Reminiscing Phalee Luitã Phanit – The Seed Sowing Festival
Reminiscing Phalee Luitã Phanit – The Seed Sowing Festival
By- O.T. Ramshan
Come March and you’ll get to see the glory of the yester years in its full description. As the season of spring sets in and the rhythm of the wind changes, the village is now in the mood of celebration. With the leaves on every tree now sprouting new shoots, the whole countryside is in lush full green and the blossoming wild cherries heralds the coming of the New Year. And the youths are now so upbeat to throng the village ground with all the traditional attires to showcase the rich cultural heritage of our forefathers. The village street is painted red with the folks, young and old, adorning themselves with Haora and Chonkhom. The essential identity of the Tangkhuls, as it were, has been rather cultural. Every Tangkhul village in the days of yore might well look like a politically independent unit with the power of wielding the village emanating from the chief of the village, but in its schematic theorization in terms of its social orientation, it was rather a cultural unit. The refined understanding of the locals towards their society was crystallized in their belief in the existence of a well defined culture, social norm, moral ethic, convention and institutions that bound/bind their social networks. In fact, the traditional Tangkhul society was very firmly intertwined with agricultural activities – agriculture being the only means of their livelihood. The folksongs and the stories, which include fairy tales handed down from generation to generation quite vividly, relate the daily agricultural activities of the rural people.
Phalee village, earlier Phadang, is one old Tangkhul village situated at about 22 Km from the district headquarter, Ukhrul on the western fringe of the district and about 86 Km from the capital, Imphal. Resting at 5033 feet above the sea level and the latitude and the longitude cutting at 25008’ 34000” N and 94017’ 96034” E (source: Google) respectively, this scenic village enjoys the world tropic climate that virtually suits the habitation of different varieties of edible crops, trees, wild fruits, birds, insects, burrowing animals etc. And as per the 2011 census, the village has 794 households of which the people of this village are predominantly cultivators by profession. The legend has it that the people of Phalee were the descendants of Makhel who, after a lengthy migratory stage through the northern Tangkhul range finally settled down at the present location. While some traced back their origin directly to Maram area where the last dispersal of Nagas took place. Eight respective clans ascribing to different roots of origin make up the present Phalee. The manifestation of the rich cultural heritage of the good old days of this village can still be seen in the celebration of LUITA PHANIT, the seed sowing festival. Luita Phanit is basically an agricultural festival. It is like flipping the pages of a written history where you get to see the daily social activities of the past as if it is for real. Since the advent of Christianity in 1923 and in the years that followed, an understanding between the Christians and the non-Christians of this village was brought about in regard to the fixation of the date for its celebration wherein, March 15th – 20th of every year was exclusively set aside for this festival. No one is allowed to go to work during the festival and every one, young or old, obeys the order given by the village chief. Back in the day every able men of the village used to leave the village right after Thishâm (festival of the death) in the month end of January and the first week of February, as laborers to some distant places, especially Imphal. They would make it a point to come back home from their respective work places before the full moon of the spring season as the seed sowing festival would soon begin. And so usually its celebration falls on the full moon day. It’s almost a week long celebration and even now the intensity of the celebration is quite immense. The first day of the festival is exclusively meant for the royal family or the chief’s family wherein the oldest of the chief’s family (Kasâra) performed animal sacrifice, especially chicken. This is called Therkeat meaning the chief of the village has to first begin the act of sowing in order to propitiate the Ameowa (the god) so that the whole village has a plentiful harvest at the end of the year. The old man then takes some paddy and mixed it with the sacrificial blood, goes to the paddy field and sows it. The whole day he would not talk to anyone that comes up on his way nor do people dare to talk to him lest untoward incident befall upon the village. This is also called Ayangashi Tõrika meaning the chief goes first. The chief’s family also performs another sacrifice called Kahu Yaka which is performed at the northern flank of the village gate not very far away from the local settlement. The second day of the festival is meant for the villagers and it is called Hâkrot meaning slaughtering of pigs. It is on this day that pigs are slayed - whether rich or poor every family kills a pig for the festival. Pork is perhaps still the most preferred meat among the tribal, if I am not mistaken, so is with the people of this village. This day is also called Sheangri Tõrika meaning it’s the day for the public to start sowing. The third day is called Yorkhang where the married sisters of the family are being called by their loving brothers for a hearty meal. This practice exactly resembles the tradition of Ningol Chakouba of the Meiteis. Then the remaining 3 days is all about cultural display and showcasing of different talents where eating and drinking local brewed rice beer becomes the major part of the festivities. Things have changed now and with the coming of Christianity the old practice of animal sacrifices and brewing rice beer have stopped. The strict adherence to the norms of celebration in tune with the old ways has slowly waned away. And yet there is so much of enthusiasm in holding steadfastly onto the customs and traditions of the past.
