TURA: The most colourful festival of Garo Hills, the 39th annual Hundred Drums Wangala Festival, began on a vibrating note with Meghalaya Governor V Shanmuganathan beating a traditional drum to inaugurate the two day festival at Asanang village, 18 kms from Tura, on Friday afternoon.
Wangala is the most significant post-harvest festival of the Garos which is generally held in the second week of November every year. It is a Thanksgiving ceremony to Misi Saljong also known as Pattigipa Rarongipa (The Great Giver) for having blessed the people with a rich harvest of the season.
The celebrations began with the performance of the traditional Rugala ceremony conducted by the Nokma (village headman).
Inaugurating the festival before a gathering of several thousand spectators, including government officials and tourists from different parts of the country and abroad, Governor Shanmuganathan said in his inaugural message that India is a land of festivals beginning from the state of Jammu and Kashmir to Kanyakumari comprising of vibrant, colorful and multi- cultural festivals and Wangala festival is one among these festivals.
Since the festival culminates with thanksgiving to the Giver for the bountiful harvest, the very fact shows that the Garo people are agrarian in nature, he observed.
The Governor appealed to the people of the area especially those belonging to the agrarian sector including the members of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council and government officials to plan and work together to make the agricultural sector more attractive where more people can earn their living independently.
He also lauded the unique and wonderful community life of the Garos in which they help each other both in times of family crisis and also during happy occasions like marriages when the whole clan helps in kind and cash.
The daylong programme included the holding of the traditional indigenous games testing the strength and technique of young Garo sportsmen and women.
The unique presentation of indigenous musical instruments like the Chigring and Adil were also on display at the inaugural day.