Skip to content Skip to navigation

Karbi Anglong all set to host state’s first national rock competition

By editor |


The people of Karbi Anglong are all geared up for this year’s edition of the Rongtheang festival that begins from November 2. The festival will continue for three days to culminate on November 4 and will also see the first national rock competition of Assam being organized there.


This time around, the 8th traditional Rongtheang festival 2010 is being organized by the Eastern Beats Music Society and the Rongtheang Klimsomar Club with the support of ICCR, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) and State Bank of India (SBI).


The Rongtheang Festival is a traditional festival of the people of Karbi Anglong which is into its eighth year now. Celebrated over a three-day period in Rongtheang village of Karbi Anglong every year, the festival has within a very short time become a much loved and popular festival of the people of Rongtheang, Diphu and adjoining areas. The festival was started in 2001.


Originally conceived as a festival to foster the spirit of bonding and brotherhood amongst the people of the district and to provide a platform for the young talents of the new generation, the Rongtheang fest has been helping channelize the frustrations and unspent energy of the youth in a positive direction. By introducing the people with the immense power and healing force of music and other art forms, the festival has been playing a major role in guiding the youth towards inculcating a healthy and positive lifestyle.


In recent years, the festival’s influence and popularity has spilled over from Karbi Anglong to embrace a much wider spectrum with more and more artistes, musicians and youngsters from the rest of the North-east taking a keen interest in the festival. The festival now has a regular stream of visitors from places like NC Hills, Jorhat, Guwahati, Nagaland and other areas who come here to get acquainted with the rich culture and traditions of the Karbis and the other communities residing there.


Eastern Beats Music Society secretary Aiyushman Dutta said, “At a time when gaps in the social fabric of Assam are becoming more and more evident with each passing day, Rongtheang fest can be the perfect village festival for villages and towns in other parts of the State to emulate. The Rongtheang festival witnesses the participation of more than 12 different tribes and communities and the same acts as a perfect platform for building the spirit of brotherhood and bonhomie.”


Some of the major tribes and communities in Rongtheang are the Karbis, Dimasas, Rongmei Nagas, Biates, Hmars, Mizos, Vaipheis, Bodos, caste Hindu Assamese, amogst others.


Following are the main objectives behind organizing Rongtheang fest.


• To promote inter-cultural and inter-faith harmony among the people of different communities and faiths residing in the district.


• To promote the unique cultural traditions, heritage and rituals of the people.


• To develop a sense of respect and appreciation amongst the people, especially the younger generation, towards their culture and roots.


• To wean away the youth from the negative influence of violence, insurgency, and apathy.


• To promote a culture of peace and positivism in the district, thereby opening up avenues of tourism and entrepreneurship in the district.


• To raise awareness against the menace of substance abuse and other social evils.


2nd KARBI ANGLONG BEATS CONTEST 2010


The Karbi Anglong Beats Contest (KABC) was started in the 7th Rongtheang fest 2009. This contest for village bands of Karbi Anglong – the first such contest in this part of the world – was a resounding success and proved the immense musical talent in the villages of Karbi Anglong. It also proved the healing power of music. The contest was held as a tribute to the victims of the October 30 serial bomb blasts.


In order to make the youth take a more active participation, the 2nd Karbi Anglong Beats Contest will be held on a national level this year. This is the first national rock competition of Assam. The winner of the beats contest will get a prize money of Rs. 50,000, a recording deal and the best guitarist will get an electric guitar. KABC is being supported by Mc Dowells No. 1 soda, State Bank of India, Rolling Stone, The Northeast Today, Sound Box and ICCR.


Around 80 bands from all over the country had sent in their entries for the contest. A jury formed by the Eastern Beats Music Society selected nine bands out of the same. Moreover, one band was selected to represent Karbi Anglong in a beats contest organized in Diphu for this purpose on October 2, 2010. The selected bands are:


1. Dream Diabolic (Sikkim)


2. Circles End (Darjeeling)


3. Dementia (Nagaland)


4. Melodrama (Nagaland)


5. Maestro (Haflong)


6. Cleave (Manipur)


7. Horjwlai (Tripura)


8. Dissected Soul (Darjeeling)


9. Filharmonix (Jorhat)


10. Ball of Fire (Karbi Anglong host band)


Dutta said, “Many people ask us as to why we organized the festival in an interior place of Karbi Anglong. But we continued with our quest because we felt it is time we shifted the attention of the people from insurgency and negativities to the rich culture and other positive issues.”


BY Karthik Kashyap




  • 12917 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Leadership crisis deepens AGP

More trouble awaits the Asom Gana Parishad hardly a year before the Assembly polls. The tussle between Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Atul Bora seems to have posed a serious threat to the regional party’s poll prospect.The widening difference between the former chief minister and one time loyalist and working president Atul Bora takes the centrestage of a simmering conflict within the regional party.Senior party leaders told Assam Times that    Mahanta’s loyalists what the founder president should be restored six months after he went on leave. They further claimed that the party’s general council allowed the former chief minister to go on leave only for six months. Then the council...

