GUWAHATI, Jan 16 - People across the State celebrated Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu on Wednesday with traditional merriment and festive fervour.
The early hours of the Bihu day were marked by the burning of the traditional meji (sacred bonfire) and the bhelaghar (a makeshift thatched house where people joyously spend the Uruka night, i.e., the night before the Bihu), as people reaffirmed their faith in all that is good and pure before the holy fire.
Magh Bihu, which is among the three Bihus of the State, the other two being Rongali Bihu or Bohag Bihu and Kati Bihu or Kongali Bihu, is essentially a harvest festival that marks the end of the harvesting season. Magh Bihu is marked by large-scale feasting as the festivities coincide with the harvesting season, generally a time of plenty.
The city, too, had its share of the celebrations even though the merriment associated with the Bihu was somewhat diminished this time in view of the ongoing movement against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
The Uruka day crowd in the markets was less compared to the earlier occasions, but nonetheless fish, meat, curd, cream, milk, and other traditional Bihu delicacies were sought after by the people.
On the Bihu day, people visited friends and relatives, and partook of traditional delicacies such as varieties of laroos, pithas, doi-chira, etc.
The Bihu day also witnessed crowds in the public spaces across the city such as Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, State Zoo, Shraddhanjali Kanon, Nehru Park, Basistha Ashram, etc.