FIFA World Cup mystery: Niangtaser emerges in Meghalaya once in every four years
Guwahati, July 15 (IBNS): FIFA World Cup is held once in every four years and there is a FIFA World Cup mystery happening in Meghalaya for the past couple of decades.
While the FIFA World Cup fever is going on across the world, a tiny insect in a remote corner of Meghalaya has also joined the madness around the game.
If you believe it or not, but it’s true that tiny strange insects appear in the villages in Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya’s Khasi Hills about one month before every FIFA World Cup, and slowly disappears for the next four years.
A sub-species of the Cicada family, called Chremistica, had emerged from the ground in several villages of Ri Bhoi district in every four years, typically one month ahead of the FIFA World Cup.
The tribal villagers of Ri Bhoi district have named the winged insect as Niangtaser (Niang is insect in Khasi language) and have nicknamed the strange insect as World Cup Insect.
This is still a mystery that why the insect emerges at that particular area again and again before the FIFA World Cup.
The tribal villagers get to know that the FIFA World Cup is not too far, when they hear the whistling sounds of the insects.
The football crazy villagers have renamed the insect as Niang World Cup.
The villagers organise a festival once in every four years in Ri Bhoi district as the insect appear and the festival is named as Niangtaser festival.
It was held in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and this year.
Not only this, the tribal villagers of all ages also cherish eating the insects.
They are sold in the market as well.
(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)
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