Bwisagu is the biggest festival for the Bodos. It’s celebrated not just by the Bodos in Assam, but also wherever Bodo people live in India — in Meghalaya, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Mumbai, people celebrate Bwisagu as much as they can. The Bodos in West Bengal and even in Nepal also enjoy the Bwisagu festival with a lot of enthusiasm.
The Bodos, who are closely tied to farming, have been celebrating the Bwisagu festival since ancient times, and they consider it truly their own. They are communities that worship nature. With a deep love for nature and full dependence on it, the Bodos work the land and aim to live peacefully. When the Bwisagu season comes, nature seems to change completely. New leaves start to sprout on the trees. Squirrels leap around on the branches they’ve made their playground. Birds sing their lively ‘branch-jumping-by-branch-crow’ song–‘cow-crow’. Suddenly, the sky turns cloudy and overcast, flickers, and it starts to rain. Frogs croak ‘Ab ong ab ong,’ calling for rain in the as the language of the Bodos.
The fish erosion fluctuates constantly as new water flows into the stream. The weather is cool and fresh everywhere. Everything around is green, lush, and beautiful to look at. Planting season is getting closer. Who wouldn’t be happy to see and hear such scenes and sounds? Don’t you want to enjoy some nice weather?
Well in tune with the time and seasons, Bwisagu is also celebrated with big, grand festivities, starting from the first day of the Bwisag month and continuing for the next seven days. Back in the day, Baisagu used to be celebrated for a whole month (Bwisag month). You can see the celebrations in every village, with both young and old taking part.
Some mythologists have interpreted it as Bwisagu, a festival celebrated on the first day of the month Baisag. Bwisagu means ‘beginning of the year’ or ‘start of the year.’ Some people say it’s called ‘Bwisagu’ because it comes right before that day, in celebration of the first day of the year, the start of the 365-day cycle. Bwisagu is also sometimes called ‘Bwisagw.’ The Assamese people call Bwisagu ‘Bihu’ and, like the Bodos, celebrate it with a lot of enthusiasm at the right time.
Things change over time. The way the Boros celebrate the Baisagu festival has also gone through major changes. Baisagu, as it used to be, is now celebrated in a more subdued way. All these changes have adapted to time and circumstances and might also be influenced by other castes and communities.
In the old days, most of the villages in the Bodo people celebrated Bwisagu by going out in groups, begging or wandering around. During Bwisagu, they eagerly ate roasted lentil rice and drank lentil juice prepared in the names of pigeons, eggs, and Bwisagu. They entertained all their mental worries, gains, losses, and everything that had happened. They used to sing Bwisagu songs with their mouths. Most of these songs were full of sarcasm and teasing. Some sang, while others played bamboo and wooden musical instruments. Everyone danced with enthusiasm. The musical instruments included kham, jotha, serja, sifung gongona, jabkhring and so on.
The Demsi dance was a really important and interesting dance during Bwisagu. Even today, you can still see these kinds of dances. In this dance, there’s just one woman and one man. The man wears a few costumes that can look funny, like a cloak trap, a galax net, a hat, a scarf over the shoulders, and even a scarf around the waist. Basically, he’s dressed like a hero heading into battle. The woman, or bride, appears to be dressed in a similar costume as the bride.
These days, most villages perform Bwisagu to the same tune. Many people can’t really enjoy Bwisagu when songs from other castes or languages are played along. In many villages, there’s no real excitement when instruments like kham, jotha, flute, or siphung are played. Some reasons might be not knowing how to play the instruments, rushing to make the instruments, or not being satisfied with the music itself.
But the decisions made by some of the elders and councils, along with the community’s cultural awareness, have led some villages to try to enjoy themselves as best they can today. The Boros seem to have been practicing this since ancient times, just a day before Bwisagu, that is, on the day of Sankhranti. There’s still a lot of thought and belief about it in the boroughs. Some believe that if this happens, there won’t be any sickness in the body.
On Sankranti, the Bodo people take the bull to the riverbank. If there’s no river, water is taken from wells and fire mills. In the past, cowherds are known to have stabbed the cow twice. A popular folk song called ‘Lao ja fantao ja’ is very notable. Nowadays, servants or maids aren’t seen doing this. It’s the householder or a family member who has to spit on the cow.
Now, thousands of Bodo people go for casual climbing on Baukhungri Hill in the Kokrajhar district. On the first day of Bwisagu, every village in the Bodo community starts the day with worship alongside elders, offering blessings, and holding feasts in honor of the elders. There’s both good and bad talk in the village.
On Bwisagu’s first day, Rongjali Bwisagu flags are raised, and people share teachings about the Bodo community’s identity, their cultural connections, and how it’s recognized and accepted globally.
The village people celebrate the new year at the local temples and museums. So, the Bwisagu season and the new year bring joy to everyone’s life and everyone prays for a peaceful world.
Even after the puja and offerings are done, everyone goes home to have fun with their families. The women dance wearing purple shawls, red blouses, and flowers in their hair, while the men wear dark green, white, and new clothes.
Today’s era is all about competition. It’s a time of technology where you really have to keep up with the pace. In a situation like this, communities are starting to think about how careful they should be and what’s appropriate to do. With that in mind, different competitions are held in villages across various boroughs, mostly focusing on culture, literature, and sports. Winners usually get a small prize and are celebrated.
When it comes to cultural competitions, dance and singing contests are a big deal. Literary competitions cover things like essay writing, poetry, storytelling, history sharing, and even extempore speech. Sports competitions include climbing banana trees, blindfold games, tug-of-war, wrestling, boxing, and spontaneous or improvised contests.
Besides the group festivities in the village that last about four days, you can also see the now-empty Bawsagu dance in the village grounds and the sparkling stage performances. During these celebrations, not just the villagers, but people from nearby villages also come to celebrate and watch some of the performances. Upcoming artists and dancers get a special chance to participate in Bwisagu on stage. They also receive enough funds from the Bwisagu organizing committees.
These days, Bodo students celebrate Pre -Bwisagu in schools before the actual Bwisagu comes, based on their time and opportunities. Many clubs and associations also observe Bwisagu as part of welcome and farewell ceremonies. These celebrations have definitely helped Baisagu gain popularity and recognition. It’s fair to say that the value and significance of Bwisagu have grown. Everyone really enjoys Bwisagu and is eager to celebrate as soon as it arrives.