Hundred Drums concludes with record turn up

Hundred Drums concludes with record turn up

TURA, NOVEMBER 14: The 31st Hundred Drums festival concluded today with an amazing turn out. Hundreds and thousands of spectators assembled in a record gathering at the Asanang field near here to witness the last and the most famous dance or Wangala marking the end of harvest and the beginning of winter season.

This year Agatha K Sangma, Minister, Rural Development graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and like last year a Wangala troupe from Bangladesh participated in the 31st Hundred Drums festival held at Asanang and were led here by Pramod Mankin, Minister, Cultural Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

This year’s Hundred Drums festival also saw the felicitation of Uttam K Sangma, Secretary, NEC, for being the first IAS among the Garos. Besides him Pramod Mankin was also felicitated for being the first and only A·chik to be a minister in a foreign country.

At the onset of the second and last day of the Hundred Drums Wangala festival the organizing committee thanked several benefactors besides Thomas A Sangma, MP, Rajya Sabha, Agatha K Sangma, MP and Minister for Rural Development for their donation towards the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival.

Agatha K Sangma in her address to the gathering informed that she had met with Shiela Dixit, Chief Minister, Delhi and proposed the inclusion of the traditional drumbeats of the Wangala in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Common Wealth Games to be hosted by India. She said “I have talked with Shiela Dixit, CM, Delhi and had proposed the inclusion of the traditional drumbeats of the Garos in the “Beats of India in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Common Wealth Games in Delhi to which she agreed and sent a team from the music maestro, A R Rahman’s technical team here to record the Hundred Drums and they are here among our midst”. Besides giving a donation towards the Hundred Drums festival committee Agatha K Sangma also donated 30 traditional A·chik drums to the Bangladesh Troupe as an act of Goodwill between the two countries.

The Guest of Honors, Pramod Mankin and Uttam K Sangma expressed their happiness to be able to take part in the 31st Hundred Drums Wangala festival and also thanked everyone at the festival for welcoming them among their midst.

Uttam K Sangma urged the A·chiks to be diligent and persevere in their endeavors so as to succeed while Pramod Mankin expressed his immense happiness at being able to share the joyous occasion with the people of Garo Hills and said “We too will, in Bangladesh, during the second week of December celebrate the Wangala. Today I am very happy to be amongst you and hope that there will be ample time for us to meet again in the future”.

Purno A Sangma, former Lok Sabha speaker and local MLA citing the examples of Uttam K Sangma and Pramod Mankin urged the people of Garo Hills to be persistence and diligent saying “Uttam K Sangma is the first among the Garos to have got through the IAS while Pramod Mankin is the first among the Garos to have got through the BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service). Both of them are achievers and have in every right to be proud of themselves. Youth of Garo Hills should emulate them and try tyo reach the point of excellence they have achieved”.

‘Wangala’ the Harvest festival of the Garos is a post harvest celebration performed by the Garos after the harvest is over. The festivals is the culmination of the jhum cycle or slash and burn method of cultivation still being followed by the Garos in the footsteps of their forefathers.

The cycle begins when the Nokma of a Village allots a plot of land for the jhummias of the village for cultivation of crops where jhum crops like jhum paddy, maize, chilies, millets, tapioca, ginger etc are grown The plot is then sanctified by a ceremony called Mite Amua by the local Shaman to find out if the place is suitable for cultivation or not and sacrifice a chicken or a cock to the gods. The land is then cleared by the villagers by cutting the jungle with daos locally known as Atte.This is done during the months of December to January. The cleared land is kept as it is to dry up till February and March when the whole village will fix the date for burning their plots collectively.

The a·ba so·a or burning of the plot of land is then made by first making fire lines so that the fire does not spread to adjoining areas. After this comes the ceremony called agal maka where again the misi saljong the god of fertility is appeased by a ceremony where a cock is sacrificed to make sure that the crops will be blessed by the god of fertility and harvest will be good.

In this year’s Hundred Drums Wangala competition the village of Sadolpara from Dadenggre Development Block, West Garo Hills emerged victorious with their excellent coordination in the field while, Danang Songma, West Garo Hills emerged the runners up and Dingnapara from Selsella Development Block, West Garo Hills the second runners up.

Later, prizes were given out to the Wangala competition winners, besides the indigenous games winners by the Chief Guest and the Guest of Honors of the 31st Hundred Drums Wangala held at Asanang.

