Murung Festival

Bounteous harvest fetches no less hopes and joy for the Apatanis in Arunachal Pradesh. The colourful tribe in the north eastern state celebrate the season of bounteous harvest with Murung festival amid biting cold in January. Formerly, the festival was confined to a family where the near and dear ones were invited. But now a days, it is their occasion to openly share the joy with feast of meat and rice beer apart from their traditional songs and dances. Basically, it is celebrated in search of divine help for more wealth and prosperity. The celebration begins soon after a mithun is killed before inviting the deities to be appeased by a sponsor or a group of sponsors. The animal is smeared with rice beer and rice powder before being taken to the alter of sacrifice. The next morning, women in large number donate rice and millet to the festival sponsor to prepare rice beer. A week after it, meats are distributed to the all the Apatani families. The males take out a procession brandishing machetes, winds through the valley, visiting every neighbourhood in every village to be served food and drink.

The festival of full bash provides them a platform to showcase the cultural values, living style and traditions of the Apatanis. With traditional colourful dresses, the young boys and girls participate in a dance much to the delight of the people who throng the venue.

There is no restriction on eating and drinking in the festival and everybody is allowed to eat and drink of their choice. The environment is very exciting which forces even the foreign tourists to join the dance. You would catch a glimpse of their style of clothes, their eating habits and their drinking tastes. It further speaks of their hospitality in the hills north eastern state.