Skip to content Skip to navigation

Rongali Bihu Festival in Delhi


Bitten by the annual spring fever and the romance of the season, the Assamese community, spread all over the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCR) gathered in large numbers with their families and friends at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) grounds to celebrate the mother of all Bihu celebrations on 24th April 2011. The excitement on the ground of IGNCA was palpable as 3 to 4 thousand Assamese people met each other and exchanged pleasantries.


The venue, courtesy IGNCA, is part of its policy to promote the rich cultural heritage of the North East. IGNCA located near the India Gate and at stone's throw distance from the power corridors of the National Capital like the Central Secretariat, Parliament, Rashtrapati Bhawan and the business hub of Connaught Place proved to be the ultimate strategic location to showcase the rich and unique culture of Assam.


Mr. Nayan Mani Bora, CMD of OIL was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Mr Bora was felicitated by the President of Assam Association of Delhi Dr. Ranjit Kr Baruah. The Association had earlier organized a competition on 14th April amongst children for Bihuwa and Bihuwoti and the winners of the competition were awarded that evening.


The Cultural Evening started with a Chorus sung by the members of the Association. The other performances of the evening were Huchori by members of the Association and Assamese youths of Delhi, Hawaiian Guitar recital by Bhaskar De, Satriya Dance Recital by Mridusmita Das, Modern Dance by Bidisha Saikia & Sanghamitra Patowary, Assamese & Bihu songs by Rimli Das, Bihu Dance by Pakhi Saikia, Bihu Dance by Bihuwati Tonmoyee Rani Neog, Group Bihu performance directed by Bhargav Bhuyan And Rim Pathak. A Bihu dance performance choreographed by Mrs Sangeeta Das and performed by about 20 local kids drew loud applause from the audience. It was a testimony to the vibrant community’s success in infusing a sense of pride in its cultural legacies.


Star performer of the function was none other than the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam Sri Tarun Gogoi. No Assamese can remain untouched by the spirit of the season, the Bihu spirit. The infectious mood at the Rongali Bihu function affected him too despite his health issues. After a hectic election campaign, the former President of the Association for 5 times shook a leg with the Bihu dancers on stage, catching the crowd as well as his wife Mrs. Dolly Gogoi by surprise.


The Bihu function, organised by the Association for the second consecutive year at the IGNCA Ground, turned out to be quite entertaining and power packed. The Chief Minister joined Tonmoyee Rani Neog, a post graduate student of History at JNU, on stage. He was accompanied by a top office-bearer of the Association, Manoj Kr Das. The bewildered security personnel didn’t know what to do.


The Chief Minister, accompanied by his wife, spent quite some time at the function. A relaxed-looking Chief Minister, sitting with Rajya Sabha MP Kumar Deepak Das and Durga Das Boro posed for photographs, shook hands with his admirers, with the audience and eager students studying in Delhi. When asked for his comments on the Assembly elections by newspersons, Gogoi declined to issue any forecast unlike some of his colleagues and said he has come to relax among his own and election results are the last thing on his mind.


The function was compered by Dip Saikia and Ilakshee Bhuyan Nath.


Author info

Manoj Kumar Das's picture

Add new comment

Random Stories

Dharna supporting tea garden workers in Margherita

31 May 2022 - 2:59pm | Mithun Baruah
On Tuesday, the Assam Tea Tribes Student Association (ATTSA) and Assam Tea tribes Women Association (ATTWA) Margherita Branch Committee jointly staged a dharna  for two hours in front of the...

Teacher suspended

2 Apr 2010 - 4:24pm | Dibya J Borthakur
An assistant teacher named, Nepal Sarmah of Haiborgaon Adarsha Vidyalaya was suspended recently by an order by the Inspector of Schools, Nagaon district. According to the information, the assistant...

Young greater adjutant storks rescued

5 Oct 2017 - 5:02pm | Ranjanjyoti Mahanta
Four young greater adjutant storks, a highly endangered stork species,were found at Chakalaghat in the Nagaon district on Wednesday. Some locals spotted the young adjutant storks close land...

Tea board seminar on climate change and water management

4 Jul 2011 - 2:08pm | Ritupallab Saikia
A seminar on climate change and water management issues in tea industry was held at Golaghat on 1st July 2011. The seminar was organized by Tea Board in association with IIT Guwahati and...

