Two-day mass get-together of Bodo-Mech at Sonkosh Kherai Puja

From our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR, Feb 16: A two-day mass conglomeration of Bodo-Mech from Assam, BTC, West Bengal and Nepal will be held on February 17 and February 18 at Sonkosh under Gossaigaon subdivision in Kokrajhar district to perform historic Sonkosh Kherai Puja. The programme will be held under the aegis of Royal Union of Koch-Mech.

The '19th Mech (Bodo) Rajkhungur', Rajkumar Prithviraj rayan Dev Mech, who is also the president of the Royal Union of Koch Mech (RUKM), said that recalling the Mech (Bodo) royal heritage and repeating the Bodo history since five centuries, a greater historical Kherai Puja celebration would be organized on the bank of River Sankosh on February 17 and February 18, which was also held last year in 2016 as the 455th year of the historical Kherai celebration.

The historical Sankosh Kherai Puja was initiated by the then Bodo King Haoriya Mech way back in the year 1562 and traditiolly the Kherai Puja is the primitive trait of the Bodo people who were earlier regarded as 'Mech'.

Dev Mech said that a huge mass gathering would be held on February 18 in connection with this celebration which would also be graced by the political representatives of the BTC government as well as leaders of various Bodo and tribal organizations along with the descendants of various Mech (Bodo) royal families of Mechpara and the historical Sidli kingdom. He also said that several Bodo people hailing from different parts of Nepal, West Bengal, BTC region and Assam would also participate in this grand celebration.

Dev Mech also heartily welcomed all the Bodo people of this region, several leaders of various Bodo organizations and other tribal communities of the area to participate in this celebration and make the programme a grand success. He too thanked the Dularai Gudi Bathou Afat for taking the lead initiative and active role in organizing the programme. He said that the historical Sankosh Kherai celebration was not based on a certain religion, rather it would be a historical phenomenon to recall the Bodo heritage. Dev Mech appealed to all the quarters not to bring any division in the greater Bodo community in the me of any religion.