On August 23, 2020, Nuakhai Juhar festival was celebrated in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and other neighbouring states. It is celebrated to welcome the new crop of the season. It is also called Nuakhai Parab or Nuakahi Bhetghat.
During the festival, food grains are worshipped. The locals organize dances and folk songs in their districts displaying their culture and tradition. It is predominantly celebrated in western Odisha. However, this year due to COVID-19 lock down, people celebrated the festival inside their homes.
Since March 2020, several other tribes have celebrated their festivals indoors.
OTHER IMPORTANT FESTIVALS:
ADI TRIBE'S FESTIVAL:
- The Adi tribe are living in East Siang and Lower Dibang valleys of Arunachal Pradesh. They are believed to have come from southern China.
- The Adi community performs rituals called motor or pator system.
- Solungg and Aran are the major festivals of Adi tribe. Solung is a harvesting festival where animal sacrifice rituals are performed. On the other hand, Aran is a hunting festival where the male members of the family go for hunting.
- The Adi community tribals are experts in making bamboo and cane products.
GOLAS TRIBE'S FESTIVAL:
- They are one of the major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh that dominate West Siang district. They are recognized as Scheduled tribe.
- MOPIN is their major festival. It is celebrated for the prosperity of the villages. However, this year due to COVID-19, the rituals were performed for the safety of humans. The dance of the tribes is called Popir dance.
ABOUT NYISHI TRIBE:
- They are the single largest tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. They speak Tibeto-Burman language. They practice slash and burn agriculture.
- The Nyishi tribe is a scheduled tribe. They are also called Bangni.
- Nyokum is the festival celebrated by the Nyoshi tribe. It is the festival of inviting all the gods and goddesses in the universe at a particular time and to a particular place.
