Nagaland's Sumi tribe celebrates Tuluni festival

Dimapur (Nagaland), July 15 (ANI): A festival of feast and merry-making to mark the end of dry season and the beginning of new fruits, known as the Tuluni festival in Nagaland, is celebrated by different clans of Sumi tribe across the state on July 8. Organised by the Highway Area Sumi Public Organisation, the festival was celebrated with pomp and grandeur at NER Agri Expo site in Dimapur. The festival was marked by prayers and offerings to Litsaba - the deity of fruitfulness who gives life and protection to the crops. Originally celebrated for seven days, the Tuluni festival is celebrated to rejoice the most abundant and fruitful season of the year in Nagaland. "This is a premier festival of Sumi Naga tribe and it is held on July 8 every year. This festival is marked primarily after the sowing season over so that the people who are expecting the olden days, the people who are rich, it's a time to give out and reach out to the poor and share with them," said Akavi Zhimoni, Convener, Organizing Committee. Thousands of Sumis in their traditional fineries joined the celebrations, which was marked with folk songs and a Tuluni feast. Besides this, youths also participated enthusiastically in the indigenous games and cultural dances. During the festival, while reviving the traditional practices, young women engaged in weaving while humming traditional folk songs. The Tuluni festival symbolizes fraternity, solidarity, sharing and oneness not only among the Sumi community but Nagas as a whole. (ANI)