The Rongker Karkli Festival 2026, the most important traditional festival of the Karbi community, has begun across Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong, even as a crucial legal hearing on land rights and eviction is awaited in the Gauhati High Court.

About Rongker Karkli Festival

• Rongker is a post-harvest thanksgiving festival of the Karbi people, one of the largest indigenous tribes of Assam’s hill districts.
• It is dedicated to appeasing local deities for community welfare, protection from natural calamities, good harvest, and prosperity.
• The festival is marked by ritual prayers, traditional dances, community feasts, and offerings, reinforcing Karbi cultural identity and social cohesion.
• Celebrated annually in villages across Karbi Anglong and neighbouring areas, Rongker reflects the living traditions of hill societies under the Sixth Schedule.

Parallel legal development

• January 5, 2026, is significant due to an ongoing legal dispute over Professional Grazing Reserve (PGR) and Village Grazing Reserve (VGR) lands.
• The Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and the Government of Assam are set to file a joint affidavit in response to writ petitions concerning alleged encroachments in the Kheroni area of West Karbi Anglong.
• The High Court has stayed eviction proceedings, and the final verdict will decide whether eviction can proceed on lands claimed as grazing reserves.

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