Nongkrem dance ends with pomp & gaiety

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, DEC 8: The ancient Nongkrem dance festival of the Khasi ended on Thursday, at the headquarters and capital of the erstwhile Khasi state, which is about 15 km south from Shillong, amidst pomp and gaiety..

The festival is performed to appease the all-powerful Goddess, Ka Blei Synshar, for a rich bumper harvest and prosperity of the people.

The five-day long religious festival takes place at the ‘Iing Sad’ (thatched palace), the royal abode of the Syiem Sad, Queen Mother or High Priestess of the state of Khyrim.

The Syiem (King) of Khyrim along with the high priest performs the Pomblang ceremony, where a goat is sacrificed to appease the Lei Shyllong; the God of Shillong peak and also to the ancestors and ancestress of the ruling clan.

The religious part of the festival precedes dances, in which unmarried girls in all their exotic costumes participate.

Attired in their majestic and traditional regalia, young men also take to the dancing arena in front of the Iing Sad (thatched palace). They hold swords and white Yak hair whisks in their hands, keeping time to the changing beats of drums and haunting tunes of the tangmuri (pipes).

As people come from all over the State of Khyrim, little markets spring up in the field outside the Iing Sad compound adding to the revelry.

Dressed in their best, people throng the dancing arena and the adjoining hills where a colourful fair, featuring local handicrafts and delicacies is held on the occasion every year.

Over the years, the Nongkrem Dance has been attracting large number of tourists, both domestic and foreign.

Attired in his majestic regalia, the Syiem (King) of Khyrim, Dr Balajied Syiem presided over the festival.

The Hima Khyrim has always been a bastion of Khasi culture. The Pomblang (goat sacrifice) and the Shad Nongkrem (Nongkrem dance) has been organized in the same manner for hundreds of years even before the recorded years of 1831 AD.

Dr Balajied S Syiem, tribal chief of the Hima Khyrim said, “We have preserved and nurtured the rich legacy of the traditional dances bequeathed to us by our ancestors.  As inheritors of this cultural heritage, there is an urgent need to safeguard our roots despite the changes witnessed in the modern days all over the world.”

“Young people may study elsewhere in the world but I urged them to not forget their roots so that we will be known as a community that is progressing at the same time be known as a community that preserves our identity for the present and future generation’s sake,” he said.

The Syiem has called upon coordination to resolve various differences in the society to usher in peace while dealing with the struggles faced by the indigenous tribe.

Among the other guests were chief secretary KS Kropha and other state dignitaries, who lauded the chief, the royal family and his cabinet for fulfilling the sacred duty over the years.