Where exactly is Bodoland?

Bodoland is an autonomous region, in state of Assam and it constitutes four districts Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri. Collectively these districts are known as Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD). Geographically, it is quietly tucked between the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. Far away from all the tourists and travel enthusiasts, Bodoland is a bundle of natural and cultural discoveries. Every time you peel off one layer, you are exposed with a new story ready to sweep you off of your feet. Along with a lot of indigenous communities, Bodoland is majorly inhabited by Bodo Tribe. One of the best parts of my journey was knowing more about the Bodo Tribe and their way of life.

Formation of Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD)

Bodoland Territorial Area Districts were granted autonomous status in February 2003 after the Bodo accord was signed between the Central Government and Bodo militants. Bodoland has seen a lot of political unrest and violence. If you search Bodoland you would probably end up with news of protests, disturbing violent pictures and a whole lot of unpleasant information. The people of Bodoland have fought hard for the autonomous status just so that they could keep their Bodo culture unscathed and boost economic growth by developing infrastructure and increasing employment opportunities. The fear of losing their culture and ethnicity was burgeoned after the Assam Movement. The dispute took another level with the demand of independent statehood.

Years of ordeal ended with the establishment of BTAD which includes the aforementioned four districts.

Granting autonomous status to BTAD brought to light and life to the common people of the region. The establishment is being run by BTC (Bodoland Territorial Council) and it has 46 executive members each looking after a specific area of control. We as Bodoland Ambassador got the chance to meet Kampa Borgoyari, the Deputy Chief of BTC. He talked about all the activities and new initiatives that are being planned for the development of the region. Ambassador of Bodoland was one such program to boost tourism in the region. In the long history of the insurrection of the region, the area lost all its historical and cultural essence. The authorities are now doing everything to get Bodoland its deserved visibility of the Indian map.

A sneak peek into the Bodo Culture – Bodoland Tourism

Bodoland is home to tribal groups like Bodos, Rabhas, Garos etc but Bodo is the majorly inhabited tribe of the area. As part of the Ambassador of Bodoland program, we got the chance to experience the Bodo life closely. On a sunny afternoon, I along with eleven other ambassadors travelled through the yellow mustard laden roads to reach a small and quaint Bodo village named Nangdorbari. I knew almost nothing about the Bodo culture and their lifestyle. And the thought of spending an afternoon in an authentic bodo house gave me inquisitive mind an adrenaline rush.

Architecture of authentic Bodo house

The complete team of Ambassadors of Bodoland was invited to a Bodo house in the village Nangdorbari in Chirang District. The whole village had gathered to welcome us. Women clad in vibrant colorful Bodo attire with smiling faces and inquisitive eyes gave us the warmest possible welcome to their home. We were accompanied by two representatives from Bodoland Tourism to help us understand the culture comprehensively. The first thing they told us was about the peculiar way the Bodo homes are built.

Picture an open rectangular courtyard in the middle with rooms along with all the sides of the courtyard and that will give you the exact idea of what a Bodo home looks like.

The open area in the middle is generally used for family gathering and children to play. One of the rooms is for unmarried daughters, one for elders like parents and grandparents, one for boys and guests called as Saura in Bodo and one is kitchen also known as Ywngkam Songra in Bodo. There were kitchen gardens behind the houses where the villagers grow their everyday vegetables.

Religious Practices of Bodo Tribe

The Bodo people are polytheist. Along with all the major deities of Hindu religion they also worship tribal deities like Bathou or Shijou, Mainao, Mairong and Agrang. Bathou is the religion followed by the maximum villages across Bodoland. Ba means five and thou means deep. It directly implicates the deep reverence of Bodos in the five mighty elements of God which are Earth (Ha), Water (Dwi), Air (Bar), Fire/Sun(San) and Sky(Okhrang).

Under Bathouism, shijou tree is revered as the symbol of Bathou.

The Shijou tree is essentially a large cactus, it is considered as the chief deity of Bathouism. The bodo people consider it as a supreme God and it is planted right in the courtyard of the house. The Shijou shrub is surrounded with circular or square bamboo fence. Just after few minutes of our arrival, our guides pointed at the Shijou tree in the courtyard. They also pointed out how each stem has five protruding stem sticks which represent the 5 elements that the Bodo people worship. Suddenly all the theories about Bathou religion took a pragmatic turn.

Livelihood of Bodo tribe

After we spent some time in the house and met everyone, we decided to take a stroll around the village.  To know their way of life it was important for us to discover the village on foot. The Bodo locals were more than happy to show their lives from the grass root level. The first thing that they wanted us to see was their fishing technique. Both Bodo men and women are well versed with the traditional fishing techniques. Though the gears used by men and women are different, but it was heartwarming to see both men and women taking care of the job equally.

Picture Credit: Soumya

Fishing Technique 

Women mostly use Jakoi, which is a triangular shaped bamboo woven gear to catch fish from shallow water. They also use Khaloi, which is a conical shaped vessel woven from bamboo strips and tied to the waist. Khaloi is used to store the catch while fishing. Men usually work with the large fishing nets. We got to see both the techniques first hand.

