Surrounded by
indigo rolling hills and amazing topography, the landscape mixed to cultures
& ecology development of the Apatani platue is continuing since time immemorial
to the time of modern vicinity as said by the senior persons of the villages.
Though there were no written scriptures, but oral history traces back from unmemorable
generations after the tribe migrated from mythological Wi and Wiipyo Supun, via
Miido Supun to Siilo Supun.[1]
Fairs and Festivals:
The Cultural
traditions, Folk songs & dances and Religious customs attached to the
social landscape added an enchanting harmony with nature & well being of
the society. This is the emergence of folk festivals relating to agriculture,
especially cultivation of Rice according to the community people. Fairs & Festivals
are part and parcel of Apatani tribal community, which are revered, worshipped
& celebrated by the
community people very enthusiastically.
a. Dree Festival:
Among the
various festivals relating to cultivation of Rice, the Dree Festival of the Apatanis is
linked to the wellbeing of seasonal harvest, especially the Rice & Millet.
The festival is generally performed on the 5th day in the month of
July, after planting of Paddy or Rice.[2]
The
significance of celebrating the Dree festival is to ensuring better harvest,
preservation of the grains from all ill effects like hailstone, storms, insects
and wild animals. The people believed and performed some rituals for a good
crop for the sake of wellbeing of the community as well their wealth of the
livestock.
b.
Myoko Festival: Another the most celebrated festivals of the
Apatani tribe relating to cultivation in Arunachal is the Myoko Festival. It is
generally observed as welcoming the Spring time. According to the myths &
beliefs of the Apatanis the festival brings the possibility of attaining
fertility to the cultivation lands and the people are interwoven with methods of
strengthening the different clans and villages.
The
sacrifices of pigs and chicken before their traditional deity the ‘Yullo’,
the creator of all living being of the Earth is a ritual and believed to
receiving blessings from the deity. The priest chants and recites mantras in
their dialect and thus prays before the deity that continues for several hours.[3]
c.
Murung Festival: The celebration of the festival for general
peace and well being of the community as well of the crops is known as the Murung festival. The Apatani community performs the festival of
Murung, every year in the month of January.
During
the festive moments, dancing and traditional folk songs plays an important role
among the community people’s alike young and old, male or female. In fact the
Apatani tribes perform many traditional dances, amongst which the dances like
Daminda and Pakhu Ittu dances are very popular.[4]
Observing the works & rituals linked to
nature and talking to the community people,[5] it
delineates that the Apatani people are among the few tribes in the world who
continue to worship nature. It is their relation with nature that regulates
their cultural practices and a good harvest. As a whole it linked to the
cultural landscape that provides the community a highest sense of Cultural
Identity. That is a revelation of socio-cultural similarity in between the
cultural landscapes of greater Assamese society and the ethnicity of the
Apatani tribes in Arunachal Pradesh relating to cultivation. As Rice is the
staple food for both of the Social spectrum, so it bears a similar aspect. The
traditional customs, rituals, fairs and beliefs of the Apatanis which are continuing
since time immemorial for nature, culture and man, are to maintain mutual support
each other has unending global perspectives. 
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