ITANAGAR, Feb 16: The 14 th Oriah festival of Wancho community was celebrated in the state capital at Senki Park with traditional gaiety and fervour today.
Kanubari MLA G D Wangsu attended the function as chief guest while Capital District Transport Officer (DTO) Chakpa Wangsu attended the function as guest of honour among a host of dignitaries, students, social workers and public leaders attended the day-long celebrations.
The celebration was marked by cultural programmes performed by a cultural team of the Wancho community living in the capital complex which included local dances. The mythology behind the celebrations was also read out on the occasion.
“Our tradition is our culture which needs to be preserved. Our traditions and culture are diminishing with the passage of time and the next generation has to wake up and work for promotion and preservation of our age old cultural heritage and beautiful traditional identity,” Wangsu said.
He urged upon the community leaders to emerge from their vested interests and work for protection of tradition and culture of tribal community of the state.
He also urged upon the youth to join the mainstream and come out from the clutches of drugs which was destroying their lives these days. He further gave a clarion call to one and all to use traditional items including traditional dress, food, etc. to promote the Wangchu culture.
S Chakpa Wangsu informed that though the Oriah festival was celebrated with much fanfare every year, this year the celebrations were low key because of the pandemic. “However, our enthusiasm is high and everyone is enjoying the essence of the festivity,” Wangsu said.
“The Wancho community residing in the state capital, other parts of the state and country celebrate this festival with lots of fun and gaiety. We pray to the almighty Jowan Rang for a bumper harvest and we greet each other and pray for peace, progress, communal harmony and development of state and country,” he added.
Several eminent personalities of the community also spoke on the occasion.
Low key Oriah festival celebrated at Longding
‘Oriah’, the agricultural festival of Wancho tribe, was celebrated at Longding district HQ in a low key manner adhering to all the SOPs related to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Public gathering was not allowed and other cultural activities like dancing competitions etc were not organized this year. The programme was attended by Tanpho Wangnaw, MLA, Longding, BaniLego Deputy Commissioner Longding, Vikram Harimohan Meena, Superintendent of Police, other officials and members of Wancho Cultural Society.
In an interaction, a member of Oriah Committee told that adhering to SOPS related to COVID 19 the committee decided to celebrate Oriah in a very low key manner this year. The programme was a brief affair and it started with the Zangvaan Ritual programme at WCS ground.
The celebration concluded with a feast organized by the Oriah Committee.
Even in the all the administrative HQs the celebration was organized in low key manner avoiding mass gathering.
