Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level : Wangala Dance, Harvest festivals of India
Mains level : Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from a picture in the print edition of TH.
Wangala Dance
- Wangala is also called the festival of “The Hundred Drums“.
- It is a harvest festival celebrated by the Garo tribe in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Assam and Greater Mymensingh in Bangladesh.
- In this post-harvest festival, they give thanks to Misi Saljong the sun god, for blessing the people with a rich harvest.
- Wangala is celebrated in the months from September to December, with different villages setting different dates for the occasion.
Course of celebration
- The ceremony performed on first day is known as “Ragula” is performed inside the house of the chief.
- On the second day is known as “Kakkat“.
- Folks dressed in their colorful costumes with feathered headgears dance to the tune of music played on long oval-shaped drums.
- While the men beat the drums, the line moves forward in rhythmic accord.
- The ‘orchestra’ of men includes drums, gong and flutes, punctuated by the sonorous music of an primitive flute made of buffalo horn.