Til pitha, coconut loskora (coconut laddoo) and handoh guri (in bowl). Pics/Datta Kumbhar

'We make a dish with 101 vegetables'
Gitika Saikia has been busy all week, preparing special dishes in the kitchen, finishing all her shopping for new clothes and cleaning the house before Friday, which is when they celebrated Uruka, a precursor to Manuh Bihu that falls today. After Uruka, we celebrate Goru Bihu which is dedicated to cows, as we are primarily an agrarian community. The cows are bathed in the paddy fields with a paste of turmeric, urad dal and milk. Chopped vegetables — bottle gourd, bitter gourd and brinjal — are thrown gently at them while they are fanned by branches of the makhioti plant. They get a royal treatment as the cowsheds are cleaned and decorated. Incense is also burned in the evening. On this day, we make special pithas for the animals," she explains.