NONGSTOIN: Mawkyrwat, headquarters of the infant South West Khasi Hills District, is playing host to the two-day ‘En Kyrhai Festival’ (Festival of Abundance) organized by the District Administration, Khawkylla Community Resource Management Society – NERCORMP, in collaboration with DCIC, Horticulture, Fisheries Department which was inaugurated on Monday.
Fifty stalls were set up at the venue of the Festival where industrial exhibition, display of horti & agri products, oranges, flower show, vegetable competition, slow food and cultural items were organised.
The main attraction of the two-day event was the display of rare food items. Wild potatoes from Phlangdiloin, Shiahkrot from Phlangkynshi, wild long peppers and Tiew lyngksiar (wild orchid) from Sohra, fish cooked in bamboo from Ri Bhoi, Gooseberry wine from West Jaintia Hills, Japih (frog soup), orange from Ngunraw and even locally brewed coffee from Nongnah delighted the gathering. Indigenous beverages like rice beer, millet beer and tapioca beer were also served in bamboo mugs giving the tasters a sense of the age-old Khasi tradition.
Iangrai ADC and DC in charge of South West Khasi Hills graced the occasion as the chief guest.
She expressed her gratitude to the organizers for hosting the Festival and added that South West Khasi Hills had every ingredient of becoming leading tourist hotspots.
“We have breathtaking scenic beauty, sparkling rivers, canyons etc.,” she said and added that the new district was being developed without disturbing the natural ecosystem.
