The Land, People and Culture:

Dilip Hazarika Online takes this pride to introduce you to 'The- Heaven- of- North-East' that is Assam.

Assam is the land of Blue Hills, Green Valleys and Red River. Nestled in the Eastern Himalayas this Assam is abundant in Natural Beauty, Wild life, Flora & Fauna and its Colorful people.

The magic land Assam is a verdant land of the eternal blue hills, a treasure of flora and fauna, a mystic land of tea, the home of one horned rhino"uni-corn", together with a numbers of fairs and festivals.

The word Assam is derived from the Sanskrit word "Asom" meaning 'peerless'. The ancient history refers to Assam as Pragjyotishpur, until in 1228, the Ahoms from North Thailand invaded this land and established a kingdom, which came to be known as Assam. So the Thai connection seems to be very promising for Assam.

The irresistible tourist attraction of Assam lies in her immense green stillness, the lush green forest, and the bewildering variety of wildlife.

How to Get there:

Gateway to North-East India is the City of Guwahati. To get There

By Air: LGB International Airport is conveniently connected to all major cities of India. With daily three flights to Delhi and five to Kolkata and weekly flight to Bangkok with connecting flights to rest of the world.

By Train: Guwahati Railway station is the Hub all Train services. It is connected to rest of India with convenient train connections.

By Road: Guwahati is connected with all other state capitals of North-East India through a network of government and private luxury buses, which are perhaps the best in the country.  

Population:

Total Population of Assam is over 26 million.

People and Culture:

The society in Assam is not just a conglomeration of diverse racial and cultural elements but a composite whole arising out of the integration and synthesis of all of them. Indeed, Assam has been a curious melting pot into which have gone the Aryan and non-Aryan, the tribal and the non-tribal, the indigenous and the exotic, making for a delightful fare with wonderful mixed flavor.

The majority of the population in the plains is made up of Hindus, speaking the Aryan Assamese language. But the Aryan racial strain is prominent only in the upper castes, most of the other other castes are of the Mongoloid stock.

The Satras (seat of the religious head Satradhikar) and Namghars (house of names or Prayer hall) plays an important role in the life of an average Assamese and have acted as religious as well as cultural institutions.

Majority of the tribal groups belong to the Tibeto-Burmese family. The colourful people of Assam consist of Bodo-Kacharis, Rabha & Hajongs, Tiwas (lalung), Misings, Sonowal Kacharis, Deuris, Karbis, Dimasa Kacharis, Rengma Naga, Zemi Naga, Kukis and the Hmars.

In Assam, the line between the tribal and the non-tribal is pretty thin and the so-called non-tribal Assamese Hindu society retains many elements, which are patently 'tribal' by orthodox Hindu standards. Castes are not strictly occupation linked, and caste based disabilities are very few.

More than 40 percent of Assam's population is thought to be of migrant origin. During the six hundred years of ruling, the Ahom dynasty managed to keep the kingdom, independent from Mughal, the Muslim invaders of India before the British, as well as other invaders though Mughal attacked Assam seventeen times. During this era, the Assamese society was exogenous. The British entered Assam in 1824 as tea planters, which was the starting point of the destruction of Ahom Dynasty.

The fairs and festivals in this sparsely populated state are essentially an opportunity for people from far and wide to converge and see the culture of the land.

Festivals in Assam:

Assam, being a land of composite culture reflects a chain of festivals of different tribes throughout the year. It's as if people cross the threshold to come together with festive abandon and momentarily forget their tough lives.

The perfect fusion of heritage of tribes and subtribes has made Assam the home of the most colorful festivals. The major festival of Assam is Bihu in three forms, viz.Bohag Bihu or Rongali Bihu in April, Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in January and Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu in October/ November.

Rongali Bihu is celebrated by most of the races that inhabit there in their own colors and names. Thus parallels of Bihu among the races are Baisagu for Bodo Kacharis, Baikhu for Rabhas, Ali- Ai -Ligang for Misings, Bohhaggio Bishu for Deoris. Contemporaries of Magh Bihu are Nara-siga Bihu of Miring, Pushy Par or Tushu Puja of tea tribe of Assam. Other community festivals of Assam are Rongker of Karbis, Rajini Gabra and Harni Gabra of Dimasa tribe.

The simplicity of Assamese people is reflected in their celebration. Festivals take place in a communal way, usually in a Namghar or in open space. Bamboo sticks and banana leaves are profusely used and rather than offering cooked food, nutritious food such as sprouted grams and fruits are offered during worship.