Wangala Festival, also known as the 100 Drums Festival, is celebrated with great pomp and show in the state of Meghalaya. It is a post-harvest, winter festival, celebrated to thank the Sun God known as “Misi Saijong” for a good harvest.
Wangala Festival is celebrated for three to seven days. The main attraction of the festival is the music and orchestra of drums, gongs and the ancient traditional flutes made of buffalo horn. A village chief, referred to as the Nokma, performs a ritual a day before the start of the festival during which freshly brewed rice-beer, cooked rice, and vegetables are offered to the Misi Salong as thanksgiving for a rich harvest. The men and women dance in gaiety to the beating of drums, blowing of the buffalo horns, trumpets, and bamboo flutes. The men wear dhotis, half-jackets and turbans with feathers and the women wear colorful drapes made of silk, blouses, and a head-wrap with feathers.
The high point of the festival is when 300 dancers and 100 drums, in all their splendor, descend on the field in jubilation. If you ever visit Mrghhalaya, this time of the year, should definitely put this on your itirinary.
