All About Wangala, the 'Hundred Drums Festival' in Tura

On 9, 10 and 11 November 2023, on an otherwise abandoned Baljek Airport and runway, hundreds of Garos converged to celebrate the end of the harvest festival, and the onset of winter.

This festival is called Wangala ('वान्गला'). It is most known as the day when a hundred drums bang together. But for me, there was a lot more to Wangala than that. It was my first time in Garo Hills, and it was my first attendance in an exclusively 'Northeast' festival. There was a lot to learn about Garos and their history, gods, traditions and mannerisms. As well as their rice beer.

Let us baby-steps this for you!

What is the History of Wangala and the 'Songsarek' Religion?

Wangala is the harvest festival of the Garos. Their harvest typically includes rice, yam, ginger, pumpkins, and other vegetables.

It is basically a massive thank-you to Misi Saljong, the Sun God, after the last produce has been harvested.

Wangala is not connected to a mainstream religion like Baptist or Hinduism. It is connected to the ancient Songsarek religion: the original faith of the Garo people.

The Supreme Deity of Songsarek is Tatara-Rabuga. But they also worship the Mother of Rice (Rokime), the God of Herbs (Jugi), the Mother God of Fire (Sre-Tonggitchak-Gitok-Warika), etc.

There's a pattern here, isn't there?

The Songsarek religion assigns supernatural life-form to elemental deities like the sun, moon, birds, animals, or plants. We have come to call these religions 'animist'.

In Songsarek, pretty much every god/goddess has their own festival. Wangala is Misi Saljong's festival. The Sun God is also called The Great Giver (Pattigipa Rarongipa), or the One who Gives and Takes Back.

His full name is Misi-A.gilpa-Saljong-Galapa (catchy, huh).

The Sun God's parents are also the Lords of Rice. Because of this (and because of other, more obvious reasons), the Sun God is also called the God of Fertility.

Wangala is also celebrated in Assam and Bangladesh, but they don't make a big deal out of it. At least not as much as they do in Tura.

And thank God they do. For animist religions are an endangering breed. Get this: as of 2011, there are only 17,000 followers of Songsarek religion left (lesser than the population of Borivali in Mumbai). This number must have only declined in the following 12 years.

The decline of the aboriginal Garo religion is at a faster rate than the decline of Khasi's OG religion (Seng Khasi) and Jaintia's OG religion (Niamtre). This predicament makes it doubly important to meticulously archive such festivals and religions.

Where is Tura? Why is Wangala held there?

Time for a brief history lesson that will not come as news to anyone from Northeast.

Meghalaya has three 'major' tribes: the Khasis, the Garos, and the Jaintias. Each tribe also has a bunch of clans, sub-clans and an inherent, built-in hierarchy system. If you ask us, the hierarchy is eerily similar to the Hindu caste system. But that is a debate for another day.

The powers-that-be divided Meghalaya into twelve districts, of which five Garo districts are in West Meghalaya, two Jaintia districts are in the east, and five Khasi Hills are in the middle (including Ri Bhoi).

Each of these tribe-districts have a city/town of their own, an 'administrative center'. Khasi people have Shillong. Jaintia people have Jowai. And Garo people have Tura.

It stands to reason that the original Garo religion would celebrate their festivals in the most convenient place for their people. Which is Tura.

Transport advice: Travel options from Shillong to Tura are frequent. So is travel via Guwahati. Any public transport from Shillong to Tura will take you through Guwahati regardless, so it's recommended that you set out from Guwahati if possible.

You will find Sumos to take you from both Shillong and Guwahati. It costs around 400 to reach Tura. A sleeper bus is more comfortable, but also double the price.

What Kind of Town is Tura?

Tura, unlike Shillong, is not a place where there are several cafes and bars. The center of the town has a Bazaar and a supermarket. Houses and localities exist in orbit around it. The bazaar area proper is quite small.

Tura bazaar

Let's put it this way: Shillong is officially a city, but it simply can't be compared in size/scale to Mumbai or Delhi. Similarly, while Tura is a town, it is more modest than Nashik or Kurnool.

Non-residents come to Tura (or Williamnagar) as a gateway to attractions in greater Garo Hills: such as Nokrek National Park, Wari Chora, or Balpakram.

To say Tura is a hotspot for the music scene is a dramatic understatement. For example, many may already know that Cherry Blossom Festival's lineup has a starcast of Jonas Blue, Ronan Keating and Ne-Yo. Early bird entry fee for Cherry Blossom is around 6000.

But did you know that the Vengaboys are coming to Tura, for the Me.Gong Festival on December 9?

And that the entry fee is free?

