Dibrugarh: The mega Mopin festival was celebrated at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh with pomp and gaiety on Sunday.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu participated in the festival along with Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and Lok Sabha MP Tapir Gao.

The Mopin Festival is a major spring harvest festival celebrated by the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh, usually from April 5 to 7.

It invokes the goddess Mopin Ane to bless the community with wealth, prosperity, fertility, and freedom from evil spirits. The festival is marked by traditional Popir dance, local cuisine, and the smearing of white rice flour on faces.

It is a celebration of the harvesting season held in the Galo months of "Lumi" and "Luki", corresponding to March-April and the new year for the Galo tribe. The Galo tribe follows an animist religion called Donyi-Polo.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said, "The Mega Mopin was celebrated in Namsai. Namsai is dominated by Tai-Khamti tribe, there is a less Galo population in Namsai but the Mega Mopin was celebrated in Namsai in a unique way. Altogether, 13 tribes of Arunachal Pradesh participated in the festival."