Solung

Solung is a festival of the Adi people inhabiting Siang, East Siang, West Siang, Upper Siang and parts of Lower Dibang Valley Districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It is believed that Solung is the youngest, or the last, Festival of the Adis. The word Solung is a combination of two words – ESO + ALUNG = SOLUNG, which means Mithun and herd. It is so called because plenty of Mithun are sacrificed during the festival to propitiate numerous benevolent spirits.

Introduction

The great civilizations on earth are marked by various distinct social customs and traditions. These basically bind society together. Festivals are the means by which customs and traditional cultures of a community are reflected. They renew and revitalize dormant cultures and also add a festive and joyous mood among the people. Solung is such a festival of the Adi people inhabiting Siang, East Siang, West Siang, Upper Siang and parts of Lower Dibang Valley Districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It is believed that Solung is the youngest, or the last, Festival of the Adis. The word Solung is a combination of two words – ESO + ALUNG = SOLUNG, which means Mithun and herd. It is so called because plenty of Mithun are sacrificed during the festival to propitiate numerous benevolent spirits.

Types of Solung

There are basically three types of Solung : -

Name of festival	Month
Gedi Solung or Dorung	March 7
Solung Luutor	May 15
Solung Luune	September 1

Type 1: Solung Luutor

The Solung Luutor is meant for male folks and “DELONG” – an all-male group dance – is performed on this occasion. It is observed in the month of May every year and lasts for 3 weeks after finishing fencing around the agricultural field.

Type 2: Gedi Solung

The Gedi Solung (DORUNG) is observed after the harvest of jhum crops. Gedi Solung or DORUNG SOLUNG literally means Mithun meat + eats before death + occasion. Its origin is not from legend and myth but from historical fact. In an epidemic which claimed many lives in the village of Teri Kumting, Maano – a respectable man from Keysing Kumting – went to see his children and family. Unfortunately, he was caught by the epidemic and died there. People thought that if a great personality like Maano could fall victim to the disease, ordinary people would never be spared from that epidemic. So, they slaughtered hundreds of Mithuns to propitiate Gute Gamro for appeasing the disease and to be eaten before they would die. Incidentally, no one died, and that promoted them to believe that the epidemic was prevented from further spread by slaughtering hundreds of Mithuns.

Type 3: Solung Lunne

The Solung Luune, which is the greater part of the Solung festival, is meant for female folk. “Luune” means Solung + Ane, which means mother of Solung occasions. That is why the active part of merrymaking and propitiation is played by the women, particularly the virgin girls, by performing Ponung, a typical merry-go-around, group dance performed by virgin girls. The ponung follows the poetic rhapsodic singing of Ponung Aabang (story) by a male priest.

Historical saying

Legends say that a princess of the underworld, Kine Nane, was married to the ruler of the upper world, Doying Bote, and gave birth to benevolent spirits from their wedlock. Kinne Naane sent Solung as the last gift to the people of ENGO TAKAR and advised them to perform the festival in remembrance of her and Doying Bote. In due course, the people of ENGO TAKAR became extinct, and being the adopted child, the last burial rite of Engo Takar people was performed by Tani, who inherited all properties including culture, agriculture and ritual activities of Engo Takar. Since then, Solung has been passed down through centuries from generation to generation to the Adis until today. The Solung Lune is celebrated by the Adis with great enthusiasm and religious fervor on 1st September every year for three days.

Day 1

The first evening of Solung, on 1st September, is a warm welcome to benevolent spirits to the Gute Gamro, the owner of the domestic animal, through Gumin Soyin, the designer of life, with rituals offering done with ritual chanting to appease Dadi Bote. This ritual worship offering is called Agam Keypel. The Aabang chanted by the Miri in this night is called Liimir Liibom. The Miri (priest) plays the Yoksa (Musical instrument) in such a scale that the steps of the ponung dance are synchronized and progress in a rhythmic pose. The Aabang chanted by the priest and followed by ponung Mimum dancing with slow motion from left to right in a single rhythm is worth seeing. In Liimir Libom, the priest narrates the evolution of the universe and other celestial bodies and then picks up the creation of various plants and animals of this abode of human beings. Special emphasis is given on the creation of Mithun from a giant animal called Liimir Sobo. It blocked the communication roads of heaven and earth. No one would dare to remove it even after many attempts. At last, the people of Dadi Somi killed Liimir Sobo and cut it into pieces which were thrown into different places, and from which different forms of animals and plants grew up. A ground creeper (Epum) germinated from one part of Liimir Sobo and bore fruit. It is believed that an insect inside the gourd later grew bigger and bigger and took shape of an animal called Mithun. There was a controversy over the ownership of the Mithun. After all deliberations, the Engo Takar people got the ownership of the Mithun, and later on Tani inherited the belongings of Engo Takar along with the Mithun.

