Garo Wangala Harvest Festival West Garo Hills Meghalaya

Wangala is the harvest thanksgiving festival of the Garo people of West Garo Hills and East Garo Hills districts of Meghalaya — a multi-day celebration offering thanks to Misi Saljong (the sun-god of fertility and prosperity) for the year's harvest, led by village headman (Nokma) and the ceremonial priest (Kamal). The festival features the nagara (large frame drum) played by trained male drummers in a distinctive call-and-response rhythm that builds to a crescendo, accompanied by dancers wearing traditional black-and-white dakmanda cloth, silver necklaces, and feathered headgear. The nagara drum is made from a hollowed-out log of Artocarpus (jackwood) with a membrane of goatskin laced onto the frame with leather thongs. Wangala takes place after the autumn harvest (October-November) and involves three principal ritual performances: a seed blessing ceremony, a public dance performance by young men and women in traditional regalia, and a feast of rice beer (chubitchi) brewed by women from glutinous millet or rice using a traditional starter. The 100 Drums Wangala Festival, first organized in Asanangpara, West Garo Hills in the 1970s, has become a major cultural tourism draw bringing hundreds of nagara drummers from across the Garo Hills. Traditional Wangala weaving — the dakmanda wrap cloth — is made on backstrap looms using natural dyed cotton in black and white. Wangala cultural programs are funded by the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation.