Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge Vol. 6(3), July 2007, pp. 417-422 Herbal recipe prepared during Bohag or Rongali Bihu in Assam Samim Sofika Begum* & Rajib Gogoi Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Circle, Shillong793003, Meghalaya E-mail: samimbegum@rediffmail.com Received 7 April 2006; revised 25 August 2006 The work relates to the herbal recipe prepared during Bohag or Rongali Bihu in Assam. For the preparation of this recipe, 101 plant species are used. In the paper, each species is provided with plant name, family, vernacular name, plant parts used and their other uses. Key words: Herbal recipe, Bohag, Rongali Bihu, Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Deori, Sonowal-Kachari, Dimasha, Rabha, Assam IPC Int. Cl. 8 : A61K36/00, A01G1/00, A01G17/00, A47G19/00, A23L1/00, A23L1/06, A23L2/02 Assam, the second largest state of Northeast India, situated between 24°2´-27°6´N latitude and 89°8´- 96°E longitude covers an area of 78,438 sq km of which about 23, 688 sq km area is covered by forests. Of the total population, 10.98 % are scheduled tribes. The population of the state is heterogeneous. Austro- Asiatics, Negretos, Dravidians, Indo-Mongoloides, Tibeto-Burmes and Aryans contributed in their own way in the historic ages and formed a unique community, i.e. Ashomiya (Assamese). The main tribes of the state are Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Deori, Sonowal-Kachari, Dimasha, Rabha, etc. Bodo is the largest among all the tribes in the state. Most of these ethnic groups depend on the natural forests for their day-to-day life. Agriculture is the main occupation and rice is their principal food. Ashomiya people have their own custom and tradition for different types of festival and dance, which reflect their way of life. Assam is a state with rich cultural heritage. Bihu is the most important festival in the state. It is an agriculture-based festival, celebrated with much pomp and gaiety and religious festivity. There are three Bihus, viz. Bohag or Rongali, Magh or Bhugali and Kati or Kangali. Bohag or Rongali is the festival of joy with cultural milieu of the people living in the state. It is held from the last day of Choat (last month of Assamese calendar) and continued for 7 days of Bohag (first month of Assamese calendar) and the middle of April. Bihu Naas (Bihu dance) and Bihu Naam (Bihu song) are unique art forms of Assamese culture. Bihus are also well celebrated in the month of Magh (middle of January) and Kati (middle of October), respectively. Bohag Bihu is the main Bihu of the state. The first day of the Bohag Bihu is called Goru (cow) Bihu and in that particular day, people collect 101 plant species, which are locally known as Akhoh ata sak and prepare recipe in the evening. They believe that this special recipe has some medicinal values, which is good for health for the next year too. In the paper an attempt has been made to enumerate 101 plant species with their families, vernacular name and plant parts used and other uses. Methodology The study was undertaken during the year 2004- 2005. The information was gathered by conducting survey in the different districts of the state. Plant specimens were collected and processed¹. Identification was confirmed with authentic specimens deposited at Regional Herbarium (ASSAM) and with the literature available at the library of Botanical Survey of India, Eastern Circle, Shillong. Each species is provided with an up to date nomenclature, family, vernacular name (Assamese), parts used and other uses. Result & discussion The present study involved a total of 109 species under 90 genera and 56 families. Although 109 plant species are enumerated in the study (Table 1), usually 101 species are used to prepare the recipe. Due to unavailability of some species in some areas another species are selected from these 109 species. Family __________ *Corresponding author