Enewstime Desk
Agartala, January 22, 2020: A Three Day Ranglong Khohui (Cultural Festival) commenced from January 21 at Seisimdung (Indurail) under Panisagar in North Tripura. The festival is organised by the Ranglong Community of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram under the banner of Ranglong Youth Association. Dignitaries, delegates and participants from various parts of northeast India, especially Mizoram, Manipur and Assam have joined the event to be a part of the grand Khohui festival.
What is Ranglong Khohui?
As Ranglong people live in the environment of fast changing society, the young generation Ranglongs has forgotten their rich cultural heritage like songs, dances, games, cuisine etc. So, the basic objective of the Ranglong Khohui (Cultural Festival) is to revitalize, reinvigorate and revive the forgotten Ranglong cultures and traditions. Through the Khohui festival, an attempt has been made to sensitize the youth by involving them in different cultural and traditional showcase, in the presence of senior citizens.
As the cultures and traditions of the Ranglong community are mostly unrecorded, the Khohui festival acts as the right platform to pass on the cultural and traditional knowledge of the older Ranglong to the younger generations. Accordingly, there is showcase and exhibition of Ranglong songs, dances, games, cuisine etc, from all the Ranglong villages. Prize giving ceremony has been arranged to award participants in different events. Most importantly, the festival aims at strengthening peace and harmony by inviting different communities to join the festivals and have cultural exchanges across communities.
Endangered Ranglong language
In this connection, it is worth mentioning that the Ranglong language has been declared by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a critically endangered language among the 197 languages in India (Press Information Bureau, Government of India, MHRD, August 6. 2014). It is a well known fact that language is one of the most important parameter to identify a community’s distinct identity. So, as the Ranglong language is declared as critically endangered, the existence of the Ranglong as a distinct and separate community is also critically endangered. Secretary of the Khohui Organizing Committee said this in a press release.
Bhabatosh Das, Sabhadhipati, Tripura Uttar Zilla Parisad, Biswajit Ghosh, Saha-Sabhadhipati of Uttar Zilla Parisad, Francis Darlong, Addl. SP, North Tripura, Lalnunnemi Darlong, SDM Panisagar North Tripura, Sanjay Das, Chairman of Panchayat Samiti, Panisagar Nagar Panchayat graced the inauguration programme of the festival.
In addition, fraternal delegates from Northeast Students Organisation (NESO), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), a student organisation from Mizoram, Hrangkhawl National Assembly (HNA), Bongcher Youth Association (BYA) from Tripura and Biate from Dima Hasao, Assam were part of the inauguration programme of the festival.
The Ranglong Khohui (Cultural Festival) 2020 is organised in collaboration with the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA), Government of Tripura. The Ranglong Khohui (Cultural Festival) 2020 is also sponsored by North Eastern Council (NEC) Shillong, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Directorate of Tribal Research and Cultural Institute (TR&CI), Government of Tripura, Directorate of Tourism, Government of Tripura, Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of Tripura.
