SILAPATHAR, Sept 13 - Brisk preparations are on to celebrate Solung festival, a major festival of agriculture, at the Bogibeel bridge site at Dambuk under Silapathar area in Dhemaji district.
The festival will be celebrated on September 19 under the banner of Takam Mising Porin Kebang � or the All Mising Students� Union � and Adi Mising Bane Kebang.
The Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and the Mising tribe of Assam have the same practice and follow the same religion, Donyi-Poloism. Adi and Mising belong to the same Indo-Chinese family and are of Mongoloid origin. Both the tribes speak the same language.
The two tribes were divided after the formation of Arunachal Pradesh. A major portion of the Mising tribe came under the jurisdiction of Assam.
The Misings have been celebrating Solung festival for brotherhood, and at the same time, the Adi tribe is also celebrating Ali Aye Ligang in Arunachal Pradesh. Solung and Ali Aye Ligang are the major festivals of agriculture.
The Adi tribe celebrate Solung on the first day of September, while the Misings of Assam celebrate Ali Aye Ligang in mid-February, especially on the first Wednesday of the month of Phagun.
The Solung festival comprises three parts � Sopi-Yekpi, the first part is the sacrificial day; Binnayat, the second part is a ritual offering to the goddess of crops, Kine Nane; and Ekop/Taktor, the third part is the ritual for protection against harm by evil spirits.
Ponung dance performed by girls is a highlight of this annual harvest festival. Rice beer � popularly called Apong � is served in bamboo tubes. Mithun, a large bovine species, is sacrificed during the festival.
