Bushu festival is celebrated by the
Kachari tribe belonging to
Nagaland. Bushu is a post- harvest festival. It is usually celebrated during the month of January.
Bushu festival can be categorized into three different varieties namely ‘Hangsho,’ which is held over a period lasting many days and nights, ‘Surem,’ which takes place for three days and three nights, and finally ‘Jidep Jiba,’ which lasts for only one day and one night. Jidep Jiba is the more popular variety of this festival.
This festival includes a feast of rice and meat, which is followed by other social activities. Animals used for the feast are killed following some rituals called ‘meesthainba’. Cooked rice and meat are offered by the village priest to ‘Sibarai’, the village deity. This offering is known as ‘meedo-karba’.
This festival also includes some traditional sports. Competitions in various fields like dance, folk songs, folktales and other cultural activities are held. Special dances, called ‘bai-sengna’, are performed in the honor of the village chief or any invited guest.
