SHILLONG: Though Meghalaya is very rich in oral traditions yet the same has remained undocumented.
Principal of St. Edmund’s College, Sylvanus Lamare raised this fact while speaking at the day-long seminar on the importance of collection and compilation of oral literature in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya.
The seminar was held at the Arts and Culture hall of the directorate of arts and culture on Thursday.
Lamare underlined the importance of the collection and documentation of the oral traditions of the Khasis.
According to him, oral tradition is not only about literature alone but also about many other aspects related to the society. He emphasised on collecting all that was written about the Khasis, as there were many written documents about the Khasis in English which are now in British Museum and other libraries in the world, including in Seattle, Washington.
Furthermore, he said there was a need to collect even the written documents by the Germans and French and to bring back the documents to the state.
Lamare emphasised on other physical aspects as well which have a historical background, including Krem Tirot (cave of Tirot Sing Syiem) in Nongkhlaw, monoliths of Nartiang, Krem Marai (cave of Marai) at Laitkor and double decker root bridges.
Citing the instance of Krem Tirot festival, he pointed to the relevance of the presence of the Krem Tirot which could take the people back to the Anglo-Khasi war of 1829 and how Tirot Sing fought against the British and where he went into hiding.
Lamare referred to another example of the monoliths of Nartiang stating that they also have a story behind them and that there was science involved in putting up the famed monoliths.
He stated that the monoliths have been tested by the great earthquake of June 12, 1897.
