The Pongtu Festival, celebrated by the Tutsa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, is…
2025
The Pongtu Festival, celebrated by the Tutsa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, is primarily observed to seek blessings from which deity before millet harvesting?
Answer: B. Rangkhothak — Concept — The indigenous religions of Arunachal Pradesh are organised community by community: each tribe addresses its agricultural calendar to its own named…
- A.
Donyi-Polo
- B.
Rangkhothak
- C.
Rangfraa
- D.
Nyegi-Nyapa
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept — The indigenous religions of Arunachal Pradesh are organised community by community: each tribe addresses its agricultural calendar to its own named deity, so a festival question is settled by fixing the tribe-to-deity pairing rather than by the festival name alone. Two broad clusters cover the state. In the Tani belt of central Arunachal Pradesh (Adi, Nyishi, Galo, Apatani, Tagin) the supreme principle is the sun-moon dyad, and its ritual names are paired forms. In the trans-Patkai belt of the eastern districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding (Nocte, Tangsa, Tutsa, Wancho) the deity names are built on the root rang, meaning god or power.
Application — The Tutsa are a trans-Patkai (Naga-group) community of the Tirap and Changlang districts, so the deity being asked for belongs to the rang-rooted eastern tradition. Their festival Pongtu, also called Pongtu Kuh, is held in April while the millet in the jhum field is still tender, ahead of the millet harvest; the name itself joins pong (wind) and tu (retreating), marking the turn of the year. The prayers of the festival are offered to Rangkhothak, the guardian deity of agricultural prosperity, for a bumper harvest and for protection from calamity and epidemic.
Cross-check — Setting the four names against the traditions they belong to separates them cleanly:
Deity | Belief tradition | What the name stands for |
|---|---|---|
Donyi-Polo | Tani belt, central Arunachal Pradesh | Sun (donyi) and Moon (polo) as the all-seeing witness of truth for the Adi, Nyishi, Galo and Apatani |
Rangkhothak | Tutsa tradition, Tirap and Changlang districts | Guardian deity of agricultural prosperity, invoked at Pongtu before the millet harvest |
Rangfraa | Rangfrah faith of the Tangsa, Nocte and Tutsa | Supreme creator deity of that faith as a whole, honoured on its own Rangfrah Day |
Nyegi-Nyapa | Name formed in the Tani naming pattern of central Arunachal Pradesh | The form follows Tani naming, but no deity of this name is recorded in the district or tourism records of Arunachal Pradesh |
One nuance is worth keeping straight. Because rang simply means god in the Tangsa-Tutsa-Nocte languages, some writing on the belt uses Rangfraa loosely for the Almighty in general. For the Pongtu festival specifically, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh record for Changlang district and the Ministry of Tourism festival listing both name Rangkhothak, and that is the deity the question asks for.
Answer: Rangkhothak — the deity whose blessings the Tutsa seek at Pongtu, in April, before the millet is harvested.