By Shobha Rao Smilemaker

Apr 15: It was with ease that we landed at Agartala in Tripura by flight, instead of a long drive on the dusty, bumpy roads of the hot and hilly terrain of the region.

We were extremely lucky to witness the 19th Statelevel Garia spring festival (called the Bizu Mela) being celebrated at the the Swami Vivekanand Stadium near our hotel from April 13-15.

I was so excited to see almost all the Tripura women in their traditional dress with a long skirt like garment called Rignai covering their lower half, a shawl like garment called Rikutu and a blouse like garment called Risa covering the chest part. There were stalls selling these colourful hand spun or machine made garments.

I managed to get behind the barricade and visit the green room where I saw many of the 19 tribal dance artists in their best costumes. I was even offered their traditional sweets which was made of rice flour and jaggery.

Many women wore silver coloured attractive long necklaces, bangles and I just loved their usage of coins in their traditional jewellery! I was told that some dancers also used animal horns, bones or feathers as jewellery in Tripura.

I saw some dancers using bamboo sticks as adornments to their hairstyle. This bamboo jewellery is also a speciality in this area.

The main organizers of this festival were from the Chakma tribe and were proudly preserving their rich culture of music and dance through such shows.

I really enjoyed the first 2 performances put up by the tiny children aged from 3 to 7 years. Then I saw different folk dances like the ‘Garia’ dance performed especially during this New Year festival. I was told there are other dances called ‘Dhamail’ performed weddings or the ‘Hoza Giri’ dance of the Raeng tribesmen. The ladies of the Tripuri or Deburma tribe did not wear any blouse with their traditional dress, yet covered the neck area with lots of jewellery.

There were also some traditional musical recitations which I enjoyed though I did not know the language. I was told it is called ‘Manasa mangal’ or ‘Kabi Gaan'.

However the crowd went almost berserk with fan adulation when their famous singer Biswanath Deburma performed live onstage.

I took as many pictures as I could with the dancers. I just had to purchase some local costumes from their stalls and I went alone late at night, back to my hotel in utter gratitude for the rich culture of Tripura and the rest of India too!

Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.