Rongjeng gears up for trade fair

Rongjeng, the name of a tiny spot atop the East Garo Hills in Meghalaya seems to have dressed afresh. People in this beautiful place are busy with preparing for the Rongjeng Festival slated to begin from March 20.The two days event, first of its kind in this place aims at showcasing their produces, wares, handlooms and handicrafts before the tourists of the country and abroad.Ethnic culture and cuisine of the people are expected to steal the focus in the  market.Entrepreneur from Assam and Nagaland are also expected join the event. Several state government departments have confirmed participation in the first village trade fair by holding stalls to make the people aware of the schemes...

Gogoi woos investment from abroad

Jorhat turns into a hotspot for business tycoons from many parts of the globe as the international trade fair is underway.  Business tycoons from Afghan, Myanmar, Nepal along with other parts of the world are attending in the mega commercial event which got off to a colourful start on Thursday.In his opening speech, chief minister Tarun Gogoi tried his best to woo the investors citing comfortable situation and potentials.Nepal’s Acting Ambassador to India Krishna Prasad Dhakal Ambassador to India from Shaida Mohammad Abdali, Myanmar’s Sagaing Region Minister for Electricity and Industry U Kyaw Win were among those who listened to Gogoi.Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi stressed investment...

I am confident: CM

Hours after Tarun Gogoi allocated portfolios to his new council of ministers, the chief ministers exuded his confidence on Monday that the ministers would deliver the goods. Talking to reporters in Guwahati in the afternoon, Gogoi said that he reposed full faith on the new council of ministers.He however, has kept social welfare with him apart from retained home, finance portfolios.           

‘Stop order’ brews resentment

Rongson Das is disappointed on the day of Magh Bihu. The local resident of Aahotguri area in Morigaon district spared no pain to train up his buffalo to be fielded in the fight on Thursday.  Till Tuesday he was confident that his animal would steal the show. But the things have taken an unexpected turn. There would no buffalo fight this time. The Assam Government has restricted the game scheduled for Thursday and Friday.“I am totally disappointed. What I left undone to help my animal win this time. But of no avail. Today I am not joining the festival when I got the details of the government instruction,” the 50 year old told Assam Times.Same it is in the case of Bihuwa Kalita whose...

Magh bihu meji burning bright

Defying a biting cold wave mejis were burning bright to mark the magh bihu celebration across the state on Thursday.Amid traditional pomp and gaiety, people in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat districts lit up the wooden mejis early in the morning after the whole night feasting and merriment.Traditional straw mejis were lit up in Kamrup, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Barpeta, BTAD areas along with other parts of the state offering pujas to the god of fire. Local people in large thronged the burning mejis seeking divine help from the fire god. Cultural programmes, traditional games and competitions and are lined up for the entire day. Home made sweets, beaten rice, pastries are...

Delhi to host mega NE fest

Yet another chance awaits the North East to showcase its culture, tourism potential and exclusive traits in New Delhi. The national capital is all set to host a mega North-East festival in April.Tour operators, travel agents, cultural troops, film and television industries have eince keen interest to hold the event in the national capital. Steps are also on to finalise a brand ambassador for the region.  

Brahma taking over as CEC

Hari Shankar Brahma is taking over as Chief Election Commissioner succeeding VS Sampath who retires on Thursday. Brahma, who hails from Assam is taking oath from president Pranab Mukherjee at a brief function. Brahma’s tenure as the chief election commissioner will end in April this year.  

SC shows options to end border row

Supreme Court on Wednesday talked of two options before the government to end the decade old Assam-Nagaland border row. Taking up a petition in the apex court, a division bench headed by Justice TS Thakur said the dispute could be resolved either by deciding the 1988 law suit filed by Assam or by referring the matter for arbitration.The court further asked the Assam counsel to file the list of its witnesses along with their testimonies in the form of affidavits with the apex court registrar within three months. It directed the Registrar General to conduct the trial in the lawsuit on "day-to-day" basis from April 20 and said the witnesses, whose affidavits will be filed by Assam, will have...

10 injured in police canecharge

At least ten people sustained injury when security forces sprang upon a huge crowd in Sonitpur district on Wednesday. The incident that sends shockwaves across the state on the eve of the bhogali bihu took place in Rongapara when local residents in large number thronged the police station in the morning demanding immediate release of a youth who was allegedly arrested as NDFB-S rebel during the ongoing joint operation.Senior police official tried to quell the protesters who refused to bend and struck to the demand. Police resorted t lathicharge and blank firing following an altercation. All the injured were rushed to the hospital. Several parties, organizations and individuals...