Lockdown breaks Rongali Bihu celebration mood
Assam’s biggest festival Rongali Bihu`s first day

Coronavirus lockdown breaks Rongali Bihu celebration mood in Assam

Guwahati, April 13: Assam’s biggest festival Rongali Bihu – also known as Bohag Bihu has been celebrated with restraints this time amid lockdown breaks Rongali Bihu celebration mood in the state.

The people across the state have observed the first day of Rongali Bihu – known as Goru Bihu in accordance with tradition by maintaining social distancing norms.

The week-long Bihu celebrations in Assam which start with Goru Bihu and the people – The day of Sankranti dedicated to livestock.

On the first day of Rongali Bihu – the cattle are washed, smeared with a paste of fresh turmeric, black lentil, etc while people sing to them – “Lao Kha, bengena kha, bosore bosore barhi ja, maar xoru, baper xoru, toi hobi bor bor goru (Eat gourd, eat brinjal, grow from year to year, your mother is small, your father is small, but you be a large one)” and the people of Assam have also worshipped the cattle.

But this time, the people of the state have celebrated the Goru Bihu just like a tradition by maintaining all lockdown rules.

50-year-old Prabudh Bora – a resident of Kampur area in Assam’s Nagaon district said that, in the wake of the novel Coronavirus outbreak, the people of Assam today celebrated the Goru Bihu just as a tradition.

“If the situation would not change, then the people would celebrate the Bihu with joy and enthusiasm. But this time we are celebrating the Bihu just like a tradition. We are following the lockdown orders,” Prabudh Bora said.

On the other hand, many Bihu celebration committees of the state have canceled all their cultural and public functions one of the reasons why lockdown breaks Rongali Bihu celebration mood among people.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Assam government has appealed the people and Bihu committees of the state to celebrate the Bihu on by hoisting the Bihu flags with a maximum of five people.

The state government has also urged the people to maintain lockdown rules and celebrate the Bihu in their homes with family members.