Bohag Bihu

Honouring livestock and farming

On Goru Bihu, the final day of the Sot month, villagers bring their cattle to local rivers and ponds for a ceremonial washing. People scrub the herd with a mixture of crushed black gram and turmeric, gently striking them with medicinal sprigs of dighloti, makhioti, and tonglati alongside pieces of bottle gourd and aubergine. Singers recite verses wishing the animals health and substantial growth. Leftover plant cuttings are hung from cowshed roofs for good fortune. At sunset, the decorated cows return home to receive fresh rope halters and rice cakes, while cattle owners burn rice husks to produce protective smoke.

Elders, family and gifts

The first day of the new month, Manuh Bihu, centres on respecting family elders and ancestral spirits. Household members bathe with turmeric paste, put on fresh clothes, and light small lamps in their domestic prayer areas. Younger relatives present older family members with a gamusa, a handwoven white and red cloth that carries deep social meaning as a token of esteem, warmth and local identity. The following day, Kutum Bihu, turns attention to the wider circle of kin. Friends and relatives travel between households to share lunch, exchange local news and renew personal bonds.

Music, dance and outdoor gatherings

Festivities begin in the nights before the formal New Year, when women gather in open fields or under broad trees illuminated by flaming torches during Raati Bihu. Men accompany them on the pepa, a hornpipe crafted from buffalo horn, and the toka, a split bamboo clapper. Young people also perform seasonal songs in village prayer hall yards. Later in the week, large public fairs known as Bihu Melas take place in outdoor grounds, continuing a royal custom of open-air cultural showcases that unite different ethnic communities through dance competitions and public concerts.

Closing the festival

The concluding phase, Sera Bihu or Bohagi Bidai, brings the multi-day event to a close with reflection and hopes for the coming year. Across various districts, communities wrap up their festivities by visiting neighbours to exchange batches of freshly fried or steamed pitha treats prepared throughout the week. In Guwahati, an annual cultural gathering called Rongali Utsav presents traditional heritage, crafts and performing arts to a wider public audience, reinforcing communal harmony across the region.

How Bohag Bihu is kept

Celebrations unfold in seven recognized phases across the transition into the month of Bohag. Early stages involve night dances in torchlit fields and youth performances in community courtyards. On cattle day, villagers wash their livestock in streams using turmeric and plant sprigs, offering them gourds and rice treats. Families then clean themselves, light oil lamps, seek ancestral blessings, and present elders with ceremonial handwoven gamusa cloths. Kin gather for shared meals, while broader crowds fill public fairs to dance, play traditional instruments, and exchange homemade sweets before the festivities conclude.

When and where

The festival takes place every year during the second week of April, starting on the 14th of April to coincide with the opening of Bohag, the first month in the regional calendar.

The tradition is observed across Assam and neighboring areas in northeastern India. Open fields, village prayer courtyards, rural riversides and urban fairgrounds, such as those in Guwahati, serve as primary celebration spaces.

What Bohag Bihu means

The observance signifies agricultural renewal, the start of the paddy crop cycle and the dawn of a new calendar year. Livestock rites honour the traditional basis of rural livelihoods, while the presentation of the gamusa cloth embodies hospitality, kinship and cultural pride. Collective dancing and open fairs serve to bridge ethnic divides among native groups.

On the table

Flavours: Turmeric

Days Bohag Bihu is marked

Bohag Bihu dates: 2026, 2027, 2028

Questions people ask about Bohag Bihu

See also

LosarThe Tibetan Buddhist New Year festival of renewal, offerings, and family feastsUgadiA South Indian New Year feast celebrating life with sweet, sour, and bitter tastesLohriA northern Indian midwinter festival of evening bonfires, folk songs and harvest foodsCheti ChandThe Sindhi New Year festival celebrating the arrival of spring and Jhulelal

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Bohag Bihu on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.