The Karbi people make up one of the major tribes of Assam, with most of them living in Karbi Anglong district. They are expert weavers and practise jhum (slash and burn) cultivation in the hills. But their most distinctive practice is an elaborate death ceremony, called Chomangkan. While the funeral ceremony is performed at the time of cremation, a unique festival is held at a later date as a remembrance for the departed. Karbis believe in the immortality of the soul, the afterlife and rebirth. It is believed that unless the spirits of the dead are sanctified with the rituals of Chomangkan, they do not get peace.
Among the most elaborate and expensive of ceremonies of the Karbis, Chomangkan lasts for four days and nights. Professional mourners, called lunsepi, render sorrowful songs. Their tunes of lamentation go on for hours, with only short breaks in between. No one is formally invited to the ceremony but all are welcome. In spite of the sad undertones, Chomangkan is an important occasion for families to welcome guests with great warmth.
People come in batches, and everyone carries ceremonial totems. At the top of the main totem, there is a wooden vo-jaru (rackettailed drongo). This extraordinary woodcraft — a symbolical representation of the tribe standing for clan unity — is called jambeli athon.