Day 2

The second night of Solung is called Binnyat. The miri starts his ponung narration about Pedong Nane, who was married to Yiidum Bote. She gave birth to thousands of children but could not provide even sustainable food to them. To bring them up, Pedong Nane had tried her level best to end their appetite and thirst by offering the “Ngarsi – Ngarlung” Sobo (dew and frost) and Liipun-Liiyang Sobo (meat of rocks and Neolithic stone) but in vain. After that, Tuusin Roodong told Pedong Nane to sacrifice a Mithun and a Pig. Accordingly, all relatives and children of Pedong Nane were invited to the feast, and the meat was distributed to all of them. It is believed that all edible plants of the earth sprouted from the meat. From the vital parts of Dende Sebo which were given to Kiine Nane, crops like Maize, Paddy, Millet etc. germinated in the land of Sutkin kedeng, for which Kiine Nane became prosperous.

Day 3

The third night of Solung is Taktor, which begins with Sedi Melo genealogy up to the last activity of Dooni. Pedong Nane disappeared while Dooni was an infant. So his sorrows and mental agonies were endless. He took shelter in caves and hollows of trees but had no food to kill his belly’s appetite. The Aabang dwelt on the development of Tani and his separation from Robo. The knowledge Tani was imparted with by Gumin Soyin in various fields is vividly described. Victory of good over evil is depicted. It is believed that some evil spirits are still lingering in the atmosphere and trying to inflict harm on human bodies as well as domestic animals. Taktor is performed by fastening bows and arrows on the main passes of every house with pieces of red ginger or chilies on the tip of arrows to disperse malevolent spirits and safeguard humanity as a whole.

Change and Continuity

Evolution and revolution are natural phenomena. Changes are indispensable results of evolution and revolution, but changes bring about rectification and improvement in society. In such processes, undesirable forces and elements are eliminated and desired ones are retained, so as to bring improvement and enlightenment. Solung, being a part of our society, is no exception to it. Solung, the most glorious and prime festival of the Adis, too undergoes the same process. With the advancement of education, the entire socio-religious-economic structures of the Adi community have undergone inevitable change to cope with the changing world. Solung, which is the most important festival of the Adis, could not be spared from such changes. It is an evident fact from present civilized society that culture changes according to technological and other effects, but changes do not mean elimination only. As said above earlier, in the process of change, undesirable elements are eliminated. The crude culture of the Adis is also passing through a process of refinement with every passing year, adding something new and dynamic to the culture. Its own glaze and shape improve, whereby valuable rectification is made. In the same sense, Solung also sees remarkable changes in its path of growth. In early days, the celebration of Solung was more or less different from the present days of Solung. Experiences and experiments have taught us that the celebration of festivals is the best occasion for befriending and excelling in cooperation. So, the glorious Solung has extended its benevolent wings beyond the Adis and reaches other communities as well. It is commonly observed that people belonging to different communities are seen chanting and dancing merrily to Adi folk songs during Solung. Thus, we can say that technology widens our knowledge and knowledge in turn changes our lives and cultures. The impact of technology and other factors responsible for effecting changes and improvements in Solung is commendable. The theme of Solung remains unchanged and intact, but the mode of festivity has experienced remarkable changes. Technically organized agencies are constituted for the pompous celebration of the highly spirited Solung. Each specialized organ performs its duty and prepares the matter of Solung to the fullest availability for the celebration of Solung’s glorious success. Commercialization of Solung also did not find a place in ancient Solung, but the change of commercialization has crept steadily into the heart of modern Solung. Various stalls, counters etc., are erected for commercial purposes in the Solung. Lottery, cultural competitions and other win-and-walk-off competitions are carried out on an open basis to all. Modest Adi girls and boys adorned with Adi traditional attire, smiling and inviting you to their commercial stalls will surely render you to yield to them. Holding a bamboo beer mug in Solung is just next to a blessing of goddess experience. Well-furnished stalls with a full supply of food, meat and beverages accompanied with slow background music, hosted by refined mannered ladies, are sure to enthrall and entice one off his wit. The Adi Solung has withstood many odds and comfortably adjusted to the modern mode of celebration. Religious conversion has, no doubt, greatly retarded its growth, also innocence and ignorance of the people too hinder the expected growth of Solung to the fullest. But in spite of those odds, we will continue to celebrate Solung traditionally right till the existence of the universe.

Notes

References

This article about a religious festival is a stub. You can help EverybodyWiki by expanding it.

External links

Sample video at Youtube by Tasum Mize Sep 7, 2019
Official Tourism Site of Arunachal Pradesh, India

solung, a festival of adis- not found in wiki,so i tried to create.

This article "Solung" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Solung. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.