Myoko Festival, Arunachal Prades

The Myoko Festival is an annual celebration in Ziro Valley, especially by three indigenous tribes namely Diibo-Hija, Hari-Bulla and the Apatani. It’s a 10-day celebration; it goes on from March 20 – 30 every year.

Myoko festival is celebrated to extend and strengthen the bond of the family, and bless the members with fertility and fortune. The most revered member of the community – the Shaman decks up in ancient Apatani garments and accessories and leads the proceedings. They slaughter pigs and chickens as a custom of this festival. This commences early morning; the Shaman recites long prayers and the women, mainly married ones, sprinkle flour and rice beer on the pigs which are tied to the bamboo poles.

The most important member of their community known as Shaman wears traditional clothes. This tribe worships the sun and moon and are animist by nature. It means they believe that all non-human natural things such as plants, thunder, animals, rock, etc have spirits which can influence human events. During the festival, they slaughter pigs and chicken as a sacrifice.

This festival is one of the most important ones for the community and they celebrate it with much fervor. It is a festival of prosperity, friendship and fertility. Because of their age-old belief that non-human things have divine power, these sacrifices are made during the Myoko festival.