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Bohag (Rongali) Bihu
The Assamese new year, danced in a muga or pat mekhela chador in red and white, with a gamosa given to elders.
What is worn for Bohag (Rongali) Bihu
Bohag Bihu, also called Rongali Bihu, is the Assamese new year and spring festival, beginning on 14 April and running for about a week. The first day is for cattle, the second for people, and the days after for visiting and feasting. Women dance the Bihu dance in a mekhela chador, the two piece Assamese dress of a wrapped skirt and a long cloth over the shoulder. Red and white are traditional, in pat, the mulberry silk, or in muga, the golden silk found only in Assam. Flowers of the foxtail orchid, called kopou, are worn in the hair. Younger people give elders a gamosa, a white cotton towel with a red woven border, and touch their feet.
The sarees
Also part of it, and being written: Muga silk (Assam's golden wild silk.).
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Bohag Bihu" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mekhela chador: Deepraj, CC BY 2.5, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source