Wangala Festival: 100 Drum Festival of Meghalaya

Wangala Festival of Meghalaya is one of the most popular festivals among the Garos of Meghalaya. Wangala Festival is a harvest festival that is held in honor of Saljong, the Sun-God of fertility.

The celebrations of the Wangala Festival mark the end of a period of toil, which brings good output to the fields. The beginning of the Wangala Festival also denotes the onset of winter.

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Wangala Festival: 100 Drum Festival of Meghalaya – Key Points

The Wangala Festival is also known as 100 drum festival.
Wangala Festival is the occasion when the tribals offer sacrifices to please their main deity Saljong (The Sun God).
The festival is celebrated for two days and sometimes continues for weeks.
The ceremony performed on the first day is known as “Ragula” which is performed inside the house of the chief.
The second day is called “Kakkar”. Younger and older sections dressed in colorful clothes with feathered headgear dance to the tune of music played on long oval-shaped drums.
The Wangala Festival is the occasion to relax and for days the hills and valleys echo with the extraordinary beat of drums.
The popular dance forms performed during the festival, have certain subtle variations.
The main motif is a queue of two parallel lines-one of men and the other of women clad in their festive fineries.
Young and old join the festivities with equal enthusiasm.
The men beat the drums, and the line moves forward in rhythmic accord.