India’s gargantuan musical landscape finds one in all its most evocative expressions in its folk traditions, the attach song, ritual and community lifestyles are deeply intertwined. The National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) gifts the 15th edition of Residing Traditions, focusing on the rich and comparatively lesser-explored cultural heritage of Arunachal Pradesh, a blueprint the attach performance traditions emerge from nature cherish, agrarian rhythms and indigenous perception systems. Led by Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee Dr. Delong Padung, round 35 artistes from the Karpung Karduk Centre for People Performing Arts will articulate to the stage the living artistic traditions of the Adi tribes of the Eastern Himalayas over two evenings. Be a part of us for an night of immersive exploration thru song, dance and storytelling, rooted in community memory and the landscapes of Arunachal Pradesh.
Residing Traditions: Day 1
Experimental Theatre | March 6, 2026 | 6:30 pm
An NCPA Presentation
The outlet night gifts a series of folks performances reflecting the non secular imagination and everyday lifestyles of the Adi community. From Yoyo Gaga: Lullaby of Tani, which narrates the mythical delivery of the first human thru sacred lullabies, to the celebratory enactment of the Solung Competition, the performances explore subject matters of advent, harvest, reverence for nature and collective harmony. Items such as Pasi Kongkio Telo depict rituals honouring wooded space deities, whereas Nero Aming Maya traces the agricultural cycle thru movement and song. The night concludes with Memu Nayo Ye Bepo Lamro Ko, a stuffed with life portrayal of playful community bonding expressed thru song and dance.
Guided by Dr. Delong Padung, a folk artiste and cultural practitioner deeply committed to conserving indigenous performance traditions thru the Karpung Karduk Centre, every presentation is equipped with sociocultural context, allowing audiences to impress the symbolism embedded internal gesture, costume and chant.
Age Suggestion: 6+ | Slack entry no longer current
Length: Roughly 90 minutes
Residing Traditions: Day 2
Experimental Theatre | March 7, 2026 | 6:30 pm
An NCPA Presentation
The second night explores the connection between landscape, identification and spirituality thru folk song and dance traditions of the Eastern Himalayas. Ngoluke Ome Ko: Tune of the Sacred Himalayas celebrates ancestral memory thru lyrical imagery of mountains and natural abundance, whereas Asi Rai E Gale: Dance of the Rivers traces the budge of Himalayan waters that within the kill gather the Siang and Brahmaputra rivers. Through Momam Ponung, audiences come across the symbolic significance of frail attire and ornaments as expressions of strength and cultural identification.
Epic sequences such as Tangko Nyone and Nanyi Mete evoke seasonal renewal thru folklore, culminating in Donyipolo Amik Matai Rangrafrah Buddha, which shows the indigenous philosophy of Donyipoloism and its reverence for nature. The performances combine chorus singing, rhythmic movement and storytelling traditions that continue to be practised internal community lifestyles this day.
Below Dr. Padung’s artistic path, the ensemble emphasises authenticity and continuity, presenting these kinds no longer as reconstructions but as practices sustained internal the Siang valley’s living cultural ecosystem.
Diagram search the advice of with us and expertise the living traditions of Arunachal Pradesh thru evocative song, dance and storytelling, complemented by a display mask of indigenous artefacts and handicrafts all over every evenings.
Age Suggestion: 6+ | Slack entry no longer current
Length: Roughly 90 minutes