1st day of 100 drums Wangala festival concludes with the Rugala ceremony

1st day of 100 drums Wangala festival concludes with the Rugala ceremony

TURA, NOVEMBER 13: The first day of the 100 drums Wangala festival concluded today with the Rugala Ceremony performed by the priest of last year’s Hundred Drums competition winner Dingnapara Village of Selsella Block, West Garo Hills.

The morning of the first day of the 100 drums Wangala festival began with the arrival of the 11 Wangala Troupes including a Wangala troupe from Bangladesh and also the inauguration of the exhibition stalls at Asanang Field by the Director, Industries, D K Areng who was also the Chief Guest of the inaugural function.

The exhibition cum sale at the Hundred Drums festival is an added attraction showcasing various agro and industrial products of Garo Hills. This year entrepreneurs and professionals from various walks of life participated in the exhibition with altogether eighteen stalls opened this year.

During the later part of the first day of the Wangala festival, indigenous A·chik traditional Games were held, testing the strength, endurance and stamina of the A·chik menfolk.

The main events in the indigenous traditional A·chik games were the Rong·ma desusaa, Wa·pong Sika, Anding Oka, Waldu Ra·a and Jakpong Pe·a. These traditional games during the ancient times were held annually to test the strength, endurance and stamina of the A·chik Matgriks or Warriors and whoever won during these games were declared the strongest and bravest Matgrik among the A·chiks.

After the indigenous games, like every year, the all important Rugala ceremony was performed by the priest or Kamal from Dingnapara Village of Selsella Block under West Garo Hills District. The Rugala ceremony in ancient times was performed every year, post harvest before the Wangala festival to offer Misi Saljong the first harvest of mi and misi (staple of the A·chiks) from the jhum and paddy fields etc thanking him for the years’ good crops and abundance of food.

This year also a Wangala troupe from Bangladesh is participating in the Wangala festivals for the second time and was led from Bangladesh by Pramod Manking, a Garo MP from Bangladesh.

This year, altogether there are 11 troupes participating In the hundred drums festival. The participating troupes are Wangala troupes from Chepagre, Ampati Sub-Division, West Garo Hills, Sadolpara and Tallangre from Dadenggre Development Block, West Garo Hills, Tura, West Garo Hills, Polenggre from Dalu Development Block, Dingnapara from Selsella Development Block, William Nagar from East Garo Hills, Chibragre, West Garo Hills, Baghmara, South Garo Hills, Danang Songma and the troupe from Bangladesh.

Programme for 100 drums Wangala 2009

The Organising Committee Hundred Drums Wangala Festival cordially invites you to the “Hundred Drums Wangala Festival-2009” to be held at Asanang (Rongram Block Hqtrs.)on the 13th & 14th November Kumari Agatha K. Sangma,Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Rural Development etc, Govt. of India has kindly consented to grace the ocassion as the Chief Guest.
PROGRAMME FOR HUNDRED DRUMS WANGALA FESTIVAL-2009
13th Nov. 2009
10:00 A.M - Arrival of Dancing Troupes
11.00 A.M -2.00 P.M- Indigeneous Games
03:00 P.M. - “Rugala” Ceremony
03:30 P.M. - Hundred Drums and Wangala
Rehearsal
06:00 P.M. - Cinema Show
14th Nov. 2009
08:00 A.M. - Assembly of Dancing Troupes
09:00 A.M. - Arrival of the Chief Guest
09:15 A.M. - Welcome Address
- Felicitations
09:30 A.M. - Address by the Chief Guest
10:00 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. - “Sasat So•a” Ceremony
10:30 A.M. to 10:45 A.M. - Dani Doka
10:45 A.M. to 12:00 Noon - Dancing competition by Five
Contingents
12:00 P.M. to 01:30 P.M. - Lunch Break
01:30 P.M. to 02:45 P.M. - Dancing competition by Five
Contingents
02:45 P.M. to 03:15 P.M. - Hundred Drums Wangala
03:15 P.M. to 03:30 P.M. - Combine Dance by invited Guests.
03:30 P.M. to 04:45 P.M. - Prize Distribution
04:45 P.M. to 05:00 P.M. - Presentation of Complimentary

Commonwealth Games kick off with Wangala beat

The greatest multi-sports event to be hosted by India, the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 will begin with the famous hundred drums Wangala beat of the Garos, Meghalaya as the opening event which would be composed by none other than Oscar award winner A.R.Rahman. The world famous music composer will arrive at Tura with a five-member team on 12th November to record the event. Rahman chose the annual harvest festival of the Garos-Wangala- the hundred drums beat on his own as the opening event. All are invited to 100 drums Wangala Festival on 13th & 14th of November 2009 at Asanang, 18kms away from Tura, Meghalaya.

