Arunachal welcomes spring with Mopin festival

The tribes in Arunachal Pradesh strictly adhere to their age-old customs. Recently, the Galo tribe celebrated Mopin festival, which stands for social unity, purity and love, with great fervor.

Mopin festival is a celebration of the harvesting season held in the Galo months of "Lumi" and "Luki".

This festival is celebrated by the inhabitants of Arunachal Pradesh as they believe it brings them relief from negative things in life like diseases, calamities, evil spirits and more.

They believe celebrating Mopin also brings good luck and prosperity along with a good harvest.

The festival commences with a ceremony where the people smear rice powder on each other's faces. Since rice is their staple food, this is considered a holy ritual by the Galo people.

"The Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh celebrates Mopin festival in every corner of Arunachal Pradesh with great fervor. The significance of this day is that in our life we can at least celebrate such Jayanti and we are fortunate enough," said a local.

"Mopin festival has become a cultural identity for the Galo tribe. Such festival has been celebrated since age-old tradition," he added.

Mopin festival is marked by young girls and boys dancing.

They perform a special form of dance called 'Popir'. The young girls wear traditional white attire and put on colorful headgear.

They also wear multi-coloured beaded ornaments. The dancers engage in rhythmic dance steps on folk songs.

Another local here said the festivals are symbol of prosperity, adding one must maintain it.

"This festival reminds me and us of our responsibilities to preserve this culture because if you lost your identity everything is lost. The world today is fighting for identity," he said.

"The god gifted identity which we are having with the changing time and with a permissible adaptation of changes I think we should go forward. Our culture should be an example for everyone," he added.

Like any other tribal festival in the state, Mopin also includes customs related to gorging on sumptuous food and beverages.