Assam: 721 Karbi men set new stilt-walking world record

Karbi Anglong (Assam) [India], January 21 : A total of 721 Karbi men in Bokolia, Karbi Anglong, used to the traditional sport of Kengdongdang, set a new Guinness world record on Sunday. The sport entails racing to a finishing line on bamboo stilts.
The stilt-walkers gathered at the Bokolia Bypass near Diphu, the headquarters of central Assam's Karbi Anglong, on Sunday to move in a 2 km-long single line for 10 minutes to set the world record.
"The benchmark was 250 people but 721 people participated to set the new record for the longest line of people walking on stilts," Rishi Nath, the official adjudicator of the Guinness Book of World Records, said after the event.
He later handed over a certificate of acknowledgement to Tuliram Ronghang, the Chief Executive Member of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC), which organised the event as part of the 50th Karbi Youth Festival in Diphu, the district headquarters, in collaboration with the Karbi Cultural Society.
"Taking our traditional sport to the global stage is a great achievement," Ronghang said.
He said the feat was achieved because the Karbi people have kept many traditional sports, such as Kengdongdang, alive.
"There was no such record. The earlier stilt-walking record was by a group of 956 people in Sweden but not in one single line," Dilip Kathar, the central committee member of the Karbi Cultural Society said.