Ajay Kumar at 19:40, 25 August 2023

2023-08-25T19:40:04Z

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{{Short description|Indigenous festival in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox recurring event
| image = Ali-ai-ligang.jpg
| imagesize = frameless
| caption = Mising girls dancing during Ali Aye Ligang
| begins = First Wednesday of 'Gimur Polo'
| ends =
| date =
| frequency = Annually
| location = [[Assam]] , [[Arunachal Pradesh]], [[India]]
| first =
| last =
| participants =
| attendance =Ali - Aye - Ligang
| footnotes =
| organised = [[Mising people]]
}}
'''Ali-Aye-Ligang''' or '''Ali-Ai-Ligang''' a spring festivity associated with agriculture celebrated by the [[Mising people|Mising]] or Mishing tribal people of [[Assam]] and other [[Northeast India|Northeast indian]] states on the occasion of the beginning of the Ahu paddy cultivation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.themishingsassam.com/MIshing_Portrait_traditional_23.htm |title=Misings_Portrait_traditional |publisher=Themishingsassam.com |accessdate=2013-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306221240/http://www.themishingsassam.com/MIshing_Portrait_traditional_23.htm |archive-date=6 March 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The festival marks onset of sowing seeds. The name of the festival is made up of three terms, "Ali", legumes, "Aye", seed and "Ligang", to sow.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/north-east/ali-ai-ligang-being-celebrated-in-assam_687690.html |title=Ali-ai-Ligang being celebrated in Assam |publisher=Zeenews.india.com |date=2011-02-16 |accessdate=2013-04-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vedanti.com/News/festivals_of_mishing_tribes_of_a.htm |title=Festivals of Mishing Tribes of Assam |publisher=Vedanti.com |date=2011-01-20 |accessdate=2013-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305222638/http://www.vedanti.com/News/festivals_of_mishing_tribes_of_a.htm |archive-date=5 March 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> The festival begins on the first Wednesday of the ''[[Phalguna]].

==Time of the festival==
The festival begins on "Ligange lange", the first Wednesday of "Gimur Polo", which occurs in February in the [[Gregorian calendar]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.northeastblog.in/north-east-india/today-is-ali-ai-ligang-festival-for-mishings-in-assam/|title=Today is Ali Aye Ligang Festival for Misings in Assam |publisher=Northeastblog.in |date=2011-02-16 |accessdate=2013-04-10 }} {{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assamtourism.org/festival.php |title=Welcome to Assam Tourism Official website of Deptt. of Tourism, Assam, India |publisher=Assamtourism.org |date= |accessdate=2013-04-10}}</ref> or on Wednesday of the month of [[Fagun]] of the [[Assamese calendar]] and in the month of February in English calendar which lasts for five days. Its 2016 date was 2 February.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://arunachalipr.gov.in/GH_Restricted.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108090922/http://arunachalipr.gov.in/GH_Restricted.htm |archive-date=8 November 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Activities==
In this festival young people of the community in particular participate "Gumraag Soman" and dance to the tune of folk songs and melodious "oi: nitom". The first day of the festival is marked by the ceremonial start of paddy sowing and throughout the festival many others activities such as ploughing and tree cutting are forbidden.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.oneindia.in/2011/02/16/aliai-ligang-being-celebrated-inassam-aid0126.html |title=Ali-aye-Ligang being celebrated in Assam - Oneindia News |publisher=News.oneindia.in |date=2011-02-16 |accessdate=2013-04-10 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Feast===
The last day of festival called as "Lilen" is observed with a grand community feast.
During this festival, Misings indulge in great banquet with Poro Apong or Nogin Apong (homemade Rice wine) with various dishes, especially made with pork meat. "Purang Apin" (packed boiled rice) is cooked in water with special leaves. This is a special dish prepared by Misings which is cooked only during Ali Aye Ligang.

==Dance forms & songs==
In this festival a popular dance is performed by the young Mising people which is known as "Gumrag". The formal dance of the festival starts from the easternmost house of the village and in the end it extending towards the field and the river. This dance is performed by encircling the courtyard of the house of the villagers.

==Songs & music==
The songs of Ali-Aye-Ligang do not remain restricted to the songs of youth alone. The subjects and themes of the songs are varied. They include the life of a man, his sufferings in this life and his death. Apart from them, the songs describe the matters of individual love and affection including joy and pain. Mainly the songs of the festival speak of the various experiences of the Misings in their day-to-day life. The Music composed for these festivals consists of instruments like the [[drum|dhul]], [[cymbal|taal]], [[gong]] and gungang ([[gagana]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.informationkhazana.com/hosur-information/ali-ai-ligang-festival-miris.html |title=Ali- ai- Ligang: The Festival of the Mishings |publisher=Informationkhazana.com |date= |accessdate=2013-04-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530220402/http://www.informationkhazana.com/hosur-information/ali-ai-ligang-festival-miris.html |archive-date=30 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Po:rag]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{YouTube|U35j-TkYy7c|Ali-Ai-Ligang Dance}}
* {{YouTube|6C0U8urFufQ|Ali-Ai-Ligang Dance show}}
* [http://www.assamtimes.org/node/5862 Ali-ai-Ligang is celebrated in Sivasagar district], assamtimes.org.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131208032936/http://themishingsassam.com/photos117.htm Photos at the themishingsassam.com]
*[https://www.insidene.com/ali-ai-ligang-dates-history-foods-details/ Ali Ai Ligang]: Everything you need to know about the Mising spring extravaganza

{{Fairs and Festivals in Assam}}

[[Category:Festivals in Assam]]
[[Category:Spring festivals]]
[[Category:February observances]]
[[Category:Mising people]]

Ali Ai Ligang - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:40, 25 August 2023