Behdienkhlam (Jaintia)

Understand

Where Behdienkhlam (Jaintia) comes from

Behdienkhlam is the central monsoon festival of the Jaintia (Pnar) community of Meghalaya, celebrated in July to drive away disease and pestilence and to mark the arrival of the rains. The festival is one of the most distinctive regional traditions of the Jaintia community and is documented as a key Jaintia cultural event. The festival is associated with the cultural and religious life of the Jaintia people and is recognised as a state festival of Meghalaya.

How it's practiced

Behdienkhlam is performed by men and women of the Jaintia community in a circle at the central courtyard of the village or at the open ground of the festival. The men and women perform in coordinated steps to the song of the Behdienkhlam cycle and to the rhythm of the ka phreng (the bronze drum) and the small cymbals. The dance is energetic, with the men carrying the symbolic bamboo and the khnong (the small wooden pillars) that drive away the disease. Costume is the traditional Jaintia dress — the women's jainsem and the men's dhoti. Performances are at the Behdienkhlam festival and at the cultural programmes of the state.