GUWAHATI: Kati Bihu is being celebrated across Assam on Tuesday with pomp and ceremony.
An important Assamese celebration, Kati Bihu is held on the Sankranti of the 'Ahin' and 'Kati' months of the Assamese calendar to promote robust growth and good crops. The people of Assam pray for a better crop in the following days on this auspicious occasion. In order to worship the deity of harvest and ask him to take away all anguish and misery while bringing growth and wealth to everyone's lives, the ceremony traditionally starts with the lighting of a lamp ("diya") or candle in the crop field.
Every farming family in Assam views Kati Bihu as a pivotal time of the year. The celebration is fundamentally anchored in the deeply held beliefs of rural households regarding agricultural crops and their productivity. On this specific day, people light "saki" lamps made of earth in the paddy fields and granaries. The lamp is also known as "Aakash Banti", and women who live in cities offer prayers in front of tulsi plants while singing hymns. After that, they distribute "prasad" to all the family members.
Hope, however, entails striving, exertion and beautiful reliance among the people of Assam for a good harvest this season. Some of them wishes the earth to plant and show its own seeds for them when the rest who actually cultivates the soil, plants the seed hopes that the crops will grow and the god of harvest will bless them with a good result.
Kongali bihu is another name for kati bihu. When most individuals actually wait for the other two bihus (rongali and bhogali bihus) to be celebrated, farmers begin to celebrate kati bihu in full, praying to the god of harvest to protect the entire world from impending dangers like food and water shortages.
Kati bihu teaches us that changes can be beautiful sometimes. It usually falls in the middle of October which is in the time of fall when nature bursts with its last beauty, showing off a mosaic of all the colors.
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