Picture Credit: Soumya

Weaving Techniques

Bodo women are adept in weaving, their colorful Dokhonas are testament to their flair for the weaving art. Bodoland Tourism is helping the locals in capitalizing on their weaving skills. The tourism board is helping villagers by giving them exposure to sell their products to tourists coming from all over the country. You will often find Bodo women exhibiting their colorful Dokhonas, scarves and a wide variety if bamboo handicrafts for sale in most of the hotels in and around Bodoland. After enjoying the fishing session, we went to see the weaving process and it was indeed a sight to behold. The women were so happy to demonstrate the weaving technique in front of all of us. We lost the track of time while understanding the intricacies of weaving and before we could realize it was time to head back.

Relish the local delicacies of Bodo tribe

It was lunch time when we got back, and a huge feast was waiting for all of us. All the elusive tribal delicacies were waiting to be devoured. One by one the dishes were served to us and I was surprised at the vegetarian platter. Generally tribal food has more non vegetarian options but there were equal number of sumptuous vegetarian dishes as well. Fried silkworm is a popular Bodo delicacy and we saw it getting cooked right in front of us. While I loved everything that was served to me but my most important discovery was fried curry leave pakodas and steam rice cake which is a staple with tea.

Other things to do when you are in Bodoland

Roaming around the village, interacting with the lovely Bodo women, trying their colorful dokhonas, understanding their way of life, the time just flew. Before we could realise it was time for us to head back. Life here is simple, there is no race, there is no competition, every single individual live life to the fullest without thinking what lies ahead of them. Our visit to Bodoland turned out to be a learning expedition. Every interaction, every conversation and every revelation about the tribe was edifying in ways I could never imagine.

If you ever visit Bodoland, make sure you take a trip to one of the Bodo villages and spend some time with the amazing men and women of Bodo tribe. Along with making a trip to one of the Bodo villages

here’s a list of other things to do and places to visit when you visit Bodoland.

1. Plan an early morning trip to Kalamati. Kalamati is now part of the extended Manas National Park. With mountains in the backdrop and a calm river swiftly flowing at the Indian-Bhutan border, Kalamati is perfect picnic spot. Watching sunrise from Kalamati is an unforgettable experience.
2. Spot one horned Rhinos in Manas National Park.
3. Cross the India-Bhutan border and visit Galephu, a small town in Bhutan.
4. Attend the Dwijing Festival at the banks of Aie River. It is 12 days long festival which showcases culture, traditions, folk dances, ethnic cuisines and an insight into life of people of Bodoland.
5. Enjoy the sumptuous tribal Bodo cuisine.
6. Shop from the local shops set up by the bodo women selling their dokhonas and colorful scarves. The intricate embroideries and striking colors of the scarves will definitely be a conversation starter within your friends and family.
7. Try the locally fermented beer and wine. Rice beer and wine are an integral part of the Bodo tradition. They make the liquor in their houses using elaborate fermentation techniques. The rice is first boiled and mixed with a local yeast for fermentation. It is then kept for three days and boiled in a three tired vessel. The steam from the bottom vessel moves up, accumulates on the base of the top vessel and droplets drip down in middle. The accumulated liquid from the base of the first vessel is consumed as rice beer. You cannot go to Bodoland and not consume copious amounts of Rice beer and local wine.

How to reach Bodoland

The best way to reach Bodoland is to reach Bongaigaon. Bongaigaon is approximately 3-4 hours away from the capital city, Guwahati. While there are trains and buses running regularly between Guwahati and Bongaigaon, but hiring a personal vehicle is more convenient and hence comes recommended from my side. One can easily execute everything from the “things to do” list if you base yourself in Bongaigaon.

Where to stay in Bodoland

There are a number of accommodation options in Bongaigaon. You can choose any of them as per your requirements. As part of the Bodoland Ambassador program I stayed at Cygnett Park Meghna and I had a comfortable stay there. Going forward Bodoland Tourism is also planning to open homestays in various villages across Bodoland. This will help the tourism department in generating revenue as well as provide authentic tribal experience to the tourists.

Is Bodoland Safe?

After “Where exactly is Bodoland”, “Is Bodoland safe to travel” was the second popular question that I got asked the most. A place with a history of ordeal like Bodoland always raises eyebrows when it comes to security and safety. During my travels across Bodoland I felt pretty safe, you could account that to the fact that I was travelling in a group. But otherwise also I didn’t notice or experience anything odd. Though tourism is a new territory for Bodoland and yet the locals are nothing but receptive of tourists taking a close peek into their lives. So if you get a chance to visit Bodoland and experience its rich culture, heritage and pristine landscape, don’t miss it for anything in this world.

Disclaimer : Ambassadors of Bodoland ia an initiative by Root Bridge Foundation. The trip was an collaboration with Bodoland Tourism and Assam Tourism. This has not influenced my views in any way.

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