Oriah, an important festival of the Wancho is being celebrated mainly in longding District headquarters and four other administrative HQs — Kanubari, Pongchau, Wakka and Pumao and wherever Wancho people reside all over the world.
It was proved that artists of Wancho, a tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh North East India from Senua Village under longding District have been constructing their traditional Wancho house as a part of Open Air Exhibition in Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) in Bhopal . The show coincided with their main festival called Oriah on Tuesday.
Therefore, they celebrated on the said day in the IGRMS campus. Prof SK Chaudhuri, Director of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya graced as a chief guest besides officials from the Sanghalaya and foreign tourists. The activities included offering of Zangvan as a source of prosperity, displaying local dances, singing songs, vakhaapsah bamboo trapping game and refreshment of local dishes in the newly constructed house etc.
On behalf of the artists Nokkai Wangsaham a resource person briefed about the mythology of Oriah as per the oral history of Wancho. The bamboo objects called Zangvan a sacred alter is regarded as a source of prosperity in this society. He also said that though we are far from home but not far from Wancho culture therefore we are celebrating Oriah here in Bhopal. Oriah festival is an identity marker of the Wancho from time immemorial and Wancho people have been celebrating it.
