Shillong: The Behdienkhlam festival of the indigenous Pnar community culminated in Jowai on Thursday, with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma attending as the chief guest.Sarma, who attended the festival for the first time, conveyed greetings and a message of peace and friendship from Assam to the people of Meghalaya. “I have given a message of goodwill from the state of Assam to our brothers in Meghalaya and most specifically to the brothers and sisters of Jaintia Hills. I convey my lots of good wishes and I pray for the success of the festival,” he said.A traditional sword bearing the inscription, “The sword that carves a path to peace” was presented to the Assam CM.Behdienkhlam, the most important and colourful indigenous religious festival of the Jaintias, is celebrated in mid-July every year after the sowing is over. “Khlam” means ‘plague or pestilence’ and “beh dien” means to drive away with sticks.Thousands of followers of the indigenous Niamtre faith gathered at Wah Aitnar (a muddy pool), and danced to the tunes of traditional pipes and drums. The procession featured ‘Khnong’, a wooden post and ‘rots’, tall-decorated structures, which are the main attractions of the festival, and were carried amid chants.The climax of the celebrations is the tussle, as seen in a tug of war, for the ‘Khnong’ by two groups of people opposed to each other. The trunk along with the colourful ‘rots’ is then immersed in the muddy waters of the Aitnar pool. This year’s ‘rots’ were built on themes including artificial intelligence and other social issues.Governor CH Vijayashankar and CM Conrad K Sangma greeted the people of the state, particularly the Jaintia Community, on the occasion.
