HOJAGIRI DANCE: STATE'S MOST ACCLAIMED DANCE FORM

The Reang tribe is one of Tite 21 pastoral tribes in Tripura and among 75 primitive tribes in India. This indigenous tribe is the second largest after the Tripuri community.

- Abhijit Nath

Along with Tripura, people of the Reang community are also found in neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Mizoram. They hailed from Shan State of upper Burma now Myanmar) in different weaves to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and then the Southern part of Tripura. Likewise, another cluster entered Tripura via Assam and Mizoram during the 18th century. This tribe belong to Indo-Mongoloid racial stock. Their dialectal has the empathy of Austro-Asiatic groups under the Tibeto-Burman family. Ethnologically Reangs are categorized into two major clansMeska and Molsoi groups. They speak in the Kaubru” language. This tribe had illustrated their attire and dialect differently from other indigenous communities. Reangs’ accoutre is known to be simple as hand-woven clothes are worn by the people while the Rnai’ is a wraparound for covering the body waist-down and Risa’ is to cover the torso. The dresses are impressively colourful. The people of this tribe who are still residing in the hills of Tripura maintain their livelihood by cultivating jhum’ and gathering other food items like fruits, leaves, and plants, fishing in stagnant water on hill slopes, hunting wild animals and birds from jungles while in the 21st century, many are moving towards urban areas to boost up their livelihood economically and progressing in the field of education.