Aoling and Myoko Festival : Arunachal pradesh and Nagaland

About Myoko Festival:- Every year during the Myoko festival, wooden T-shaped high poles with thatch flags on the top, are placed near the houses. A few decades ago on this occasion, men used to perform daring aerial acrobatics using the long cane rope tied to the tops of the masts. The Myoko festival is celebrated every year in Ziro amongst the three communities Diibo-Hija, Hari-Bulla and Hong of Apatani plateau on a rotational basis with traditional gaiety and festivity. The shaman, the most important figure of the community, is wearing a traditional haircut and clothes; the eggs symbolize fertility. There are numerous pigs and chickens awaiting slaughter. The Apatani are animists and worship the sun (Donyi) and moon (Polo). The highlight of the ceremony is the dawn of the second day when each clan in the village collects pigs to be sacrificed, The shamans recite prayers and sacred formulas while women sprinkle animals, with flour and rice beer. At the end of blessing the animals are shown in the huts of the owners to be sacrificed. About Aoling festival:- Located at the very remote easternmost corner of Nagaland, Mon is home to the fascinating Konyak Tribe. Deadly headhunters once upon a time, the tribe today lives a peaceful existence and spends most of their time practising agriculture, drinking local alcohol, smoking opium and occasionally hunting. During the first week of April after having completed the sowing of seeds in their new jhum fields, the Konyaks celebrate their most important festival; the Aoling Festival, which marks the beginning of the spring season and a new year. It is a time when the Konyaks are in their most jovial mood, displaying a huge appetite for fun and laughter. The first day of the festival is called the Hoi Lah Nyih. It is spent in preparing for the festival where the villagers collect firewood and vegetable items, prepare rice beer and weave new traditional cloths and ornaments. On this day, every family also partakes in the ritual of soothsaying, where chickens are sacrificed and the future is predicted by the shape of the intestine. The next two days, Yin Mok Pho Nyih and Mok Shek Nyih, are spent searching and gathering domesticated animals which will be killed in the festival. Young tribal boys are also trained during this period in traditional male practices. The fourth day, Lingnyu Nyih, is the most important and lively. Men and women of the Konyak Tribe wear their charming colourful traditional dresses and ornaments. The entire day is spent celebrating through beautiful dances, singing, heavy drinking, community feasts and endless merrymaking. The ancient headhunting ritual of the Konyak Tribe is also reenacted during this day, where Konyak men start dancing from the village gate, shoot their guns in the air and appear to hold their enemy's head in their hands as a display of victory. The remaining days of the festival, Lingha Nyih and Lingshan Nyih, are spent honouring and meeting each other's families and relatives, and remembering the loved ones who have passed away.

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