Amid CAB gloom, Tiwa community observes festival of Traditions

Guwahati, February 11, 2019:

As the volatility of the situation prevailing in the state of Assam over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill reaches its peak, the 3-day Tiwa Community’s indigenous festival ‘Wansuwa’ alongside indigenous folk songs will be underway from February 12-14 in Korsia at Sonapur in Assam.

An environment of festive fervorand happiness prevails at Korsia where the festival showcasing the Tiwa culture and heritage will be held.

The festival has been organized by the All Assam Tiwa Student Association, along with cooperation from Kamrup Zila Committee. Folk traditions and folk songs will be performed during the course of the 3-day programme, which is well-renowned for its colors and flavors of unadulterated Tiwa culture.

'Dekasang’, ‘borghor’, ‘urol’, ‘langkhun’ (all Tiwa traditional structures) have been erected with straw and bamboos at the site of the festival.

On the first day, King Gura Lampha will be remembered with traditional rites and offerings of prayer, and the ‘Wansua’, rice cake grinding festival will begin in his memory. 40 ‘urols’ (a traditional wooden instrument) will be used to grind the rice used to make the traditional sweet, 'pitha'.

Local food items and traditional ethnic garb of the Tiwa community will be on display during the event and the sounds of traditional instruments such as dhul (drum), taal (cymbals), pepa (pipe) will echo across the site of the festival.

Many sporting disciples (‘syamkawa’, ‘tokhowa beresolowa’, ‘bak tenga solowa’, etc) which are on the verge of extinction due to the wave of modernization will be practiced during the event and the site of the festival shall witness many of the age-old customs and traditions of the indigenous Tiwa community.