Discover The Unqiue Culture of North-east India

Embracing various communities, cultures, religions and customs in its kitty, North-east India of present era has great potential to woo both National and International vacationers. Bestowed with some of the best nature gifts, memories of North-East India can lingers into your mind for rest of your life.

North-East India is the most linguistically and culturally diverse region of our country. It truly supports India's identity of "Unity in diversity". All the eight states namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram,Tripura and Sikkim that forms the North-east part of India has their own culture and tradition. These states are predominantly tribal lands inhabited by numerous tribal communities belonging to mainly Indo-Aryan, Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic linguistic family. Each of these tribal communities have unique culture which are totally distinct from each other. The main aspects of culture such as custom, tradition, language, lifestyle demarcates one community from other.

Religion: It is one of the finest region which follows India's policy of secularism. Here you can very well witness the communal harmony between the people of various community. Among the eight North-eastern states, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are mostly inhabited by tribal people. Tribal communities of "land of rising sun" i.e Arunachal Pradesh worships Sun and Moon God as well as Buddhism. Unlike these communities of Arunachal Pradesh, tribal people of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland mainly believes in Christianity. In contrast to these hilly states, Assam, Manipur, Tripura which are less dominated by the tribal communities, have a large population of Hindus and Muslims.

Language: North-east India is a melting pot of various languages. According to 1971 census, there are more than 220 languages spoken in these states. The aboriginal of these regions belongs to various linguistic families such as Assamese and Bengali languages belong to the Indo-Aryan linguistic family, Austro-Asiatic linguistic family is represented mainly by Khasi and the Sino-Tibetan family of languages is represented by the Tibeto- Burman and the Siamese-Chinese sub families. Tea-tribes which comprises a significant portion of the population also have their own language. However the majority of languages spoken here belong to the former and the latter is represented by a few Thai languages like Khamyang, Khamti, Aiton, Phakyal and Turung. It is worthwhile to mention that Ahom language which was spoken during the reign of Ahom kingdom belongs to this Thai group, with the gradual passage of time this language has merged with Assamese language.

Customs and Traditions: Customs and traditions of North-east India is very unique in its own sense. Every state and every community of the region have their own distinguished customs and traditions related to various occasions. As, these region is mainly an agricultural region. So, the customs and traditions of the region revolves around this occupation only.

For instance, in Arunachal Pradesh, tribal people used to follow some unique customs. In contrary, to other parts of India, here the groom's family gives dowry to the bride family at the time of the wedding. Tribal people here don't believe in caste system but they strictly follow the clan system. They can't marry a person who belongs to their same clan. Tribal people are very open minded. They don't mind intercaste and inter religious marriages.

Even Assamese community has some unique customs regarding their marriage ceremony. It is an amalgamation of various rituals such as Juran ceremony that means when the groom mother accompany her relatives visits the bride's house and bride's mother offers them beetle nut and beetle leaf in a brass plate covered by a gomcha(a piece of hand woven cloth). After than the second ritual is Tel Diya, in which groom's mother places a ring and betel on the hair parting of the bride. Then for three times, oil is poured on the betel. Then, she applies sindoor and presents the bride a wedding dress which includes 'mekhla chadar', the traditional Assamese dress for women. The third ritual is Pani Tola which is followed by nuani. Nuani means bathing the bride and helping her to get ready for the marriage. Now come the ceremonial bath. It takes place on the wedding day in the respective houses of both bride and groom. Bride is dressed up in traditional shawl and jewels whereas groom dressed in a white dhoti, kurta and silk shawl draped across his shoulder. After the make-up session, its time for the groom to start his journey for the bride's house where the wedding is going to be conducted. On the arrival of groom along with his friends and relatives, he has to face the shower of rice by the bride's relatives as a mark of good luck. Once the groom entered into the house of the bride, bride' s mother performs ceremonial worship and then steps out to welcome him along with his female relatives. After this bride's elder brother embrace the groom and greets him. Then the younger sister of the bride washes the feet of the groom. Thereafter, With all cheers the bride's brother lifts groom and takes him to the wedding hall. Now, the actual wedding begins. Panchmitra, a combination of ghee, curd, sugar honey and raw milk is given to the bride to eat. her maternal uncle lifts her to the wedding hall. Both bride and groom puts garland on each other. Wedding ceremony is held in front of the sacred fire amidst the chanting of mantras by brahmins. Groom applies sindoor on the forehead of his newly wedded wife. Afterwards an auspicious time is noted for the departure of the couple. On reaching to the groom house, a heartiest welcome is given to the bride and the the moyther of the grrom welcomes the couple with arati and bless them for a new beginning.

Music and dance: Music and dance is a vital part of North-east India's culture. This region has countless number of folk songs and folk dances. These are very colorful and mostly performed in groups by both young men and women only. Some of the famous dance forms that are performed on the beats of traditional musical instruments like drums and gongs such as Bamboo dance of Mizoram, Bihu of Assam, Nongkrem dance of Meghalaya, Manipuri dance form of Maipur, Mask dance of Sikkim, Garia, Biju, Cheraw and HaiHak of Tripura.

Attire: The attractive and colorful attires worn by the people of this region are mainly hand woven. All the communities based in North East India have their own distinct attires which are worn in a special style. The traditional dress wear by the ladies is basically a piece of cloth that is worn around the waist in much the same way as a wrap around and worn with a top or shirt. It has different names in different states.

Sikkimese women of Lepcha community wear a two piece dress. Bhutia women wears a silken `Honju` that is a full sleeve blouse and a loose gown type garment. They also wear heavy jewelry made of pure gold. Assamese women wear their traditional dress called Mekhala Chaddar. It is actually a saree in two parts or a half saree like the ones in South India. It is mostly woven in Muga and Pat Silk. The men in villages of Assam usually wear dhotis made of silk and they also wear a chalang, a scarf. Another traditional shirt called the `sula` is also worn by Assamese men.

Manipur ladies wear a skirt named `Phanek`. Though most of the Phaneks are made of cotton, the silk Phaneks are mostly worn in some special occasions. In contrary to this, the skirt worn by the Mizo women is called Puan. It is also known as Dakmanda in Meghalaya. The village women of Meghalaya also wear another dress named Jyensyem. It consists of two ankle length pieces of cloth gathered at the shoulders. The upper part of the body is covered in a blouse. The males in the northeast Indian villages mostly wear the traditional dhoti and panjabi. The dhoti is worn around the lower part of the body and the panjabi is worn to cover the upper part.

Cuisines: Food has always been a major part of the culture. The cuisines of North-east India is totally different from other parts of India. But there is a similarity in cuisines of all the eight states. People here generally takes non-vegetarian food. Fish and rice is the most popular food items of northeast India. The most popular food items in North-east India includes Mommos, Panch Phoron Tarkaari, Misa Mach Poora (Grilled shrimps), Poora Mach, Assam Laksa Stock, Dal and Eggs, Koat Pitha (Banana pitha), Bamboo Shoot Fry, Poora Haah (Roasted duck), Fish Fried Rice, Thukpa /Gya-Thuk (Noodle soup), Kabok, Iromba, Jadoh, etc.

Discover The Unique Culture Of North-East India
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