Bodo dance form to take centre stage in Guwahati during PM Modi’s Assam visit

The traditional Bagurumba dance of the Bodo community will take centre stage in Guwahati on January 17, with over 10,000 artistes set to participate in a grand cultural performance during the first day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Assam.

Titled ‘Bagurumba Dwhou 2026’, the event will be held at the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Stadium in the Sarusajai area of the city. The Prime Minister, along with Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and other dignitaries, will witness the recital.

Ahead of the programme, Modi said the event celebrates Bodo culture and reflects the government’s commitment to fulfilling the aspirations of the community. In a post on X, he said the NDA governments at the Centre and in Assam are working to realise the vision of Bodofa Upendranath Brahma, the revered Bodo leader regarded as the guardian of the Bodos.

According to officials, the performance will feature more than 10,000 artistes, including around 8,000 dancers drawn from 81 assembly constituencies across 23 districts of the state. Final rehearsals were held on Friday evening and were reviewed by the chief minister.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that each participating Bagurumba dancer will be provided Rs 25,000, while master trainers and instructors involved in preparing the performers will receive Rs 50,000 each, in recognition of their months-long training, coordination and efforts behind the mega presentation.

Sarma said nearly 20,000 spectators will be accommodated inside the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium within the Sarusajai sports complex. Those with passes but unable to enter the main venue will be able to watch the recital from designated holding areas through LED screens installed across the complex.

“The pride of our state is connected with the performance, and we seek the cooperation of everyone,” the chief minister said.

Bagurumba, a folk dance of the Bodo community—one of Assam’s largest indigenous groups—is deeply rooted in nature and symbolises harmony between human life and the natural world. Traditionally performed by women and accompanied by men as musicians, the dance features graceful movements inspired by butterflies, birds, leaves and flowers.

The Guwahati presentation incorporates the word ‘dwhou’, meaning wave in the Bodo language, and will be accompanied by Bodo songs and traditional instruments such as kham, serja, sifung, jatha and japshring, several of which carry Geographical Indication (GI) tags.

Closely associated with festivals like Bwisagu, the Bodo New Year, and Domasi, Bagurumba represents peace, fertility, joy and collective harmony.

Preparations involved several Bodo organisations, with 25 experts training around 400 master trainers in Guwahati, who then coached artistes in their respective districts. The state government has organised similar large-scale showcases of Bihu and Jhumoir dances over the past two years.