Muhidhar Gogoi (left) wards off the chill in Morongial. Picture by Monalisa

Morongial (Jorhat), Jan. 12: Magh Bihu without a meji? Unthinkable for a die-hard Assamese. But not so for a thousand-odd families in an Upper Assam village where the fire hasn?t glowed for a hundred years.

It will be exactly 100 years since villagers of Morongial, tucked away in a remote corner of Jorhat district along the Assam-Nagaland border, stopped lighting the meji (bonfire), a traditionally indispensable part of Magh Bihu.

No written records are available why meji is a taboo in this village, which, otherwise, celebrates Magh Bihu like any other village by organising community feasts and distributing pithas.

Magh Bihu, one of the three Bihus in Assam, is celebrated mid-January and the festivities continue for an entire week.

Legends passing on through word of mouth have it that one of the descendants of the first seven families, which set up the village, was charred to death in a meji a century ago. Since then the Morongial villagers stopped lighting the meji.

?This year it will be exactly 100 years since the last ceremonial meji was lit in the village. This I learnt from my grandfather as well as father,? 96-year-old Muhidhar Gogoi, the oldest living resident of Morongial, said.

Situated under Nakachari police outpost in Mariani, Morongial has a predominantly Ahom population of around 1,000 families. The first seven families are said to have arrived in the village two centuries ago from Thailand. Gogoi, who was involved in the freedom struggle, said, ?The descendant went missing on the meji Bihu day 100 years ago. Later, it was discovered that he was charred to death in the bonfire though no one knows how.?

Though nowadays mejis ? built with bamboo and firewood and covered with hay ? are not more than a few feet in height, in the old days they used to be huge structures with a height of several metres.

Gogoi said some villagers had decided to do away with the custom some 60 years ago and lighted a meji with a thin participation of villagers. ?Small pox hit the village that year killing over 100 people. The villagers then felt that it was a curse from our forefathers for defying them. Since then our belief became stronger and we decided not to light the meji again,? he said.