Bihu, Agriculture and Community Life: A Sociological Reading of Hem Barua’s the Red River and the Blue Hill

Hem Barua’s The Red River and The Blue Hill is a general introduction to Assam that addresses a range of subjects relating to its society, culture, and history. First published in 1954, the book includes as its first appendix an account of Bihu titled “The Bihu Dances and Their Significance.” Barua presents Bihu as a festival of the seasons, rooted in the agricultural and pastoral life of Assam, and he explains its dances, songs, customs and objects in the light of that life. This article reads the appendix from a sociological point of view, using the fourth edition of the book. It examines how Barua links the festival to the farming year, how he treats art as the shared expression of a community, how he explains customs concerning cattle and the games of the festival, how he presents young people and courtship through Bihu songs, what he records about music, dance and dress, and how he compares Bihu with the festivals and songs of other peoples. Barua’s interpretations are reported as he presents them, and the discussion keeps to his text. The article suggests that the appendix shows Bihu as a festival in which farming, nature, feeling and social life are held together. The study is confined to the appendix and the prefaces.