100 Drums Wangala Festival 2009 on November 13, 14

The annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival will be organised this year at Asanang, 18 kms from here, on November 13 and 14 next. The Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Organisation is now making necessary preparations through a series of meetings to make the festival a grand success.

Ms.Agatha Sangma, Union Minister of State for Rural Development, is expected to participate as the chief guest in this year’s festival. Besides, other dignitaries from the state and outside, as well as tourists, both local and foreign, will be participating in the festival.

The Wangala is the most significant festival of the Garos and is performed during the harvesting season, generally in the months of October-November. It is a thanksgiving ceremony to Misi Saljong, also known as Patigipa-Ra•rongipa (the Great Giver) for having blessed the human beings with the rich harvest of the season.

The festival has been practiced traditionally by the Garos from times immemorial. However, due to the impact of modern civilisation and foreign culture, the Wangala, which is the cultural identity of the Garos, has been fast disappearing. In order to preserve and promote this cultural identity, a group of Garo intellectuals put their heads together in a meeting and decided to organise the Wangala Festival on modern lines.

A group of 30 dancers with ten drums would form a contingent and 300 such dancers would make up the “Hundred Drums Wangala Festival”.

The first Hundred Drums Wangala Festival was organised on December 6 and 7, 1976 at Asanang, the headquarters of Rongram Development Block. Since then, the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival is being organised in the second week of November every year and it has grown over the years under the patronage of the Government of Meghalaya and nurtured by the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Organisation.

In this year’s festival too, there will be ten Wangala dance troupes as usual and these are: Dingnapara of Selsella block, which is the first prize winner in the festival last year; the host troupe, i.e, Selbalgre-Rengsangre combined troupe of Rongram Block, one troupe each from Ampati and Dadenggre civil sub-divisions; one troupe each from West, East and South Garo Hills districts; Chandigre-Sasatgre combined troupe and one troupe each from Gambegre and Dalu blocks. A troupe from Danang Bi•sa has been placed as a standby in case any one of the above troupes fail to turn up at the festival.

On the first day, that is on November 13, the Rugala ritual will be performed as an offering to Misi Saljong. The main Wangala festival will take place on the second day after performing the Sa•sat So•a (burning of incense) ceremony.

Meanwhile, the Do•kakku Artists’ Society (DAS) has also informed that it will hold an exhibition during the two-day festival to showcase the art and paintings and handicraft items created by its members. It would also exhibit the painting on canvas the picture of Giting, the most beautiful maiden in the Garo legend. The Society will also give an on the spot training on art and painting to the interested and upcoming artists during the exhibition.

Year 2008: 100 drum Wangla festival ended on a colourful note

TURA, November 8: The annual 100 drum Wangala festival ended on a colourful note of protecting and preserving rich Garo tradition and culture beyond Garo Hills. This year’s special attraction was a cultural troupe coming from Bangladesh. The Hundred Drums Wangala Festival is being organized in the second week of November every year by the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Organisation in order to preserve and promote the cultural identity of the Garos. With the advent of modernization, the rich culture of the Garo’s is fast loosing its’ charm. An effort by few conscious people for the last two decades have kept Wangla going and their concept to promote the festival has gone beyond and people from all over the globe are aware of this event.Besides the ten Wangala troupes from Garo Hills, a group of 30 Wangala dancers from Bangladesh, the Khasi warrior dancers and the Laho dancers from Jaintia Hills also participated in the two-day Festival this year.“It’s awesome. It’s so nice to be here around. Every thing is so simple and beautiful”, said Mary and John, a couple from UK who travelled across the country to witness the colourful festival of the Garos.

