If autumn comes can festivity be far behind? The calm season is full of festivals. The striking festival here is Durga puja which falls in this season. The goddess of strength visits her ancestral home or earth along with her Laxmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartik. The reunion with the Lord Shiva takes place on the final day or the immersion day.
‘Janmastami’, the birth day of the Lord Krishna is a much vaunted Hindu festival that evokes no less pomp and gaiety in Assam along with other parts of the country. The festival falls in August-September marking the miraculous birth of the Lord inside an isolated cell amid the nightlong thundershower in Mathura. The fortified temples and namghars keep teeming with devotees who sing the hymns and songs narrating the entire eventful night where the Lord was born before being taken away to Gokul for safety.
Without festival no nation can sustain. The tradition and culture of a nation come alive only in the light of the festivals. Festivity grips the Muslim people in Assam as they spot the new moon towards the end of Ramadan. The month long fasting concludes with feasting. That brings the Eid-ul-Fitr to be celebrated with boundless pomp and gaiety. 'Eid' means 'festivity' while 'Fitr' comes from 'Fatar' which stands for 'breaking'. This is an occasion to enjoy special food and delicacies prepared and distributed among the near and dear ones.
Assam, the land of red river and blue hills celebrate Doljatra, the festival of colour with much pomp and gaiety to mark the advent of spring. It falls in March when tender shoots are seen in the trees, season flowers start blooming brightly and the rivers keep waiting for rainwaters to regain the prime. The people in large number, in this land of festival, find it an occasion to soak in the joy sprinkling the colourful powders to each others with devotional songs in their lips.
The Kamakhya temple premises atop the beautiful Neelachal hill near Guwahati in Assam breaks into a sea of humanity during a huge fair in June. The famed Hindu shrine in the country organizes the annual event to mark the occasion when the goddess Kamakhya, goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time stretch. It is one among the oldest 52 shakti peethas of India.
There is no image of Shakti. However, a sculptured image of the yoni of the goddess, which is the object of reverence. A natural spring keeps the stone moist.
Magh Bihu, the harvest festival in Assam draws no less pomp and gaiety across the state in mid January. The festival of feast marks and end to the biting winter season paving the way for the advent of spring. The community feast is organized a day before the main annual event. Popularly called as Uruka, here people celebrate the evening with feast apart from cultural functions. The women folk prepare bihu pastries and other delicious to be served to the near and dear ones towards the uruka evening.
April, in Assam is a season of tender leaves on the trees, fragrance of flowers in full bloom, sound of chirping birds and the gurgling brooks. It’s the season of spring that brings joy, strength and hope for the people of all ages in the land of red river and blue hills. If spring comes can the festivity be far behind? Never. Spring, the queen of the seasons does not come alone. Fresh showers hastens the buds to bloom brightly from atop the hills down to the valleys.
