Assam by Tinat

Me-Dam-Me-Phi

Day: 31st of January, 2014
Venue: Bamunimaidam, Guwahati, Assam
Occasion: Me-Dam-Me-Phi

Me Dam Me Phi is one of the important festivals observed by the Ahoms from very ancient times. The word ‘Me’ means offerings. ‘Dam’ means ancestors and ‘Phi’ means gods. So the word ‘Me Dam Me Phi’ means oblations offered to the dead and sacrifices to gods. This festival is observed individually by a family and publicly by a king (in the past) and the general people. Nowadays, this festival is observed so extensively by all the people of Assam that it can better be termed as a festival rather than worship.

The Ahoms perform this worship annually in honour of their ancestors. They believe that a man after his death remains as ‘Dam’(ancestor) only for a few days and soon he becomes ‘Phi’ (God). They also believe that the soul of a man which is immortal unites with the supreme soul, possesses the qualities of a spiritual being and always blesses the family.

So every Ahom family in order to worship the dead establishes a pillar on the opposite side of the kitchen (Barghar) which is called ‘Damkhuta’ where they worship the dead with various offerings like homemade wine, mah-prasad, rice with various items of meat and fish. The Ahom kings performed this worship after victory in wars and to ward off any imminent danger of the State.

The Ahoms had their own tenets and faith. From the Ahom chronicles it can be known that when Lengdan (Indra), the God of heaven, sent two of his grandsons Khunlung and Khunlai to earth by a golden chain at that moment Gasingpha, the God of knowledge advised them to perform Umpha, Phuralong, Medam Me Phi and Rikhan worships in different months of a year on different occasions. Since that day till now Me Dam Me Phi has been observed by all the Ahoms.

When Me Dam Me Phi is observed publicly worship is offered in the name of three gods and they are Me Dam Me Phi, Dam Changphi and Grihadam. God Dam Chao Phi is associated with the belief of some natural powers like creation and destruction, water, lightning and storm, sun, moon, learning, diseases, earth, etc.

*Thanks to information from Wikipedia