The State Planning Board Chairman, Mr Purno A Sangma, who participated as the chief guest in the festival, expressed his happiness to see how the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival has grown over the years. He took the opportunity to inform the gathering that the North-East regional office of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations would be inaugurated in Shillong by Mr. Karan Singh on December 13, adding that this would enable the people of the region to project their culture and tradition to other parts of the world. He also informed the people that 1000 Drums Wangala Festival would be organized next year, instead of the 100 drums, for which necessary preparations were being made by the Tourism Minister Mr. Conrad K Sangma.The State Planning Board Chairman also inaugurated the newly constructed Bandasal or the traditional conference house of the Garos as part of the festival. Minister for Taxation, etc Mr. J A Lyngdoh, in his brief speech, also expressed his great happiness to be able to participate in this festival for the first time and extended his greetings to the people of the region on this occasion.Earlier, the President of the Organising Committee, Hundred Drums Wangala Festival, Mr. L K Marak welcomed the gathering and gave a brief highlights on the Wangala festival of the Garos. Lok Sabha MP, Ms Agatha K Sangma, Parliamentary Secretaries, Ms Ampareen Lyngdoh and Mr. James K Sangma, Chief Executive Member, GHADC Mr. Alphonse A Sangma and Chief Secretary of the State Mr. Ranjan Chatterjee were among others who also attended the Wangala festival.The indigenous games and sports and the two-day Industrial Exhibition was also organized at the same venue as part of the festival.

Hundred Drums Wangala Festival on Nov 7 & 8,2008

The annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival of the Garos will be celebrated at Asananggre, 18 kms from Tura, the district headquarter of West Garo Hills on November 7 and 8, 2008.Hectic preparations are on to organize this Festival with the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Organisation holding series of meetings every Friday for the last couple of months to chalk out the details for the celebration and to raise the required funds for the purpose.The Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr. Donkupar Roy is expected to attend the Festival as the chief guest, besides hosts of dignitaries, tourists and media from the region and outside.Besides the usual rites associated with the Wangala Festival like the Rugala, Chachat So’a and Dani Doka, among others, there will be competition among the ten participating Wangala troupes from the three districts of Garo Hills, finally culminating with the main Hundred Drums Wangala dance. Troupe from Bangladesh will also be expected to participate in this year’s Hundred Drums Wangala Festival as a special appearance.

It may be mentioned that the Wangala is the most significant post-harvest festival of the Garos, which is generally celebrated in the months of October and November. It is a thanksgiving ceremony to the Misi Saljong, also known as Pattigipa-Ra·rongipa (the Great Giver or the God of Wealth) for having blessed the humans with the rich harvest of the season.The Wangala has been practiced by the ‘Songsareks’ or non-Christian Garos from times immemorial in all the villages of Garo Hills, the time and mode of celebration varies from village to village. However, due to impact of modern civilization and foreign culture, the Wangala, which is the cultural identity of the Garos could be seen fast disappearing. So, in order to protect, preserve and promote this cultural identity, a group of Garo thinkers and leaders came together in a meeting and after a lot of discussion, they decided to organize the Wangala festival on modern lines: a group of 15-30 dancers with ten drums would form a contingent and ten such contingents with 300 dancers would make up the “Hundred Drums Wangala Dance Festival”.Thus, the first-ever Hundred Drums Wangala Festival was successfully organized on December 6 and 7, 1976 at Asananggre, the headquarters of Rongram Development Block. Since then, the Festival is being celebrated in the second week of November every year and over the years it has grown under the patronage of the Government of Meghalaya and nurtured by the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Organisation.Presently, the Organisation is being led by Mr. Leander K Marak as its President, while the Block Development Officer, Rongram, Ms. Mary T. Sangma is the Ex-Officio Secretary.

How to get to Tura:Garo Hills

How to get to Tura:

The nearest International Airport is the Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Kolkata.Flights to Guwahati: Flights to Guwahati from Kolkata are available up to about 2 pm everyday. Indian, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, Deccan and Indigo are some of the airlines that service this route. Direct flights are also available from New Delhi.Trains to Guwahati: Guwahati is also well connected by rail.

Trains are available everyday to Guwahati from Kolkata’s Howrah Station. This journey will take you minimum 18 hours. Guwahati also has direct trains from New Delhi. The Rajdhani Express takes about 36 hours one way. Trains from the South India are Bangalore-Guwahati Express, Chennai-Guwahati Express and Guwahati-Trivandrum Express.

By Road to Guwahati: Buses ply from Kolkata to Guwahati via Siliguri. You have the option of breaking you journey to stay overnight at Siliguri.

Guwahati to Tura:

There are three ways to get to Tura:

(1) Pawan Hans helicopter service run by Meghalaya Transport Corporation: Flies every Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays From Guwahati to Tura the fare is Rs.1525/- and from Shillong to Tura is Rs.1200/- only.

