Guwahati, Jan 17: The traditional Bagurumba dance of the Bodo community will take centre stage in Guwahati on January 17, with more than 10,000 artistes set to participate in a grand cultural performance on the first day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Assam.
The programme, titled Bagurumba Dwhou 2026, will be held at the Arjun Bhogeswar Baruah Stadium in the Sarusajai area. Prime Minister Modi, along with Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other dignitaries, is scheduled to witness the mega recital.
Ahead of the event, the Prime Minister said the programme celebrates Bodo culture and reflects the government’s commitment to fulfilling the aspirations of the community. In a post on X, Modi said the NDA governments at the Centre and in Assam were working to realise the vision of Bodofa Upendranath Brahma, the revered Bodo leader regarded as the guardian of the Bodos.
Officials said the performance will feature over 10,000 artistes, including around 8,000 dancers drawn from 81 Assembly constituencies across 23 districts of the state. Final rehearsals were held on Friday evening and were reviewed by the chief minister.
Chief Minister Sarma announced that each participating Bagurumba dancer would receive an honorarium of Rs 25,000, while master trainers and instructors involved in preparing the performers would be given Rs 50,000 each, in recognition of their months-long training and coordination for the event.
He said nearly 20,000 spectators would be accommodated inside the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium within the Sarusajai sports complex. Those holding passes but unable to enter the main venue would be able to watch the performance from designated holding areas through LED screens installed across the complex.
“The pride of our state is connected with this performance, and we seek the cooperation of everyone,” Sarma said.
Bagurumba, a folk dance of the Bodo community—one of Assam’s largest indigenous groups—is deeply rooted in nature and symbolises harmony between human life and the natural world. Traditionally performed by women and accompanied by male musicians, the dance features graceful movements inspired by butterflies, birds, leaves and flowers.
The Guwahati presentation incorporates the word dwhou, meaning wave in the Bodo language, and will be accompanied by Bodo songs and traditional instruments such as kham, serja, sifung, jatha and japshring, several of which carry Geographical Indication (GI) tags.
Closely associated with festivals like Bwisagu, the Bodo New Year, and Domasi, Bagurumba represents peace, fertility, joy and collective harmony. Preparations for the event involved several Bodo organisations, with 25 experts training around 400 master trainers in Guwahati, who then coached artistes in their respective districts.
