A Three Day RANGLONG KHOHUI (Cultural Festival) was celebrated on January 23-25, 2023 at Joynagar (Balicherra), P.S. Churaibari, North Tripura.
It is one of the enlisted festivals in the Calendar of the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA), Government of Tripura.
The festival was organised by the Ranglong Community of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram under the banner of Ranglong Youth Association. Dignitaries, delegates and participants from various parts of northeast India, especially Mizoram, Manipur and Assam were part of the grand Khohui festival.
The 6th RANGLONG KHOHUI (Cultural Festival) 2023 was organised in collaboration with the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA), Government of Tripura.
In addition, the RANGLONG KHOHUI (Cultural Festival) 2023 was also sponsored by North Eastern Council (NEC) Shillong, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Directorate of Tribal Research and Cultural Institute (TR&CI), Government of Tripura and Directorate of Tourism, Government of Tripura.
As they live in the environment of fast changing society, the young generation Ranglongs has extensively forgotten their rich cultural heritage like songs, dances, games, cuisine etc.
So, the basic objective of the RANGLONG KHOHUI (Cultural Festival) is to revitalize, reinvigorate and revive the forgotten Ranglong cultures and traditions.
Through the Ranglong Khohui festival, an attempt was been made to sensitize the youth by involving them in different cultural and traditional showcase, in the presence of senior citizens.
As the cultures and traditions of the Ranglong community are mostly unrecorded, the Ranglong Khohui festival acts as the suitable platform to pass on the cultural and traditional knowledge of the older Ranglong to the younger generations.
Accordingly, there were exhibitions of Ranglong songs, dances, games, cuisine etc, from all the Ranglong villages. A prize giving ceremony was arranged to award participants in different events.
Most importantly, the festival aimed at strengthening peace and harmony by inviting different communities to join the festivals and through cultural exchanges across communities.
In this connection, it is worth mentioning that the Ranglong language has been declared by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a critically endangered language among the 42 (Forty Two) languages in India (Press Information Bureau, Government of India, MHRD, 6th Aug. 2014).
It is a well known fact that language is one of the most important parameter to identify a community’s distinct identity.
The organizing committee thanked the sponsors – the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA), Government of Tripura, North Eastern Council (NEC) Shillong, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Directorate of Tribal Research and Cultural Institute (TR&CI), Government of Tripura and Directorate of Tourism, Government of Tripura for their incredible financial support, generosity and sympathy.
