Ali Aye Ligang is the main festival of the ethnic Mishing community of the region, in which they perform traditional rituals and dances. It is a traditional festival of Mishings, the second largest tribe of Assam. The literary meaning of ALI AYE LIGANG stand for first sowing of roots and fruits in which 'ALI’ stands for seeds. 'AYE’ for Fruits in which 'LIGANG’ for sowing.
This cultural festival is usually observed on the first Wednesday of Phagun (mid-February) month and is uniformly celebrated by Mishings in Assam.
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.
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 dhul, taal, gong and gungang (gagana).
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