Nongkrem Dance Festival is celebrated during Autumn at Smit, the cultural centre of the Khasi Hills. This festival is performed at Smit in all its pristine glory. It is essentially a commemoration to celebrate the evolutionary process of the Khasis maturing into the formation of the democratic States. The legendary Shillong Peak stands testimony to this episode when the Creator in divine congregation manifested in the person of 'U Shillong' bestowed the art of democratic governance and the rule of justice. Pah Syntiew was ordained to progenerate the lineage of elected rulers (Syiems) on the formation of Shillong State (Hima). The Hima Shillong was later bifurcated into Hima Khyrim and Hima Mylleim. The headquarters of Hima Khyriem was shifted from Nongkrem to Smit in 1830. For three consecutive nights (Pamtiah, Umni, Iewduh), solemn reverence and obeisance is paid to U Lei Shillong (The Creator as conceived in the person of U Shillong), U Suid Nai Long Syiem (the ancestral maternal uncles) and to the venerated progenitress ancestress 'Ka Pah Syntiew' of the ruling lineage. A sanctification ceremony of the Tangmuri, the queen of musical instruments is being performed where fowls and decapicated goats is presented by each Raid (Zilla) of the Hima. A separate ceremony is performed on the third day, which is the Iewduh or market day of the week. On the fourth day, virgins and youths attired in traditional dresses, dance in the courtyard of the Ing Sad. On the fifth and final day, amid the silence of the night, the Syiem kneels down and offer a prayer of thanks giving to the Creator, the Omnipotent.tt