Guwahati (Assam)

Magh Bihu is a harvest festival celebrated in Assam, which marks the end of the harvesting season in the local month of Magh during mid-January. People of the state have celebrated the festival with community feasts after the annual harvest.

The night before Magh Bihu is known as Uruka, and people across the state are preparing to celebrate it on Tuesday. Markets in Guwahati are crowded with people to buy fish, meat, various dishes, including pitha (rice cake), different types of laru made from coconut, jaggery, sesame seeds, rice flour, puffed rice, etc., fresh cream, thick creamy curd, and golden honey.

Preparations are in full swing across the state to celebrate one of the biggest festivals of the state. In many places of the state, people have made Bhelaghars, Mejis, which have been made of bamboo, leaves and thatch for the Bhogali Bihu feast.

Meanwhile, Students and teachers of Assam Jatiya Bidyalay in Guwahati celebrated the pre-Magh Bihu festival on Monday.

Following traditional rituals, students, teachers of the institution burnt Meji and offered prayers to the God of Fire (Agni) for prosperity. Meji is a key part of the Magh Bihu celebration, made of bamboo, leaves, and thatch.

Secretary, Assam Jatiya Bidyalay Management Committee, Dr Narayan Sharma said, "In Assam, we celebrate pre-Bhogali Bihu in the month of January; this is a very popular festival here for all the communities living in the state. At our school, from the very beginning, we have been working to showcase this festival and share our culture, introducing our students to the diverse forms of Bihu and other traditional festivals. Many students live far from home, so it is difficult for them to return to attend the Bihu festival. In our campus, in a symbolic way, we try to celebrate pre-Bhogali Bihu, where all the traditional norms and decorum, we want to show to students."

Northeast India's largest dairy cooperative, Purabi Dairy, also celebrated pre-Magh Bihu at its dairy processing plant in Panjabari, Guwahati, on Monday, marking a year of strong growth, wider farmer participation and expanding presence across Assam's dairy landscape.

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Officials of the West Assam Milk Producers' Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL) noted that Purabi Dairy has grown from strength to strength over the past year, with significant increases in milk production and procurement and a steady expansion of its cooperative network.

The number of Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS) under Purabi increased during the year, while the cooperative dairy system in Upper Assam has also strengthened considerably, bringing more farmers into the organised dairy fold and ensuring stable income opportunities at the grassroots level.