Baikho Puja

Recently, the Rabha tribal community celebrated Baikho puja along the Assam-Meghalaya border.

Key details:

• During the Baikho Puja, the Rabhas worship 13 gods and goddesses.
• The Baikho is the principal deity of the Rabhas, which is associated with crops.
• Bai means deity, and kho means great. 
• An important aspect of the Baikho puja is the Bar Nak-Kai ritual which is a fire test dance. 
  • This involves running barefoot over burning hot coals as piles of leftover planting materials blaze in the background.
• For the next two-three succeeding days, all the villagers perform hoimaru songs.
  • In Hoymaru songs, heroic deeds and spiritual thoughts are conveyed. 
  • No written record has been found of the songs, which are handed down orally from generation to generation. 
  • The occasion of Baykho is also considered auspicious for solemnising marriages. 
• Rabha tribe 
  • The Rabhas are one of the Scheduled tribes living mainly in Assam and West Bengal.
  • They are also concentrated on the south bank of the river Brahmaputra in the Kamrup, Goalpara district and Tikrikilla of West Garo hills of Meghalaya.