Fourth NE 'Ranglong Khohui' festival celebrated in North Tripura

Minister of Social Welfare and Social Education & Animal Resource Development, Santana Chakma was the Chief Guest and Chandan Sarkar, Senior Information Officer, Information & Cultural Affairs, North Tripura was the 'Guest of Honour' on the opening day of the festival.

The Sabhadhipati and the Saha Sabhadhipati of Tripura Uttar Zilla Parisad, Bhabatosh Das and Biswajit Ghosh respectively were the Chief Guest, and the Guest of Honour on the third day of the Festival. In addition, fraternal delegates from various parts of Northeast India also participated in the festival.

The fourth 'Ranglong Khohui' (cultural festival)-2021 was organized in collaboration with the Department of Information & Cultural Affairs (ICA), Government of Tripura. It is one of the enlisted festivals in the Calendar of the Department. The 'Ranglong Khohui-2021' was sponsored by North Eastern Council (NEC) Shillong, Ministry of Home Affairs, Directorate of Tribal Research and Cultural Institute (TR&CI), Government of Tripura and Directorate of Tourism, Government of Tripura.

As they live in the environment of fast changing society, many among the young generation of Ranglongs have almost forgotten their rich cultural heritage like songs, dances, games, cuisine etc. So,

the basic objective of the 'Ranglong Khohui-2021' is to revitalize, reinvigorate and revive the forgotten Ranglong cultures and traditions.

Through the 'Ranglong Khohui' festival, an attempt has been made to sensitize the youth by involving them in different cultural and traditional showcase, in the presence of senior citizens. As the cultures and traditions of the Ranglong community are mostly unrecorded, the Ranglong Khohui festival acts as the suitable platform to pass on the cultural and traditional knowledge of the older Ranglongs to the younger generations. Accordingly, there is showcase and exhibition of Ranglong songs, dances, games, and cuisine from all the Ranglong villages.

A felicitation ceremony was arranged to award the participants in different events. Most importantly, the festival aims at strengthening peace and harmony by inviting different communities to join the festivals and have cultural exchanges across communities.

In this connection, it is worth mentioning that the Ranglong language has been declared by the 'United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization' (UNESCO) as a critically endangered language among the 197 (one hundred ninety seven) languages in India (PIB, MHRD, August 6, 2014). It is a well known fact that language is one of the most important parameter to identify a community's distinct identity. So, as the Ranglong language is declared as critically endangered, the existence of the Ranglong as a distinct and separate community is also critically endangered, stated a release.