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Nyokum Yullo celebrated in Arunachal with gaiety

By Correspondent

ITANAGAR, Feb 27 � Nyokum Yullo, the annual agriculture-based festival of the Nyishis, one of the major tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, was celebrated at Nyokum Lapang here yesterday with traditional gaiety and religious fervour.

The festival is celebrated to appease the deities of Nyokum Yullo for a bumper harvest as well as for peace and prosperity of all.

Although the festival starts on the 24th day of February with ceremonial entry of Nyubus (priests) to the host house to invoke the Nyokum Gods and Goddesses followed by house-to-house visits at host village to perform puja the next day, it culminates on the 26th with the ritual of mithun sacrifice at a specially designed altar in the festival ground.

Apart from ceremonial mithun sacrifice followed by a procession by the participants amid chanting of hymns by the priests, yesterday�s centre of attraction was the display of traditional Rikam Pada dance by 33 troupes, participated by damsels beautifully clad in traditional attires.

Addressing the gathering as the chief guest, State Rural Development Minister Takar Marde called upon the elites and intellectuals, including the youths to preserve and promote their traditional culture, including local languages, for posterity.

�Amid the advancement of science and technology, we, the Arunachalees should be intellectually matured and mentally prepared to adopt good things, without ignoring the awe-inspiring cultures handed down to us by our forefathers. We should maintain the distinct identity by preserving and promoting its traditional values and cultural ethos,� said the minister.

He added Nyokum should not be celebrated as festival only but it should be for merry-making and promoting peace, progress and communal harmony. He further appealed to all tribesmen to bury their petty differences and work together to march on the track to development.

Nyokum was also celebrated at Seppa in East Kameng district with great enthusiasm. People from all walks of life participated in the festival, which was attended among others by State Health & Family Welfare Minister Tanga Byaling as chief guest.

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