A CORRESPONDENT
BOKO: The heritage-rich 113rd Annual Suwori festival was celebrated in Suwori Field at Boko in Kamrup district on Sunday. Hundreds of people from various places came to celebrate the festival. The annual festival is celebrated on the 7th Day of the Rongali Bihu Festival.
Situated in the southern end of the Kamrup district, Boko is an enchanting paradise inhabited by different indigenous communities and ethnic groups like Rabha, Bodo, Garo, Gorkha, and Koch Rajbongshi, as well as people of other castes and communities.
‘Suwori’ is an attempt to showcase and propagate the rich tapestry of this diverse fabric, each having their own specialty in terms of cultural heritage. Among others, ‘Hana Ghora,’ ‘Paro Bah,’ and breathtaking traditional sports are the main attractions during this festival.
Gauranga Choudhary, Organizer of the festival, said about the ‘Hana Ghora’, “God Siva while travelling along his wife’s dead body met the Hanas (Garo) people in this area. Along with God Siva, Goddesses Kali also came to the area on horseback. After his departure, Hanas (Garo) made a horse with bamboo. After a long time, this horse became famous as Hana Ghora dance and Rabha-Kachari also performed this dance. During this dance, ‘Kodal’ (spade) and drum are used. Before the dance is performed, they pray to the Goddesses and offer one pair of chicken, wine, eggs, sendur, mustard oil, etc. ‘Hana Ghora’ always dances along with two armed guards.”
He also elaborated about ‘Paro Bah,’ “‘Paro Bah’ was the younger sister of Hana Ghora. She also prayed and offered before visiting all the residences of the village. Paro Bah is made with a long straight jati bah (bamboo) and wrapped with red and white cloth while the body is covered with black, white and green cloth.”
A good number of people participated in various traditional sports like tug of war, oiled bamboo climbing, 100 meters race for boys and girls, horse race, and elephant race as a part of traditional games and also performed Bihu dance, Rabha dances ‘Farkanti’ and ‘Bogejari,’ Boro dances ‘Dhwimali’ and ‘Mawsaglang,’ ‘Wangala dance’ of Garos , Koch- Rajbongshi dance, and Gorkhali dance, etc.
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