Dibrugarh: People belonging to the Ollo community have celebrated Woraang Festival at Lazu in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tirap district along the Indo-Myanmar border with a lot of fanfare.
While addressing the huge gathering of festival revellers, Namsai MLA Chow Jingnu Namchoom extended his Woraang greetings to the people of the Ollo community and said that festivals fostered love, peace, happiness and joy.
Namchoom passionately appealed to the people to preserve their rich legacies handed down to them by their ancestors.
He also insisted on women’s empowerment for the all-around development of the community.
Speaking at the event, Tirap DC Hento Karga urged the people to preserve their rich traditional culture for posterity.
He appealed to the villagers to shun opium cultivation and addiction, as opium Kaani ruins the future of the Ollo community he added that opium cultivation which is illegal should be replaced by cash crops under central/state-sponsored flagship programs and asked the stakeholders to engage in agriculture, horticulture and veterinary activities for sustainable and permanent economic stability.
The DC urged all to maintain health and hygiene to avoid spreading waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and dysentery.
The guests of the festivals also witnessed the rituals performed at the makeshift Paang.
Namchoom further said that no celebration would surpass Woraang for the Ollos in terms of importance, grandeur and significance.
Earlier, in his welcome speech President of the 12th Woraang Juku committee, 2023 Rangmo Ranto highlighted the significance of the Woraang festival and mythology.
The festival witnessed performances of folk dances by the dancers from various villages of the Ollo community and a community feast marked the day-long celebrations.