Behdienkhlam Festival

It is the most important festival of the Jaintias and is celebrated mid-July every year after the sowing is over. (There are some references to its having been celebrated in late June, too.) “Khlam” means plague or pestilence’and “beh dien” means to drive away with sticks.

Organized annually by the Seinraij Jowai, this unique festival is held after the sowing season is over so as to overcome any destructive forces of nature including diseases by invoking the God for a good harvest. Interestingly, the festival is celebrated around the same time “Rath Yatra” is celebrated in other parts of eastern India. Besides being the most colourful religious festival, it is also the most important and unique dance festival of the Jaintias.

The ceremony and ritual was carried out for three [normally, four] days and on the last day, in the afternoon people gathered in a place called Aitnar and both young and old danced to the tunes of the pipes and drums.

“Aitnar” – a sacred pool.

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Behdienkhlam Festival at Jowai, India

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