Festivals of the Rongmei are closely linked up with religion, which is associated with their economic vocation and socio-cultural ethos. Festivals reflect different stages of agricultural activities, here talents, physical strength are expressed. Every month there is a festival.
Listed below are some of the important festivals:
Gan-Ngai
Rih-Ngai (Chaga Ngai)
Gudui-Ngai
Gan-Ngai
This festival is celebrated in the month of December-January after harvest for 5 (five) days. Blowing horn herald the festival, fresh fire is made with the ancient friction method and distributed in every household. Villagers, irrespective of age dressed in their best attire, keep up the dance and songs, intercepting only by short intervals of repose and break dedicated to feasting.
Rih-Ngai (Chaga Ngai)
This festival is celebrate during January-February is this War festival which is exclusively for male. No stranger is allowed to enter the village. Men abstain from sexual intercourse and foods cooked by women are not taken. An interesting feature is Raangh-Kapmei or shooting at an effigy of a warrior with pointed bamboo splits.
Gudui-Ngai
This festival is celebrated during the seed-sowing season in April. After completion of task like clearance of jungle for cultivation everyone will drink juice (dui) of ginger (Gu). Tug of war is performed between male and female as a symbolic representation of competition between God and Goddess for possessing the paddy. If the girls win it indicates a good harvest.
