Bihu Committees gear up for celebrations amidst pandemic guidelines

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidelines issued by the government to fight the pandemic, the people of Assam are celebrating Rongali Bihu. Assam's capital Guwahati alone has over 100 Bihu stages.

Guwahati:Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidelines issued by the government to fight the pandemic, the people of Assam are celebrating Rongali Bihu. Welcoming the Assamese new year, the people of Assam have celebrated Goru Bihu, which is dedicated to cows on Wednesday. Goru Bihu is the first day of Bihu, where villagers take their cows to a nearby river or pond and give them a ceremonial wash.

Though the tradition of Goru Bihu can be seen mostly in rural areas, the Assamese people from urban areas are also celebrating it with equal enthusiasm and Guwahati is not an exception to this trend. Observing the age-old tradition of Bihu, the city dwellers of Guwahati celebrated Goru Bihu in different parts of the city.

The city has as many as 100 stages for Bihu, rending the air with Bihu songs. The city's several Bihu committees are now all set to celebrate the festival. Assam could not celebrate Bihu in the last year due to the Covid-19 scenario. Instead of celebrating the festival, people stayed inside their home. This time people from every walk of life are very excited to celebrate the festival. However, the excitement and happiness have been hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19.

In view of all emerging situation, the government of Assam has issued certain guidelines on how to celebrate Bihu during the pandemic. Amidst the mixed reaction to the government guidelines, the Bihu committees are ready to greet and entertain the people with a list of different programmes. The city is also set for several Bihu competitions.

The prestigious Guwahati Bihu Sanmillani, also known as the Latasil Bihu Sanmillani, will organize the Bihu Samragi Competition on April 17. The Bihu Kunwari and Bihu Rani competition will be organised on April 16. This time Guwahati Bihu Sanmillani has a budget of Rs. 15 Lakh.

The Beltola Bohagi Utsav is all set to celebrate Bihu with a three-day-long programme and has a budget of Rs. 20 lakh. The Beltola Bohagi Utsav will also confer Bhupen Hazarika Award to noted playback singer Udit Narayan.

Several other Bihu committees including the Pandu Bihu Sanmilani, Geeta Nagar Bihu Snamilani, East Guwahati Bihu Sanmilani are also set to celebrate Bihu. Whereas the Pandu Bihu Sanmilani has a budget of Rs.20 Lakh, the Geeta Nagar Bihu Sanmilani's budget is Rs. 22 lakh. The east Guwahati Bihu Sanmilani's budget is Rs.35 Lakh and the Ulubari Rangali Bihu Sanmilani's budget is Rs.25 Lakh. Meanwhile, the government has issued a guideline to end all Bihu programmes before 11 PM in view of the pandemic.