Poi Pee Mau Tai: Tai Khamti New Year at Namsai-Chowkham

Poi Pee Mau Tai…
What’s that? Why’d you go there when the Hornbill Festival is on?

Asked many as I shared my plans as an insta story… Well, Hornbill is cool, I’ve seen it before and this was something I’d been planning for years… I don’t exactly remember but I think I first saw a photograph of Butterfly Dance and that’s when I decided to do it.

So, Poi Pee Mau Tai is the New Year festival of the Tai Khamptis has become the biggest festival amongst the folks of the Tai communities in the world. So, old rituals have been enhanced and presented as a modern fetsival and this idea by the Tai Khampti Development Society (TKDS) of Namsai to celebrate the New Year day festival in accordance with the ancient Tai calendar, and so, we saw the beginning of the 2119th year!

About The Tai Population in India

If all the above information sound confusing, let me offer a primer with my limited knowledge. Tai is a large enth linguistic group that probably originated in Southern China. Over time, it spread accross the South East Asia and also reached the Northeastern parts of India.

The people of Thailand and Laos belong to this group, so do the Ahoms whole ruled a good part of Assam for almost 600 years. However, apart from Ahoms, several other Tai groups entered the region and now inhabit parts of Assam and Eastern Arunachal. As they have arrived in different waves, they have managed to maintain their distinctive identities. Some of the Tai groups in India include Ahoms, Khamtis, Khamyangs, Aitons, Phake, and Turung. Many of these smaller groups have been followers of Theravada Buddhism since their arrival.
A couple of years ago I visited Namphake Buddhist Monastery and Village in the eastern corner of Assam and finally, this was the time to visit a full blown festival.

Finding the Festival Ground

We were at Yingkiong the previous night after some confusions. So, we started in the morning for a long drive, crossing Mariyang, Dambuk, Roing etc and reached Namsai area in the afternoon. We were not even sure about thebenue of the festival but we saw the festival ground on the road just after crossing Chowkham.

Just after the festival ground, we also saw the signboard of a resort, and called the number. We were given a very reasonable rate but as we took the detour and reached the resort, it turned out to be somewhat incomplete. He’s still building it up and no additional services were available. However, it was close to the  festival ground and we just needed a place to sleep. So, we took the room.

Although incomplete, the place has a good location on the banks of a river. In fact, this is the trend in the entire Namsai Chowkham and around. These are plain areas on the foothills. There are many small streams crisscrossing the plains and with limited industries, they are pretty clean. So, all the new resorts and restaurants are built on the banks of river, with small bridges to cross over… And options to sit in ankle deep water while having lunch.

The most famous landmark here is the Golden Pagoda nearby and we visited it too. The design of this temple also shows the Theravada heritage and oriental connections of the people in this region.

It was already dark by the time we were done with the Pagoda although it was barely 4 pm.  According to the schedule, some cultural program was scheduled to start. But we also needed to eat as the resprtbhad no option for food. Decided to drive to Namsai town, which was still 25 KMs away, for dinner and then return to the festival.

A Long Wait For the Modnight

However, it was sort of a tactical mistake as by the time we returned from the town, the programs were over and the stage was empty. We roamed around the food stalls for a while (everyone was selling liquor but in an aesthetic manner). I was wondering if I’d missed out on godo photographic opportunities. Finally, we went near the stage and found one of the guys who was making announcements on the stage. He told us that while nothing is happening as of now, they’ll all assmblenat midnight for the new year. So, we kept waiting although we were tired after a long drive. The ambiance was festive and pleasant, so we were not bored at all.

At around 11.30 PM I began to get worried. No activity and no announcements so far… Is it going to work?

At around 11.40 PM things started changing. One of the anchors started urging everyone to gather near the stage and stalls to turn off other music. In no time, several artists including my coveted butterfly dancers arrived at the stage and a huge crowd gathered too. It was followed by a short speech by the community leaders welcoming the new year, which was the new year 2119… So they are tracing it back to the times when they were in their ancestral land!

Anyway, the moment arrived and the celebrations started. Fireworks started on the other side as some of them started singing. The songs were pretty moder and catchy. Although I didn’t understand, the Cantopop vibes were unmissable and everyone went delirious and for the next one hour, I tried hard to click photographs and videos. Even a large cake was cut to welcome the new year (which must be a modern addition). It must be noted that in spite of all the merriment, the crowd was disciplined and well-behaved. Eventually, we got tired and went back to our stay while the locals continued.

A Vibrant Morning

The next morning we woke up and drove to the festival ground, only to find it empty as most of them must have continued partying till late night. So, we drove further to Chowkham for breakfast and came back at around 9 AM to attend the cultural procession followed by flag hoisting.

It was another opportunity to shoot, this time in broad day light. Apart from the butterflies, there were guys dresses as roosters and there were two guys combining together to form what looked like a big deer. All these aspects require more time to study and unfortunately I couldn’t get much into it.

It was only the beginning of the festivities. It was going to continue for the next three days with various programs including local sports, beauty pageant, performances by some invited Bollywood celebrities, and also an Elephant Race on the last day!

Unfortunately, we had to move on as we had other plans. So, sadly I’ll have to leave it at this point. If nothing else comes up, next year I’ll try to attend it for all three days.

Enjoy the footage from the event…