The Wangala festival, also known as the 'Hundred Drums Festival', is celebrated by which tribe?

Wangala is the most important festival of the Garo tribe of Meghalaya, and is also celebrated by Garos living in Assam. It is a post-harvest festival, celebrated in October-November, to thank Saljong, the Sun god, the god of fertility, for a good harvest.

Wangala marks the end of the agricultural year, after the harvest is complete. During the festival, the Garos offer the first produce of the harvest, such as rice, millet and vegetables, and rice beer to Saljong. The rituals are performed by the village chief (nokma) and the priest. The most important ritual, called "Rugala", involves pouring rice beer and offering cooked rice to the deity in the chief's house. Another ritual, "Cha-chat So-a", involves burning incense.

The best-known part of Wangala is its music and dance. Men and women, dressed in colourful traditional costumes with feathered headgear, dance in two long parallel lines to the beat of long, oval-shaped drums called "dama" and the music of gongs and bamboo flutes. The movements are graceful and rhythmic. The festival is often called the "Hundred Drums Festival" because of the large number of drums played together. Since 1976, a grand "100 Drums Wangala Festival" has been held every year at Asananggre, near Tura, in the West Garo Hills district, where groups from many villages perform together, attracting large numbers of visitors.

The Garos, who call themselves "A·chik", live mainly in the Garo Hills of western Meghalaya. They follow a matrilineal system, in which the family name and property are passed down through the mother. They speak the Garo language. Their traditional religion is called Songsarek, although most Garos today follow Christianity.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Khasi tribe celebrates Nongkrem and Shad Suk Mynsiem.
• ✗Jaintia tribe celebrates Behdienkhlam.
• ✗Hajong tribe is a community of Meghalaya and Assam with its own festivals.