Assam: 3rd edition of 'Dwijing Festival' celebrated to promote river tourism

Guwahati: The great civilizations in the world have grown on the rivers and Assam is among the blessed region in the Northeast to have been located on the banks of mighty Brahmaputra and Barak River.

To promote the river tourism in the rural areas of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and the state, the 12-day-long 3rd edition of 'Dwijing Festival' was recently celebrated in Assam.

Among the North-eastern states of India, the state of Assam is blessed with mighty rivers like Brahmaputra, Barak, Debang River, Beki River, Kolong River, Manas River to name few. These rivers provide ample opportunities and act as a lifeline for the region.

With an aim to provide livelihood opportunities to the locals for better economic generation through rural tourism, the 3rd edition of 'Dwijing Festival' was recently celebrated in Chirang district of Assam on the bank of the river Aie.

Dwijing Festival is an annual river festival celebrated in the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts

The festival was graced by Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal. The 12-day-long festival witnessed various cultural programs and performances by Barfalanga Group, Bollywood Singer Himesh Reshammiya, actor Malaika Arora, Bhoomi Trivedi, Shweta Pandit, Neeraj Shridhar (Bombay Vikings) as well as some International Dancers.

The festival included food carnival, exhibitions, games, sports, river campaigns and adventure activities among other attractions.

General Secretary of Dwijing festival said, "Through this festival, we want to create job and employment opportunities for youths of Assam."

The festival was initiated in the year 2016-17 under the moniker of "Aie River winter festival" on the bank of river Aie in the Chirang district of BTC with an aim to promote the local tourism and culture.

Later, the festival was changed to "DWIJING" meaning "RIVER BANK" and it became the annual River Festival of the region. The association of the Hagrama Bridge, the longest rural river bridge of the state, with the festival further resulted in the increase in the number of visitors to the festival.

To take the festival forward and also ensure participation from everyone, Minister of Tourism, Chandan Brahma further appealed people from all sections of the society including the media to publicise, promote and propagate the festival.