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HomeIndiaAssam sets eyes on Guinness record for largest Bihu dance. 11,000 performers,...

Assam sets eyes on Guinness record for largest Bihu dance. 11,000 performers, one stadium

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma attempts record as part of his endeavour to promote Bihu and draw tourists to the northeastern state.

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Guwahati: With workshops across all 31 districts, Assam is going all out in its effort to set a Guinness record for the world’s largest performance of Bihu during next month’s Rongali Bihu celebrations.

On 14 April, when Bohag or Rongali Bihu celebrations begin, over 11,000 folk dancers and musicians will gather at Guwahati’s Sarusajai Stadium for an hour-long performance. 

Apart from the performance itself, preparations are also under way to arrange adequate accommodation facilities for the performers who will converge on Guwahati from across Assam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the event, organised by the Assam government at the initiative of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Invitations will also be extended to the governors and chief ministers of every state. 

This is the northeast’s second attempt for a record for the largest performance of a traditional folk dance. On 5 April 2019, Nagaland entered the Guinness World Records when 4,687 artistes performed Konyak at Mon Town. 

Addressing a press meet at Dispur Tuesday, Sarma said a video of Bihu dancers performing at the stadium has been submitted to the Guinness World Records authorities as part of the application process, and the state has received “preliminary clearance” for further inspection. 

“We want to popularise Bihu and take it to the world stage. A total of 11,140 dancers will participate in the record attempt, including ‘Bihuwa’ and ‘Bihuwati’ (Assamese men and women clad in traditional Muga attire to perform Bihu),” Sarma added. 

Rongali Bihu marks the onset of spring.

Among the three Bihus celebrated throughout the Assamese calendar year, the week-long Rongali Bihu is all about merriment and traditions. Bohag refers to the first month of the Assamese year. The two others are Bhogali or Magh Bihu (mid-January) and Kati or Kongali Bihu (October). 


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Preparations afoot for big day

As part of the preparations for the main event, a workshop involving ‘master trainers’ of Bihu is under way at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati, according to details given by the chief minister.

A dress rehearsal will be held Wednesday, after which the experts will return to their villages to conduct workshops for Bihu dancers and folk musicians. The workshops will conclude on 8 April.

In each district, training will be imparted by groups of around 50 Bihu dancers or master trainers each. These workshops will be attended by performers in the 15-35 age group.

Once training concludes on 8 April, the participants will assemble in Guwahati, where a dress rehearsal will follow from 9-12 April. Then, a day’s rest. 

The female and male performers will be in a 70:30 ratio. As many as 1,400 performers will join from Dibrugarh, 1,000 from Golaghat, 1,100 from Sonitpur, and 800 each from Sivasagar and Jorhat districts, among other parts of Brahmaputra Valley. A group of 20 participants each will come in from Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts of Barak Valley. Eight-hundred participants are from Kamrup Metro district, which is headquartered in Guwahati.

Speaking to ThePrint in Guwahati, Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said the administration will fulfil all the responsibilities for a successful event, including the accommodation of around 10,000 people in the city. 

“We are in touch with all kinds of educational-institution-based-hostels, community housing centres, government guest houses and hotels etc for the accommodation of participants, daily catering and other needs,” Jha said. 

“We will also be providing accommodation for officials and the additional manpower travelling with the performers. The planning is in the last stage and we will soon be presenting it to the government and accommodation committee.” 

Starting from the training and rehearsal period, until the day of performance, each dancer and musician will receive Rs 10,500 as a token amount for participation. During the workshop, every performer will get Rs 300 for travel expenses. Separate arrangements will be made for food, the chief minister said. 

An amount of Rs 3,000 will be provided to each dancer to help them arrange their traditional dresses in adherence to the dress code set by the government. Upon reaching Guwahati, they will be given Rs 1,000 each as part of daily expenses. 

The state government will register the name of each participant on a web portal so they can receive certificates of achievement if the feat is recognised by Guinness World Records. 

Promoting Bihu

In his bid to promote Rongali Bihu, Sarma has also said that, beginning 2024, the state will host a seven-day Bihu festival on the lines of Nagaland’s famous Hornbill festival. 

It will be held at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati and Rang Ghar in Upper Assam’s Sivasagar district, the erstwhile capital of the Ahom kingdom. 

The Rang Ghar is a 17th-century sports pavilion built during the reign of Ahom king Swargadeo Rudra Singha. It was from Rang Ghar that the Ahom royals and nobles watched various kinds of sports and traditional events.

“We hope to draw maximum tourists to Assam through the Rongali Bihu festival,” he added.

(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)


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