Book analyses different aspects of Bihu, bats for festival's listing in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

New Delhi, With efforts on to get Bihu enlisted in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage, a new book seeks to bring out different aspects of this main festival of Assam and study it in its entirety. Book analyses different aspects of Bihu, bats for festival's listing in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage
Sanjib Kr Borkakoti, who has edited the anthology "Bihu: The Agricultural Festival of Assam", says the Northeast India zone of the International Council on Monuments and Sites has been organising several programs on Bihu, so that this festival gets known across the world.
"We undertook a series of awareness programmes, enlightening the people and the government, so that they are convinced to pursue through due procedure our effort to get Bihu enlisted by UNESCO in future as a world heritage in the intangible cultural heritage category," the academician says.
All this encouraged us to bring out a publication on Bihu so that more people can get to know more about the features of Bihu. That is how this anthology has come into being, he adds.
Different articles accommodated in this compilation brings out different aspects of Bihu - how it is celebrated by different people in different places.
"There have been many theories about the genesis and nomenclature of Bihu, which highlight the necessity of serious research into it. Folklore research as well as indigenous knowledge system, both justify the academic importance of such studies," Borkakoti says.
Gradual loss of community practices in modern times is yet another reason why we need to study the Bihu festival in its entirety, so that its features can be preserved for posterity, he writes in the book's preface.
He asserts that an academic discourse on Bihu is also needed as there have been deliberate attempts in the recent times to distort Bihu.
Dilip Changkakoty, ICOMOS India's NE zone representative, the reference of Bihu as 'Bapati Sahon', a term that denotes ancestral inheritance or patrimonial cultural property, evokes not only emotional and historical continuity but also situates the festival as a civilisational asset inherited through generations.
He says the Northeast zone's long-term objective remains the recognition of Bihu as a UNESCO World Heritage of Intangible Cultural Significance.
"The festival clearly aligns with at least three of the UNESCO criteria for cultural heritage - its outstanding value as a traditional performing art, its deep embedding in communal memory and ritual, and its active role in the transmission of cultural knowledge and identity," he writes in the introduction of the book, published by Purbayon Publication.
Besides dealing with the essence of Bihu, the living heritage system associated with it, its charm, socio-agrarian connection, a couple of chapters of the anthology also talk about careers associated with Bihu and the economics of Bihu.
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