Rongali Bihu (Bohag Bihu)

Rongali Bihu (also called Bohag Bihu) is Assam's most exuberant festival — the spring new-year celebration that opens the sowing season and welcomes the Assamese year. It is celebrated statewide over seven days from around 14 April.

The festival's visual signature is the Bihu dance — young women in muga silk mekhela-chador and young men in white dhoti moving to the beat of the dhol, pepa (buffalo-horn pipe), taal (cymbals) and gogona (mouth harp). Husori troupes visit homes with songs of blessing, and the first day is dedicated to Goru Bihu, the community's cattle.

• Bihu dance performed by young women in muga silk mekhela-chador
• Husori troupes visiting homes with dhol, pepa (buffalo-horn pipe) and taal
• Goru Bihu — the cow-worship day that opens the festival
• Traditional pithas, laru and jolpan sweet spreads
• Bihu geet — courtship songs of the Brahmaputra plains

• Assam's most joyful festival, marking the agricultural new year
• Open-air Bihu functions in every town and city — easy to attend
• Excellent introduction to Assamese cuisine, silk and folk music
• Comfortable pre-monsoon weather across the Brahmaputra valley

Bihu is a pre-Vedic agricultural festival that has been observed in the Brahmaputra Valley for at least a thousand years. Rongali Bihu specifically marks the new sowing cycle and asks for a good monsoon and harvest.

The three-Bihu calendar — Rongali (spring), Kongali (autumn) and Bhogali (winter) — was formalised in medieval Ahom-era Assam and standardised through the 19th and 20th centuries. Bihu was declared Assam's state festival in 1968.

• Annual dates: 14–20 April (Goru Bihu on 14th, Manuh Bihu on 15th, five following days).
• Venue: statewide across Assam; the largest public celebrations are the Latasil (Guwahati), Judges Field (Guwahati), Jorhat and Sivasagar Bihu functions.
• Government offices and schools in Assam are closed through the first two days.

Rongali Bihu is celebrated by Assamese-speaking communities across religion and caste, and by many of the state's tribal groups (Ahom, Sonowal Kachari, Deori, Bodo and others) with local variations — the Bodo have their own Bwisagu, and the Rabha have Baikho, both close cousins of Bihu.

Goru Bihu, the first day, is when cattle are bathed in the river, garlanded with dighloti and makhioti leaves and given a special meal — a public acknowledgment of the cow and buffalo's essential role in Assamese agriculture.

Manuh Bihu, the second day, is for people — new clothes (bihuwaan) are worn, elders are greeted with a gift of the gamosa, and neighbours exchange sweets and traditional pithas.

The husori tradition — troupes of young men visiting each home with dhol and song — carries the community's collective blessing from house to house.

• Bihu dance performances at Latasil, Judges Field and every neighbourhood function across Assam.
• Husori troupes visiting homes with dhol, pepa, gogona and choral songs of blessing.
• Goru Bihu at the riverfront — cattle bathed, garlanded and fed the traditional pithaguri.
• Traditional Bihu food — 108 varieties of pithas, laru, jolpan (poha with curd and jaggery) and khar-based dishes.
• Handloom bihuwaan exchange and the display of muga silk mekhela-chadors.

• Air: Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU), Guwahati; Rowriah (JRH), Jorhat and Mohanbari (DIB), Dibrugarh for Upper Assam.
• Rail: Guwahati Junction (GHY), Jorhat Town (JTTN), Dibrugarh (DBRG) and Sivasagar (SBGR) are the main railheads.
• Road: NH-27 and NH-37 connect Guwahati to Upper Assam. Buses and shared sumos run daily; private cabs are easily arranged.

No Inner Line Permit or Protected Area Permit is required for Assam. Indian and foreign nationals can travel freely with valid ID.

Foreign nationals must register at their hotel of stay in the normal way.

Mid-April in Assam is warm and humid with occasional pre-monsoon thunderstorms. Daytime temperatures are 26–34 °C. Pack light cotton clothing, a rain jacket, sunscreen and closed shoes.

Guwahati, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Sivasagar have a wide range of hotels across every budget. Homestays in Majuli, Sivasagar and around the tea gardens of Jorhat offer the most immersive village-Bihu experience.

Book three to four weeks in advance; mid-April is peak tourist season in Assam.

• Bihu dance is fast and fluid — a shutter speed of 1/500 or faster freezes the dhol swing and the mekhela-chador motion.
• The pre-dawn Goru Bihu at the riverfront is a strong visual — arrive by first light for position.
• Husori troupes photograph best in the natural light of the courtyard where they perform; avoid direct flash.

• Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati.
• Majuli — the world's largest river island and the seat of Assamese Vaishnav satras.
• Kaziranga National Park (from Guwahati or Jorhat) for one-horned rhino safaris.
• Sivasagar Ahom monuments — Rang Ghar, Talatal Ghar and Kareng Ghar.

Photographs from Rongali Bihu (Bohag Bihu), shot on our own departures and by license-cleared contributors.

Rongali Bihu (Bohag Bihu) is a living cultural event hosted by the Assamese community. Please attend as a respectful guest, not a spectator.