The annual religious festival of the Pnars tribe in Meghalaya, known as Tuber Behdeiklam, came to a close today with PHE Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar attending the closing ceremony as the principal guest. The biggest, busiest, and most colourful festival in Meghalaya is now being held every year. The festival, which is organised “to drive away disease and other social evils from the society,” was celebrated in front of thousands of people. It is a four-day festival during which the Lyngdoh, the Wasan, the Sangoh, and other tribes execute a variety of ceremonies.
Through a video conference, the chief minister Conrad K. Sangma and the speaker of the Meghalaya Assembly Metbah Lyngdoh wished the residents of Sein Raij Tuber happiness, health, and success.
Paper monuments were taken to the Sacred Pool (Biar) and submerged in 65 rongs or Rots (raths) that resembled towers.
The most well-known cultural celebration among the Pnars is the Behdienkhlam Festival. The most significant dance festival of the Jaintia tribes is Behdienkhlam which is performed every year in July after the sowing season. This festival tour is also a prayer to God, asking for his favour on a bountiful harvest.
During this festival the people of Meghalaya also engage in another activity that is comparable to football. Dad-lawakor is the name of this wooden ball game. Another rite known as “Cher iung blai” involves the symbolic execution of demons while a grass and bamboo thatched hut serves as the structure. Using spears, the tribe’s male members enter the thatched hut and slaughter the demons therein as a symbolic act.
