Festival

Behdeinkhlam :

This is the most important festival of the Jaintias and is celebrated after the sowing is done. It is celebrated annually at Jowai, Ialong, Mukhla,Thadmuthlong and Chyrmang usually in the month of July-August. It is a popular and colourful festival. Men only, young and old, take part in the dancing to the tune of the drums and flute.Women do not take part in the dancing but have an important role to play at home in offering sacrificial food to the spirit of the ancestors. They invoke their aid and intercession that life here below will be good and worthy for the next one above. Men make a symbolic driving away of the evil spirits which cause sickness and misery, by beating the roof of every house with bamboo poles. This festival is also an invocation to God seeking His blessing for a good harvest.