The Bihu festival is among the most renowned and synonymous with the people and culture of Assam. This festival is associated with the Assamese harvest festival, primarily the completion of the agricultural cycle of this region. In mid-January, the Bhogali or Magh Bihu is the Assamese festival equivalent to feasting as it marks the end of a successful crop harvesting. Bihu constitutes a big part of Assam’s cultural celebrations as it is non-religious and secular. People from various religions, castes, and creeds participate in this festival marked by austere celebrations. With merriment and mirth, the farmers after reaping the harvest engage in preparing traditional Bihu food recipes.
Amongst the other two Bihus namely Kati or Kongali Bihu and Bohag or Rongali Bihu, Magh Bihu is actually about feasting. It is this time of merrymaking where large community feasts are prepared across Assam. With uruka, the celebration begins and continues for 2 to 3 days. Preparations of meat, duck, pigeon, local chicken, and fish are the essential items of these feasting during the celebrations as the male folks with the tune of tradition spend the night together as a symbol of pleasantry.
Coming to the Assamese culinary delights related to this festival, the women folk prepare a range of delicious items. Preparations with traditional food items are particularly associated with social gatherings exchanging views and news with each other. By using the traditional wooden pounding machine dheki, the rice and other cereals are powered to make various traditional items. The various lip-smacking delicious items are pitha (irresistible rice cakes), delectable doi (curd), tempting laru (coconut sweet balls), divinely gur (jaggery), and chira (rice flakes).
We hope that this Magh Bihu stirs up your nostalgia of waking up early in the morning to tie up the thatch or straws around the trees hoping to bear more fruits in the coming year. May the God of Fire, Agni blesses you and your family as you prepare the special mixture to offer to God and remove all obstacles on the way! Have a Happy Magh Bihu! And don’t forget to enjoy a sumptuous meal at the Café Golden Feast (Tinsukia and Guwahati) with your loved ones.