Guwahati, Jan. 23: The Sirish Tea Tribe Festival started by Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd (APPL) last year, which was restricted to a few gardens, has now been extended throughout the state and north Bengal.

The second edition of the festival, which will be held at Powai tea estate at Margherita in Tinsukia district on January 30-31, will see tea tribe dances from Assam and north Bengal.

The festival was instituted last year for the tea tribe community to showcase their traditional dance forms, sports, art and literature.

"The prominent feature this year is that we have spread all across Assam and north Bengal to draw talent as well as give a unique platform to the tea tribe community of Assam to showcase their rich, diverse and distinct culture. During the preliminary phase, I was privileged to see many tea tribes performing their original dance forms with their instruments and lyrics/songs. I am now convinced that this unique platform has given them an opportunity to reignite their interest," Dhiraj Kakati, the managing trustee of Amalgamated Plantations Private Ltd Foundation, told The Telegraph.

The two-day festival will comprise cultural and musical performances, awareness skits on environment, health and hygiene, among others.

The preliminaries are now over and the final will be held at Powai tea estate, Margherita, on January 31.

Last year, there were 350 artistes from the APPL gardens, while this year there are 1,500 artistes from various gardens.

The tea tribe community, which comprises 25 per cent of the population of the state, has significantly contributed to not only to the economy, but also to the culture and literature of the state.

The foundation had also sponsored a video recording of a modern rendition of a traditional jhumur song called Rail gadi jhumur last year. This will be the theme song of the festival.

Tea being a labour intensive industry, the British brought thousands of workers, mainly from the Chhotanagpur region, covering the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, and also from Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

These indentured tea garden workers, who were brought by the British colonial planters, later came to be known as the tea tribe community. The important constituents of this large community of different casts and tribes are the Santhals, Tantis, Orang, Munda, Bhuiya, Bhumij, Aharia, Proja, Gaur, Kharia, Bheel, Boraik, Ghatowar, Teli, Goala, Rajak, Koya and Telenga Kamar.

This unique amalgamation of communities and castes today constitutes the tea tribe community of Assam and Bengal.

The APPL Foundation is a dedicated foundation of Amalgamated Plantations Pvt Ltd (APPL), a Tata Enterprise, the second largest tea producer, which was registered in 2011 with the objective of promoting the welfare of the public in general.