About Assam

Assam : Land Of Tea Gardens 

Assam ( India ) is a northeastern state of India. Its capital is Dispur, located on the outskirts of its largest city, Guwahati. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and theBarak river valleys along with the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles (78,438 km²). Assam is surrounded by six of the other Seven Sister States: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura andMeghalaya. These states are connected to the rest of India via a narrow strip in West Bengal called the Siliguri Corridor or "Chicken's Neck". Assam also shares international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh; and cultures, peoples and climate with South-East Asia – important elements in India’s Look East policy. Assam became a part of India after the British occupied the region following the First Anglo-Burmese War of 1824–1826. It is known for Assam tea, large and old petroleum resources,Assam silk and for its rich biodiversity. Assam has successfully conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the tiger and numerous species of birds, and it provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. It is becoming an increasingly popular destination for wildlife tourism, and Kaziranga andManas are both World Heritage Sites.Assam was also known for its Sal tree forests and forest products, much depleted now. A land of high rainfall, Assam is endowed with lush greenery and the mighty river Brahmaputra, whose tributaries and oxbow lakesprovide the region with a unique hydro-geomorphic and aesthetic environment. Copyright (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam)

 

Folk dances of Assam ( Bihu Dance )

Although the origins of Bihu dance are unknown, the first official record of it is said to be when the Ahom king Rudra Singha invited Bihu dancers to perform at the Ranghar fields about 1694 for the Rongali Bihu.

Description

The Bihu is a group dance in which males and females dance together, but maintain separate gender roles. In general, females follow stricter line or circle formations. The male dancers and musicians enter the dancing area first, maintain their lines and follow synchronized patterns. When the female dancers enter, the male dancers break up their lines to mingle with the female dancers (who maintain their stricter formation and the order of the dance). It is usually characterized by specific postures: movements of the hips, arms and wrists; twirls, squats and bends. Male and female dance movements are very similar, with only subtle differences.

Performance

The dance is performed to traditional Bihu music. The most important musicians are the drummers (dhulia), who play a twin-faced drum (the dhol, which is hung from the neck) with one stick and a palm. There are usually more than one dhulia in a performance; each plays different rhythms at different sections of the performance. These rhythmic compositions, called seus, are traditionally formal. Before entering the dancing area, the drummers play a short and brisk rhythm. The seu is changed, and the drummers usually enter the dance area in line. The mohor xingor pepa is played (usually at the beginning) by a single player, who lays out an initial plaintive motif which sets the mood for the dance. The male dancers then enter the area in formation and perform (accompanied by singing, in which all participate). Other instruments which accompany this dance are the taal, a type of cymbal; the gogona, a reed-and-bamboo instrument; the toka, a bamboo clapper and the xutuli, a clay whistle. Bamboo flutes are also often used. The songs (bihu geet) accompanying the dance have been handed down for generations. Subjects of the lyrics include welcoming the Assamese new year, describing the life of a farmer, history and satire. Although males and females perform Bihu dance, the female Bihu dance has more variations (including freehand, twisting, with a rhythmic pepa, with a kahi (disk) and with jaapi—Assamese headgear). The performance may be long, but is enlivened by rapid changes in rhythm, mood, movements, pace and improvisation. Dancers and musicians are given opportunities to showcase their talents.

Bagurumba

Bagurumba is a folk dance in Assam which is performed by the Bodos. It is the usually practiced during Bwisagu, a Bod festival in the Vishuva Sankranti(mid-April). Bwisagu begins with cow worship; then, young people reverentially bow down to their parents and elders.

After that, Bathou is worshiped by offering the deity chicken and zou (rice beer). Bodo women wearing colourful dokhna and aronai perform the Bagurumba dance (also known as the Bardwisikhla dance). It is accompanied by instruments such as the serja (a bowed instrument), sifung (flute), tharkha(split bamboo), kham or madal (long drum, made of wood and goatskin). The festival ends with a community prayer at Garjasali. This dance is performed in the Bodo-inhabited areas of Udalguri, Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Darrang and Sonitpur Districts.       Copyright (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_dances_of_Assam)

Assamese cuisine

Assamese cuisine  is the cuisine of Assam, a state in North-East India. It is a style of cooking that is a confluence of cooking habits of the hills that favorfermentation and drying as forms of food preservation, and those from the plains that provide fresh vegetables and abundance of fish from its many rivers and ponds; both of which are centered around the main ingredient—rice. It is a mixture of different indigenous styles with considerable regional variations and some external influences. The cuisine is characterized by very little use of spices, little cooking over fire and strong flavors due mainly to the use of endemic exotic fruits and vegetables that are either fresh, dried or fermented. Fish is widely used, and birds like duck, squab etc. are very popular, which are often paired with a main vegetable or ingredient. Preparations are rarely elaborate—the practice of Bhuna, the gentle frying of spices before the addition of the main ingredients so common in Indian cooking, is absent in the cuisine of Assam.

Assamese Thali

A traditional meal in Assam begins with a khar, a class of dishes named after the main ingredient, and ends with a tenga, a sour dish. These two dishes characterize a traditional meal in Assam. The food is usually served in bell metal utensils made by an indigenous community called Mariya. Tamul (betel nut, generally raw) and paan generally concludes the meal.