Goru Bihu is the last day of the Assamese year and the first day of Rongali Bihu. It belongs to the cattle. In the morning they are led to the river or pond, rubbed with a paste of black gram and turmeric, and washed. Pieces of gourd and brinjal are thrown to them while the household sings the old verse, and they are brushed with sprigs of dighalati and makhiyati. In the evening they come home to new ropes.
The story
The plough cattle carried the last year's work and will carry the next; the new year cannot begin until they have been thanked.
At dusk a smoky fire of rice husk, the jaak, is lit in the cowshed to drive off flies, and the animals are fed pitha.
লাউ খা, বেঙেনা খা, বছৰে বছৰে বাঢ়ি যা; মাৰ সৰু, বাপেৰ সৰু, তই হ'বি বৰ গৰু
Eat gourd, eat brinjal, grow from year to year; your mother is small, your father is small, but you will be a big one
Sung to the cattle as they are washed
How the day goes
- Maah-halodhiThe paste of black gram and turmeric, rubbed on the cattle and then used by the family for their own bath.
- Lao-bengenaGourd, brinjal, turmeric and bitter gourd threaded on sticks and thrown to the animals.
- Dighalati and makhiyatiTwigs with which the cattle are gently beaten, to keep off insects through the year.
- New poghaFresh tethering ropes in the evening.
- JaakThe smudge fire in the shed.
Why this date
Goru Bihu is the day before the first of Bohag, that is, the last day of the solar month of Chot: 13 or 14 April.
Goru Bihu in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Tuesday | |
| 2027 | Wednesday | |
| 2028 | Thursday | |
| 2029 | Saturday | |
| 2030 | Sunday | |
| 2031 | Monday |
More Assamese festivals
15 AprilBohag Bihuব'হাগ বিহু
15 AprilRam Navamiৰাম নৱমী
22 MarchDoul Utsavদৌল উৎসৱ
6 MarchMaha Shivaratriমহা শিৱৰাত্ৰি
11 FebruarySaraswati Pujaসৰস্বতী পূজা
20 AprilHanuman Jayantiহনুমান জয়ন্তী
Where to see Goru Bihu
In Assam
- MajuliAssamThe island's villages bring their herds down to the Brahmaputra.
- SivasagarAssamUpper Assam, the heartland of Bihu.
- SualkuchiAssamThe silk-weaving village near Guwahati, busy with the last orders of gamosa and mekhela.
Across India
- MaduraiTamil NaduThe Tamil country honours its cattle at Mattu Pongal, in January.
- KolkataWest BengalBengal ends its year on the same day with Charak.
- AmritsarPunjabVaisakhi, the same turn of the solar year.