Wangala 2023: Setting the Scene

This is the shortest runway in India. It is also non-functional.

This dilapidated Baljek Airport, 1-hour north of Tura bazaar in Jengjal, played host to the Wangala festival on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday was church day.

Wangala is organized by the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival Committee (HDWFC). For the longest time, they used to host Wangala in Asananggre. That venue was shifted to Chibragre in 2021 and 2022.

This was the first time that Baljek Airport played host for Wangala.

I attended on 10th and 11th (second and third day). And boy was Misi Saljong present on these days! The Sun God blared on the treeless airport and made Meghalaya seem like Goa on a summer's day. It was hot. Not Guwahati hot, but quite hot.

Wangala is a festival that acts as a threshold between rainy season and winter, but there was no rains to be seen. Nor any sign that Meghalaya's famous ice-cold was around the corner.

The airport building was converted into a backstage for performers.

I was recommended to attend Wangala with a local. My companion was Pemthami Ruivah - a sweet teenage college student who rides a scooter as if he was born out of its dickey. Pem is originally from Ukhrul in Manipur. He speaks Garo fluently, having lived in Tura for six years. I could not have had a better guide than him.

For the longest time, Wangala's venue was Asanang. That venue was shifted only after lockdown.

The first day (which I missed) was the day of rituals (Ragula). Traditions are mostly performed by the owner of the Clan-land (Nokma). The Nokma is the center of the traditions. The incense-burning tradition happens in his house. The Nokma also parades around the ground with a spear and dao (sword) in hand. This tradition is called Matgrik.

Rice-beer (chu) is used for Chu rugala by burning the incense at the centre post of the home. The rice beer for this chu rugala is prepared from the sheaves of paddy brought home at the time of Jamegapa amua, for which sacrifice is made by killing a cock in the field [Source: Garo Customary Laws, Traditions and Practices, by Dr. Julius Marak]

A lot of indigenous games were also played on the first day.

"The Chief Guest on the last day is MLA Sanjay Sangma," said the Chairman of HDWFC, Mr Ronald Rikman Sangma. "On the first day, it was the Chief Executive Member of GHADC, Mr Albinush Marak. On the second day, everyone was the Chief Guest!"

The second and third (last) days were relaxed. The Hundred Drums rang out in full song. Even Jagdish Chelani, the Deputy Commissioner of Tura, was out banging drums. They sang the 'Dimdim Dimchong Dachichong' on this day and the next. This is the name of the Wangala Anthem.

If you are wondering what the phrase means, it is purely phonetic and is meant to mimic the sound of drums (dama). It means as much as sa-re-ga-ma-pa.

The last day has a tidbit of tradition worth mentioning. This is based on an ancient legend concerning Misi Saljong. The Sun god had visited the house of Aesegri, a widow, and asked for shelter. Aesegri and her son Dotdi treated Misi Saljong to rice, beer and incense, despite their abject poverty.

This legendary encounter was replicated on the final day. Essentially, a ceremony was performed at the Chief's house by the priest (Kamal), who burned incense on the central pillar and placed rice and beer.

On all three days prevailed the tradition of rice beer, also called chu.

Basically, um, you drink rice beer. And dance around.

It's pretty self-explanatory and I was an unsuspecting victim.

Siljrang Chambugong Marak, our bartender and all-round chill guy

This is all full of rice beer.

"Pong", a traditional vessel for rice beer.

The crowd doubled on the final day. Men and women were dressed from top to toe in feathered headgear and jewellery. People came to cover the event from France, and the locals were extremely open to them.

Chairman R.R. Sangma said that they took one month to prepare the entire equipment. Everything you see was homemade. "It had to be done a little quickly because of the venue change," he said. "But two years from now, on the day of Golden Jubilee, it will be much more modern!"

Even so, it is a simply stunning achievement to create everything from scratch. The clothes were handspun. The flute was made of buffalo horn. And the drums were made of treetrunks.

Maybe that's why the venue was without many trees... hee, hee.

Wangala: Photo Dump

I returned from Wangala feeling warm and fuzzy, despite the impending night chill. This was because I did not feel judged.

It can be easy to judge outsiders who do not share the same language base and come, ostensibly, to click photos/videos for their own selfish ends. Forget that. It can be easy to excluse a foreigner from your private religion; especially a religion as less in followers as Songsarek.

But these questions never seemed to agitate the Garos. Quite the contrary! They seemed like they knew how important and popular their festival was, and were open to sharing it with everyone else. Perhaps it was because they knew that Wangala has existed several decades prior, and will exist several decades anon.

Here are some more unforgettable highlights from Wangala 2023!