Preparation are on to hold Solung festival under the joint aegis of Adi Mising Baane Kebang (AMBK) and Mising Students Union-TMPK (Takam Mising Poring Kebang)at Dambuk near Silapathar town in Dhemaji district on September 19 next, informed the organizers.
Solung is the main agriculture festival of Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, which is usually celebrated within the first week of September.
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The festive event is also a special celebration to showcase their rich traditional culture before other ethnic communities of Assam.
The Adis of Arunachal Pradesh and the Mising tribe of Assam have the same traditional practices and obey the same religion, Donyi-Poloism.
Both the communities have rich culture and heritage manifested in the dances, songs and festival celebrations, which symbolize the spirit of origin and evolution of the ethnic group.
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According to ethnologists, both the communities belong to the same Indo-Chinese family and are of Mongoloid origin. The tribes, who earlier lived together in present Arunachal Pradesh, were divided into two different communities after bifurcation of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh during 1972.
The AMBK earlier conducted such festive event at Jonai bordering East Siang district of Arunachal, wherein the community organization leaders called for strengthening the ties between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh through promotion of cultural exchange.
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The Solung festival comprises three parts – Sopi-Yekpi, the first part is the sacrificial day; Binnayat, the second part is a ritual offering to the goddess of crops i. e. Kine Nane; and Ekop/Taktor, the third part is the ritual for protection against harm by the evil spirits.
Taku-Taabat (opening), Solung-Niiton (prayer) and Ponung dance- a unique monotonous folk dance performed by Adi girls is the main highlight of this annual harvest festival. Rice beer – popularly called Apong – is served in bamboo tubes. Mithun, a large bovine species, is sacrificed on the inaugural day of the week-long festival.