Other Contents by Author

Bandh is a form of protest used by political activists or aggrieving organizations in South Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. It is similar to a General Strike. During a bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike, for example An Assam bandh is a call for a bandh across Assam and a bandh can also be called within a smaller area, say Moran bandh or a district, say Tinsukia bandh. During the period of bandh, which can be 12 Hrs, 24 Hrs, 48 Hrs or few days long the student/community organisation or political party declaring a bandh expects the general public to stay at home, cease regular work and not attend office. Shopkeepers...
Indrajit Narayan Dev is the 14th generation of the chronological lineage of the erstwhile Koch Dynasty from the days of the great Koch King Maharaja Naranarayan & his General brother Chilarai, of the then 16th century Assam. He dwells atop the ancestral bungalow, the “Little Hillock”, overlooking the sprawling 30 bighas (1 bigha = 1600 sqyd) estate of Ranibagan situated at Beltola Tiniali in the metropolitan city of Guwahati, in the state of Assam, a serene environment amidst the crowd.The estate has a collection of numerous fruit, flower bearing trees and plants and a host of varied species of other valuable trees too.  Within the contour terrain, an approximately 5 bighas (...
Partition brings pain and trauma. If it is international like the partition of India, then it’s tragic yet unavoidable. But when that happens within the country it’s regrettable. I have no idea about the way the boundary between Assam and Nagaland was determined. When Nagaland was carved out of Assam, I was in primary school and one fine day we got a day off to celebrate the occasion of division of Assam or to say the birth of the new sister state of Nagaland.Dimapur was the ancient capital of the Dimasa Kachari Kingdom. The ruins of that time are scattered all around. From Dimapur till North Cachar, a huge tract is inhabited by Dimasas. Dimasa Kacharis have own language and now they have a...
My contact with Rajib Bora is one and half decades long. He organised Majuli Utsav in Majuli around ’97 and subsequently, we did a Majuli Festival in Dilli Haat in 2004. I was that time the General Secretary of Assam Association, Delhi. We introduced apong (rice beer of the Mising community) to Delhi people. Needless to say, there was a serpentine queue to have a cup of the brew. Rajib Bora Over time our relations grew. Rajib tried his hands in many things. A dreamer and creative guy; I could sense the restlessness in his mind. I used to tell him that his millions lie in food. Last year around this time Suresh (Suresh Ranjan Goduka) of Jeevan Initiative, of which I happen...
Assam Association, Delhi celebrated Magh Bihu, the harvest festival of Assam, which marks the end of the harvesting season, and ushering in of the Spring, with a day long programme at the Central Civil Secretariat Sports Ground, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi today. The celebrations started with a welcome address by Justice(Retd) Dr. Mukundakam Sharma, President, Assam Association, Delhi. It was followed by the flag hosting & the lighting of the ‘Meji’- the traditional bonfire in the gracious presence of eminent personalities like Dr. Yoganand Shastri, Speaker of Delhi Assembly. As part of the day-long programme, drawing and painting competition was organized among the children....
The grand old organization of the Assamese community living in Delhi, the Assam Association, Delhi celebrated ‘goru bihu’ with gusto and fervour, only missing point was the worshipping of the holy cow, which was not possible in a metro city life. It was an evening of coming together of the community to celebrate the spring festival to reconnect with life left behind in Assam and to teach the young city bred generation, about the social capital of the community and the traditional values and cultural heritage. The cultural nerve centre- Srimanta Sankaradeva Bhawan was abuzz with the sound of ‘dhol-taal’, ‘penpa’, ‘gogona’, ‘hutuli...
It was a journey down the memory lane for generations of ex-Cottonians living in the Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) comprising NOIDA, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad when alumni from 67 batches gathered in the heart of New Delhi on Sunday to recollect their golden memories of Cotton College and do some brainstorming on how they can give back something to their alma mater. The alumni of Cotton College in the national capital had last met in 1999, just as the college was preparing to celebrate its centenary in 2001, but somehow after that they had never managed to gather together again. But this year, thanks to the initiative taken by Delhi-based Cottonians mainly; Manoj Kr...
The members of Ahom community in Delhi observed Me-dam-me-fi in the National capital with traditional Tai-Ahom worshiping of the Ancestors. The Bailung, priest of the tai-Ahom community, performed the age-old ritual of remembering the forefathers for peace in the land, prosperity of the inhabitants. A large number of participants joined the function despite a very short notice of two days. It was also an occasion for non-Ahom associates also to have a peek into the traditional Tai-Ahom culture. The function ended with a grand feast. A committee was formed to observe the function annually with Gauri Kanta Handique as the President.
Assam Association, Delhi celebrated the Magh Bihu Festival with traditional fervour at the Central Civil Secretariat Grounds at Chanakyapuri on 16th January. The celebrations began with Uruka (the eve) which was celebrated on Saturday, 15th January. A grand bihutoli was set up elaborately along with a stage for the 1200 guests. The bihu bhoj (feast) was prepared throughout the night with chefs/cooks toiling to churn out the tastiest masor tenga jul, murhi ghanto, chicken curry, bengena bhaja, payax etc. Ghila pitha and Bundiya Bhujiya, which are typical Assamese snacks, were arranged to give the feel of being back home. A ‘meji’ was erected with bamboo and firewood, and to be...
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands had been on our travel plan for quite some time. We are a family of sea lovers. Something in our veins draws us inexplicably to the vast blue waters… and this ‘something’ had been nagging me persistently for a while to pay a visit to the idyllic islands. The remoteness and the ‘kalapani’ tag was a fascination since childhood. One fine summer-break evening my daughter insisted that we go there. Seconded very strongly by my son, my wife, I had no choice but to browse the computer screen and check out airfare options. The enthusiasm spread quickly! My wife got an LTC and was allowed Airfare under a scheme of the Govt. of India and...