones manufactured in power looms. The police have been given instructions to seize all the machine-made products coming from outside the state.
Also, the state government has decided to provide grants totaling Rs 1.5 lakh to each Bihu celebration committee, and a comprehensive SOP will be released in the coming days.
Northeast India is making its second effort to break the record for the largest folk
dance performance. On April 5, 2019, Nagaland performed Konyak at Mon Town involving 4,687 artists. Assam Government is leaving no stone unturned to put the North Eastern State’s culture on the world map. The Chief Minister personally witnessed the master trainers’ training at Sarusajai Stadium, the location of the largest Bihu celebration. To the emotions of the Assamese people, this is nothing less than pride unhid, and as the day approaches, the hustle in everyone’s eyes to make this a success proves the sincerity; drive to create a record in the Guinness Book of World Records.