(2) Buses that start early morning (latest 7 am) or late evening (latest 8:30 pm). This journey will take you 7 hours. The tickets are not more than Rs 250 per head. The bus stations are at Beltola Bust Terminal

(3) Sumo (jeep) services are available twice a day (7 am and 2pm) from Baralumukh in Guwahati. These tickets will cost about Rs 300 per head and the journey will take 5 hours.

Where to Stay:

1 - Rikman Continental, Tura Bazaar. Ph: +91 3651 220759/ 223858. Room rates range from Rs 750 to Rs 2800. Hotel and Bar attached.

2 – Hotel Sundare (pronounce: soon – daa – ray), Tura Bazaar. Ph: N/A. Room rates range from Rs 650– Rs 2500.

3 – Orchid Lodge, Araimile, New Tura. Ph: +91 3651 232039. Room rates range: N/A

4 – Hotel Nataraj, Tura Bazaar, Tura. Ph: +91 3651 223189. Budget hotel.

5. Bed and Breakfast: Bliss Home Stay

One can stay with a Garo family as a paying guest which will be arranged on request.

Places to see:Garo Hills is yours to discover. It is still one of the most untouched places of North East India. The indigenous people of this tribal area are A’chiks – most popularly known as Garos. Their language falls under the Tibeto-Burman Category. Besides discovering the unique traditions and culture of the people, there are many things to explore geographically and environmentally.

1 – Hullock Gibbons: Garo Hills is one of the very few places on this planet that still has a significant number of hillock gibbons in the wild.

2 – Balpakram: Popularly known as Grand Canyon of the East "Balpakram" is a National Park.

3 – Rongbang Dare: This waterfalls in East Garo hills is simply spectacular makes a wonderful picnic spot.

4 – Dombe Wari: This waterfalls in South Garo hills is not easily accessible. The trek to this waterfalls from the nearest motorable village Emangre will take you about 4 hours. Ask your guide about the beautiful folklore that tells you about how this waterfalls was formed.

5 – Pelga Falls: Must see one of the most beautiful water falls of Garo Hills; besides others like Rongbang Dare etc.

6 – Siju Caves, Nengkong Caves: These limestone caves are famous for their pristine interiors. However, only a few caves have been explored and chartered. The rest of it is uncharted because the caves run very deep and far.

7- Siju Bird Sactuary: Varities of migratory birds etc can be found here.

8 – The 100 Drums Festival at Asanang: Post harvest Festival of the Garos

9 – Flora: The Venus Fly Trap and the Pitcher plant

10 – Fauna: Elephants, tigers, clouded leopard, leopard, leopard cats, birds, etc.

11. Nokrek Biosphere Reserve Forest

About wangala festival

The Wangala is the most significant post harvest festival of the Garos generally held in the month of October to November. It is a "Thanksgiving" ceremony to Misi Saljong, also known as Pattigipa Ra'rongipa (The Great Giver) for having blessed the human beings with rich harvest of the season. A day ahead of the Wangala, a ritual called the Rugala is performed by the Nokma (A village Chief) and in this ritual, the offerings of the first hand special rice-beer alongwith cooked rice and the vegetables are given to Misi Saljong, the Giver. On the next day, the Nokma performs Cha'chat So'a ceremony or the burning of incence at the central pillar of his house to mark the beginning of the weeklong Wangala Festival. The festival has been practised traditionally by the Garos from times immemorial. It is performed annually in almost all the non-Christian of Garo Hills, but the time and dates of celebration vary from village to village.

However, due to the impact of modern civilisation and foreign culture, the Wangala which is the cultural identity of the Garos could be seen fast disappearing. So in order to protect and preserve,and promote this culture identity, a group of Garo intellectuals put their heads together in a meeting and decided to organise the "Wangala Festival" on modern lines. A group of 30 dancers with tendrums would form a contingent and 300 dancers would make up the "Hundred Drums Wangala Festival".

The first Hundred Drums Wangala Festival was successfully organised on December 6 and 7, 1976 at Asanang, the Headquarter of Rongram Development Block, 18kms.. from Tura. Since then, the Hundred Drums Wangala is being organised in the second week of November every year and the Festival has grown over the years under the patronage of the Government of Meghalaya and nurtured Festival Organisarion.