To commemorate the fifth year of the Meghalayan Age, the Faculty of Arts and Culture, Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU), organised an event on the theme, “The Meghalayan Age: Our Unique Geodiversity, Biodiversity and Cultural Assets”, on Wednesday.

The Department of Music, the School of Language and Literary Studies, and the Department of Environment and Traditional Ecosystem are all part of MLCU’s Faculty of Arts and Culture. The event was also supported by the Departments of Tourism and Travel Management. Dr Glenn C Kharkongor, Chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University, also gave a brief talk on the beginnings of the Meghalayan Age and why this new geologic age was named after Meghalaya. Dr. Kharkongor described how Mawmluh cave, one of Meghalaya’s longest and deepest caverns, has conditions conducive to maintaining chemical indications of the eras’ transition.

Prizes were also given out to the champions of the various competitions organised in the week preceding Meghalayan Age Day. The competitions, which were open to schools and colleges, comprised smartphone photography competitions, digital photography competitions, and handmade poster competitions. Liza Rani Basumatary of Lady Keane College took first place in the Handmade Poster competition, Noor Bano of Lady Keane College took second place, and Rodinal Lyngdoh of Shonroy Basan Secondary School took third place.

Albert Banlam took first place in the Smartphone Photography competition, followed by Raymond Wellis War, MLCU, and Amandame Lywait, MLCU. Fennyzia Marbaniang took first place in the Digital Poster Competition, and Chanchal Loro took second place. Both are MLCU students.