Bihu ushers in season of plenty and unity

GUWAHATI: The winter chill formed a perfect backdrop for the Bihu festivities as people welcomed in the first day of Magh with prayers, feasts, bonfires and traditional dance. Attired in their ethnic best, men and women performed rituals and made merry in salutation to the spirit of the festival.
The traditional Meiji was lit up in many areas just as cultural rallies spread cheer. In some places people built the traditional Bhelaghar or a house of straw, an abiding motif of the harvest festival. Long queues of people were also seen in front of temples. While the festival was celebrated with exuberance in the rural areas, urban areas also made sure the Meiji was built and pyres were lit. "Bihu binds everyone. Different Bihu committees in the city organise programmes to mark Magh Bihu," said Anjan Kumar Barua, a city resident.

In Hajo, on the city outskirts, people took out a rally as part of their annual ritual called Monikut Utsav. The rally is unique as townsmen there mark the communal harmony of Hindus and Muslims. In fact, the two communities have a tradition of keeping peace here. When the country was burning after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the people here did not allow the secular fabric of the place to be disturbed. They buried their communal differences and took out peace processions fronted by two of Hajo's most revered Hindu and Muslim religious sites.

On the first day of Magh, the people took out a procession from Powa Mecca, one of Islam's most sanctified sites in India, to Hayagriva Madhava Temple, a revered site for both Hindus and Buddhists.