- The Wanchuwa festival is one of the most important celebrations in the life of the Tiwa tribe of Assam.
- It is celebrated once in five or six years. Generally, this festival takes place between June and August.
- The ceremony usually starts on a Tuesday and ends on a Thursday
- The main function takes place on a Wednesday at the residence of Shangdoloi, (the head of the village bachelor’s dormitory where the “sham” (wooden mortars) are located.
- These mortars are partly buried underground and arranged in a circular pattern.
- While dancing to the rhythm of the khram, pangsi and thurang (musical instruments) members of the Shamadi pound the wet rice with a “lomphor” (wooden pestle) till rice is ground to a powder.
- After the dance, the grounded rice flour is mixed lightly with water and is used to sprinkle on people present at the ceremony.
- The remaining flour is distributed among the villagers to prepare wanrusa, a type of steamed rice cake. The next morning they bring the wanrusa to the Shangdoloi’s house and offer it to the deities Sodonga Raja and Maldewa Raja.
- By the late evening of Thursday, the Wanshuwa festival (Wanshúwa Kham) comes to an end.
- The Tiwa of the Amkha and Marjong group considers the Wankuri or the flour pounded on the day of the Wanshuwa festival to be sacred rice.
About Tiwa Tribe
- Tiwa Tribe is a community that centers itself around a traditional form of agriculture.
- Also known as Lalung, thie indigenous community is recognized as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) within the state of Assam.
- The Tiwa community is far removed from the noise and influence of urban chaos.
- The Tiwas practice Jhum or shifting cultivation.
- Under this kind of cultivation, the land is first cleared of any vegetation that is later set on fire (slash-and-burn).
- The result is a more fertile soil that is freshly enriched with potash, all the more useful for a bountiful crop.
- States: Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
- Festivals: The main festivals of the Tiwa tribes are: Three Pisu (Bihu), Borot utsav, Sogra phuja, Wanchuwa, Jonbeel Mela, Kabla, Langkhon Phuja and Yangli Phuja.
Sub-groups of the tribe:
- The tribe is majorly divided into following 2 subgroups, which have contrasting cultural features:
Hill Tiwa:
- They live in the westernmost areas of Karbi Anglong district.
- Language: Tibeto-Burman language.
- Religion: One-half of them follow their traditional religion. It is based on the worship of local deities. The other half has been converted to Christianity since the 1950s.
Plains Tiwa:
- They live on the flatlands of the Southern bank of the Brahmaputra valley.
- Language: The vast majority speak Assamese as their mother tongue. Their descent system is patrilineal.
- Religion: Their religion shares many elements with Assamese Hinduism but remains specific.