Correspondent

RUKSIN, 6 Sep: Adi people living in different villages of Pasighat, Ruksin and Mebo subdivisions in East Siang district, who started Solung festival celebration on 1 September, concluded the festivities on Friday.

However, some villages in the district have deferred the celebration of the harvest festival to 10 September, due to lack of availability of priests and other inconveniences in management.

The festivities began at different villages in the district with the hoisting of the Solung flag, taku-tabat and ritual offerings to goddess Kiine-Nane for a bumper harvest of Sali paddy and the wellbeing of the community's people and domestic animals.

During the festivities, the priests (mirri) performed Solung rituals and led the womenfolk in narrating the three-night Solung Aabang (rhapsody).

The Central Solung Celebration Committee of Pasighat is organising a concluding programme of the festival in Pasighat on 9 September, while such celebration is scheduled to be conducted by the Leyi Banggo Solung Committee in Poplung (Debing) village in Ruksin circle on 10 September.

Deputy CM Chowna Mein, Rural Development Minister Ojing Tasing, and several other dignitaries are expected to participate in the central Solung celebrations to be organised in Pasighat and Ruksin.

The guests and dignitaries, who attended village-level Solung celebrations, urged the community's people to keep up their traditional cultures for the future generations.

Local MLAs Ninong Ering (Pasighat West), Tapi Darang (Pasighat East) and Oken Tayeng (Mebo) visited the Solung celebrations in their respective constituencies. Former ministers Lombo Tayeng and Bosiram Siram, and Pasighat BJP mandal president Tadi Jonnom hosted the Solung dobo (feast).