Kangdali : The Kumbh of Chaudas

The biggest and grandest festival in Chaudas celebrated every 12 years. Yes, 12 years, last time it was 1999 and the next will be in 2011. No Rung in Chaudas valley miss this grand festival. I was lucky to attend one in 1987 and the second in 1999. In 87 i was not at all aware of the whole proceedings but still i enojoyed being with all the cousins.

In 1999 it was a different, till that time i realized the importance of the festival. I wore traditional dress with a sword and shield in hands. It was like going back in time when my ancestors used to wear the same dress. The women of the village armed with "Ril" led the procession and man followed. After dancing on the tunes of "Hey Loksa...Hey Phongsa" for nearly an hour we reached the place where the flower of Kangrali bloomed.With a war cry women attacked the plantation with their Ril and man followed. After that the enviornment filled with victory cries. It was wonderful to be there at that time. By 2011 our lives will change in a big way, but whatever happens I will not miss the next Kangrali.

Folklore
The legend of the Kangdali festival comes a folklore, which tells of a boy who died upon applying the paste of the root from a shrub known as Kang-Dali on his boil. Enraged, his widowed mother cursed the shrub and pulled the root of the Kang-Dali plant off its ground upon reaching its full bloom, which happens once in twelve years.

According to another story, the Kangdali festival is to commemorate the brave women who repelled the enemy while their husbands were away. Hiding in the Kandali bushes, they attacked the bushes, which subsequently destroyed the enemy.

Since then, a victory dance is performed every twelve years upon the decimation this shrub in its blooming period. The women with lead the procession, each armed with a Ril, a tool which was used in compacting carpet on the loom. The children and men armed with swords and shields would follow closely behind. As they sing and dance, their music echoes in the valley, and upon approaching the blooms, warlike tunes are played and war cries are uttered. The women, fierce as they were, attacked the bushes with their rils. The menfolk will follow up and the bushes are hacked with swords, who will uproot the bushes and take them back, as the spoils of the war. In turn, victory cries are raised and rice grains are again cast towards the sky to honour the deities with the prayer that the people of Chaundas Valley may be ever victorious over enemies. After the victory dance and the extermination of the shrub, the festival is concluded with a feast.

Take Off : The pursuit begins

First let me introduce myself, I am a rung from Sosa, Chaudas. A rung who was not very sure of his "rung" identity a few years back, born and brought up in Almora with little touch with other rung people. Let me clear here that it was not because of the family, my parents always wanted and still wants me to be the part of it as they are, and my elder bothers are in good touch with our village,soil and people. I feel, what took me far from the realization was that there was no "rung" children in my age group and also i myself never tried to build my own relations, as youngest in the family i never needed to, all these things were taken care of by parents and brothers.
The first time i realized the pride of being a rung and how closely knit our community is, and what i missed for all thez years, was during my brother's marriage in '97, it was an experience of lifetime for me, the life i missed. I closely felt the culture, the people the place all around me and it felt surprisingly warm and caring.
For me,it was ironic, as when i was near to the my village and people, i never tried to know them and when i realized my mistake i found myself 3000kms far from home, in REC Trichy for 4 years, then in CTS,chennai for 2 years now heading to IIMB for another two years. I never regret my decision of choosing my career in South as i went to best colleges in india and worked with one of the best companies.
But as time goes by, my want to gain more knowledge about the "rung" has not subsided.
I hope one day, i'll be able to gain this knowledge, till then i will to put all my thoughts in this blog, what's better than this where relavent people can read my thoughts and could help me reaching my goal.