Lapang-Babo-1 | Heritage Lapang | Hong Myoko 2022 | Hong village | Arunachal Pradesh

The Myoko Festival is an annual celebration in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh. Celebrated on a rotational basis by three different villages namely Diibo-Hija, Hari-Bulla and Hong of the Apatani plateau. This year, Myoko will be celebrated by Hong Village. A 10-day celebration, it begins on March 20 and ends on March 30 every year. This tribe worships the sun and moon and are animist by nature. It means they believe that all non-human natural things such as plants, thunder, animals, rock, etc have spirits which can influence human events. During the festival, they slaughter pigs and chicken as a sacrifice. Lapang is a huge wooden platform which is used as a venue for holding public meetings, community discussions and carrying out some rituals. There is also a ritual alter located in residential areas. The Lapangs also become a magnet during the Murung festival in January. People congregate on Lapangs and make merry. Murung festival is a festival of prosperity. The cows and Mithuns are tethered to the lower portion of the lapangs. The logs on which the platform of lapang is built is very sturdy. Traditionally, male child from each clan used to bring a pole each for the construction of the base of lapang. Naturally, you can easily count how many male child there are in a clan by just counting these poles. These structures are used in carrying out various rituals during the festivals. Some cemented versions of the same had cropped up too, which he showed to us with much disdain. The cemented ones indeed looked ugly when compared to the wooden structures. Since it is a very authentic and original example of a lapang, it has been declared as a heritage Lapang by Chowna Mein (Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh). The heritage Lapang is known as Takar Lapang ( Hibu lemba, Hong Village)