Ka Pomblang Nongkrem Festival For The Khasis Is A Thanksgiving For Good Harvest

Ka Pomblang Nongkrem FestivalThe Ka Pomblang Nongkrem Festival is also called the Shad Nongkrem festival and this is the festival of Khasis of the North Eastern side of Indian Territory. The state is called Meghalaya and this is the harvest festival that is celebrated for 5 days in the month of November. The festival is celebrated at Smit that is near the capital of the State or the city of Shillong. The Khasis offer thanks to the Goddess of the Ka Blei Synshar for the harvest that they got and they also say their prayers so that the goddess keep her blessings on the tribe and the harvest for the prosperity of the tribe.

Tradition of celebration with sacrifice

The festival is celebrated by music and dance and the traditional dance is the major part of the festival. The festival also involves the sacrifice of animals and the performers of the tribe perform the dance with the sacrifice. The goats are the major animal from the tribe and the ceremony of Pomblang is the part where these goats are sacrificed to the goddess. The Khasis think that the ancestors will become happy and thus they make offerings to the ancestors also. The deity U Lei Shillong is also there and they offer the sacrifice to the deity along with the ancestors too.

Importance of women

The festival is the colorful celebration of harvests and so they are all happy during the festival. They show the happiness with the new and colorful traditional dress and they also take part in the dancing called Nongkrem. The festival is for 5 days and the fifth day sees the end of the fun and celebrations. Then they arrange for a thanksgiving function and they emphasize the important role of the ladies that are played by the Khasi women in their society.

Dance and dressed up people make the day

The deity is kept in front for the thanksgiving and for offering prayers for a good harvest. The deity and the ruling spirit of the mountain peaks of Shillong are both women. The North Eastern part of the country of India is not much frequented by the tourists. The most visited part is the Khasi areas where the foreigners and the other Indians visit during the festival of Ka Pomblang Nongkrem. The unique way of celebration and the dance and the music makes the festival real choice for the people who do not belong to the place.

The vigorous movements of the dance and the pipes that are played for the tune are going to be the most enjoyable thing for the tourists. The tunes of the pipes are called Tangmuri and the women who dress themselves with the jewelries and traditional wears dance to the tune of the Tangmuri. This becomes the inner circle and the men dances in the outer circle. The men wear turbans and dance with spear and a whisk of yak hair in their hands. The matrilineal society of the Khasis is guided by the women and the king decides the date of the festival. The date is announced by the sister of the king. The ladies are in charge of the festival and the colorful festival makes it a refreshing 5 days for each of the people present in the place.


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