Ali-Aye-Ligang: The Mising Community’s Harvest Festival of Food and Fellowship

Every February, when the first seeds of the season are pressed into the soil, the Mising people of Assam gather for Ali-Aye-Ligang, a spring harvest festival that is as much about community as it is about crops. The name itself carries the rhythm of the land: “Ali” for legumes, “Aye” for seed, and “Ligang” for the act of sowing. Together, the words mark a turning point in the agricultural calendar—an announcement that it is time to begin planting.