A two or three day Deodhani festival is also celebrated every year in the middle of August when thousands of brightly dressed devotees, encircled with brilliant fresh flower necklaces and adorned with vermillion die, flock to Guwahati and make trance offerings to the Serpent Goddess (Manasa Puja) at the Kamakhya temple there. The dance begins in the evening and continues until dawn as the devotees express the sacrifice of their lives to the holy goddess. As they dance they flourish live pigeons and goats which are later sacrificed in the temple.
The Bodos, a branch of the Indo-Mongoloid family, are the largest Scheduled tribe in Assam. They migrated south from Tibet and Burma and were one of the first to settle in Assam. They generally celebrate Bwisagu, famous for its myriad colours and merriment, in mid-April. It is the most cherished festival of the Bodo tribe and is also celebrated as a springtime festival to commemorate the advent of the new year. On the first day the cow is worshipped and on the following day young people of each household reverentially bow down to their parents and elders. Finally they worship the supreme deity Bathou or Lord Shiva by offering chicken and zou (rice beer). The Bagurumba dance is typically performed during this festival and it is the most attractive dance of the Bodo community. Girls alone, dressed in dokhnas (draped skirts) chaddar (cloth used as a bodice) and...
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