Adi Solung (Solung festival dance)

Understand

Where Adi Solung (Solung festival dance) comes from

Solung is the central post-harvest festival of the Adi (Galong) tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, celebrated in September to mark the completion of the sowing and the appeasement of the deities of the sky, the earth and the waters. The festival is celebrated at the village and at the district level, with the dance and the music (the Ponung and the Aabang) being central to the celebration. The Solung is one of the most distinctive regional traditions of the Adi community and is regularly performed at the cultural programmes of the state and at the Solung festival of the community.

How it's practiced

Solung is performed by men and women of the Adi community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the Solung festival. The men and women perform in coordinated steps to the song of the Solung cycle and to the rhythm of the Aabang (the men's song) and the Ponung (the women's song and dance). The dance is gentle, with the small stepping rhythm of the Adi tradition. Costume is the traditional Adi dress — the men's wrap and the women's wrap (the galuk). Performances are at the Solung festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.