Behdienkhlam- The Festival Of Good Over Evil | Meghalaya Festive Celebration 2024

Behdienkhlam- the three day biggest harvesting festival is celebrated across Meghalaya state during the month of July. This year the grand festival will be celebrated from 11th of July to 14th of July,2024. If you want to be a part of this joyous festival, the East And West Jayantia Hills(Tuberkmai and Jowai regions) eagerly await you to give the best view of this celebration.

About Behdienkhlam Festival:

Shilong-Cherapunji-Cherrybloosom, is the perfect trio that always attracts people to visit Meghalaya once in a lifetime. Instead of spring, if you plan to visit Meghalaya in the future, do not miss the chance to get into this place in Monsoon and get emerge with the beauties of waterfalls, natural canopy and of course, the colorful Behdienkhalam festival.

However, this lively festival has a deep meaning and history. As per the locals, the term Behdienkhlam combines two pnar words such as Behdien and Khalam. The former word represents “to drive away” and the latter defines the “Plague”. The term was originated in Jayantia Hills where the deadly Cholera virus spread across the region and caused the death of many lives.

At that time, the four sisters brought the longest trunk from the forest and buried that in a pool of mud to get rid of the evil Plague. The four sisters namely, ka Doh, Ka Bon, Ka Weit, and Ka Tein are known to be the ancestors of the present days’ Jayntias tribes. So, from that incident, the festival is celebrated as the victory of good over evil and for bringing plenty throughout the year.

Highlights Of The Behdienkhlam Festival:

Let’s get into a glimpse of this colorful festival and immerse ourselves within the beauties of North-East festivities and cultural delights of local Jayantia tribes.

Dancing And Celebrations-

The local Jayantia tribes and their colorful traditional attire, beautiful local cultural dance with rhythmic tunes give the vibes about their deep cultural belief.

The grand celebration is organized in a large field and the center of the field is decorated with rots and wooden posts called “Khnongs.” How can I forget to mention the pipes and drums, the main highlights of the large gatherings?

Rituals:

The cultural significance of the Behdienkhlam festival has a unique meaning to the locals and most importantly the rituals are very different and have a deep meaning for the Jayantia Tribes. Let’s explore the cultural beauty of this monsoon ritual.

• There is a series of rituals performed by locals and the beginning of each ritual is approved by the village chief Daloi. The festival is started by worshipping the local God.
• Then, young villagers beat every house with bamboo poles to get rid of the evil spirits, plagues and other diseases from each house of the village.
• Let’s come to the climax of the rituals series which means, fighting for an undressed large beam positioned in a pool of mud. The interesting part of this ritual is, two groups fight against each other to ditch the beam into the mud which is called wah-it-nar.
• Finally, afterwards three days of rituals over, on the last day all the locals as well as tourists gather in a place called Aitnar and the real celebration starts with local food, musics, drums and of course the traditional costumes like cherry on the cake.

Fun Fair:

Now, we will talk about the final day show. At, Aitnar the main attractions are tall-decorated structures which are locally called “Rots” and wooden posts called ” Khongs” brought by locals to a large pool. All the dancers at their best attires got emotional to pray for the good harvest, and good rain.

In the last day, rain is a must that adds beauty as well as brings good sign as per the local beliefs. Also, during the rain, a football-like game is played called dad-lawakor with a wooden ball between the Northerners and Southerners of the village. The interesting part of this game is, the winning side puts the ball on its opponent side that signifies rain and harvest will be good in this region over the year.

If you really want to enjoy real Jayantia tribes’ local foods and want to be a part of their local culture then the funfair during Behidienkhlam festival is good time to cherish the Maghalaya’s true beauty.

Explore The Meghalaya’s Beauty This July!

Hello! My readers… Probably my words will be less to describe the serenity of the North-Eastern beauty. Esspecially, Meghalaya and its amazing Himalyan landscape, rich cultural values, cherry blossom, traditional costumes and most importantly, the welcoming locals.

If you are planning your monsoon trip, then, this July do not miss the chance to get emerge yourself with the colorful, lively Behidienkhlam festival of the Jayantia tribes. This vibrant celebration of spirituality, tranquility will showcase how rich its culture through dance, worship, food and welcoming gestures by locals. So, let your inner-self dance with this beautiful Meghalyan culture now!