The festival, no doubt, is all about merry making and a showcase of traditional sports, yet nevertheless it is a time of invoking the super natural being to bless upon them with a prosperous year so that they have good harvest at the end of the year. One very interesting feature of this week-long celebration is that on the first day of the festival the chief of the village comes at the village gathering with a handful of paddy and disperses the paddy on the ground and declares to the villagers that they can thenceforth begin the sowing of seeds. One plausible conclusion we can make out of this is that there was no well-defined demarcation of spiritual and secular elements, both of which are well ingrained into the cultural life of the people, and the chief of the village was both the head of the village in modern political sense as well as the chief priest of the village. As such the role of the chief of the village is quite enormous. Even though we don’t practice animism any more, where any event was preceded by customary rituals such as animal sacrifice, the enactment of the same act is still done by the chief though in a different way. The chief of the village then declares to the folks that they can now start sowing the paddy and also decrees an order that every cattle which are kept in the open fields has to be brought home by every owner after the festival is over. The competition items during this festival includes folk song (this includes yarra laa, ngakhâkva laa and phalee Awungashi laa), folk dance, luita laa, high jump, long jump, wrestling, bamboo climbing, carrying rice pounding stick on the back, tug of war, trumpet, flute, violin, guitar and many more. Tug of war is one showpiece of an event that really captivates the hearts of the audience with equal numbers of men and women at each end of the rope trying to pull with their utmost strength. There goes a proverbial saying, and folks still believe in this act, that if the rope they pull breaks then the year has many good things in store for the village. The luita laa which is sung in group by clapping their hands all together, their position in an encircling manner, is more or less related to agricultural activities...Iramyo iramyo karing kumluiya..karinga kumluiya liuwtõ phanit sawosa...thipai marai rangwui tawose...yangnaowa liuwthiuw mihaolo..(Countrymen countrymen the New Year has come...New Year has come, let’s celebrate luita festival...let’s start sowing the seeds...May the village chief invoke the blessing for sowing....). That the time for the Luita festival of the village is quite propitious, with the rain pouring down right after the festival is over, is reverberated by the timeless folk blues of the yesteryears which goes....Khui kachi yangnao shimthiuw liuthiuw serâroi, Phalee yangana shimthiuw liuthiuw theang karing nirsheane...( Every chief of the surrounding villages has invoked the god for sowing, but when the chief of Phalee does the invocation for sowing, it rained...)
The folk dance of Phalee symbolizes two things: victory after going to war and a dance offered to the dead. There was a time when head hunting and inter-village feud were very prominent. When the men after going to battle comes home victorious, the villagers joined the party after the heads were being brought home as war trophy. The mesmerizing footsteps of the folk dancers is so thrilling to watch and even as they jump and dance as they enter the village playground, the girls enthralled the crowd with a beautiful folk song.....oh oh yaronao pasi chong yuwe chong, yuwe thingwon khawone heh...oh oh thingwon khawone heh lanaomui lanao malishi shilo heh...oh oh khisõ malishi kongyaola kongyaola ila lishiye heh...(The song is all about praising men, saying that the wavering headgear worn by them looks like a blossoming wild cherries and that who would not love them because even the gods love them all the way). The song rather depicts the beauty of the youth where the charm of the days of youth is being epitomized. The steps of the folk dance also resembles the strides of the majestic bird, hornbill. In fact it is called Warâng Phichâk, meaning all the steps and movement of the dance is learnt from the movement of the bird, hornbill. The war cry along with the juggling footsteps of two men in the middle is the imitation of the dance performed by the legendary Phunghon and Roikhor. This dance was also performed when a man of high social status died and that it is performed during the celebration of the feast of the dead or Thishâm. The feast of the dead is usually celebrated at the beginning of the year in remembrance of their near and dear ones who have died the previous year. They placed some objects or any articles corresponding to the number of deaths that took place the previous year, in the middle of an open ground wherein the chief priest comes and performed some rituals. The dance is then performed basically to show respect and honour to the dead souls and even as they journey to the land where the dead lives, Kazeiram in Tangkhul, it is believed that they shall be given an ostentatious welcome by the dead souls. And finally when the sun has set, they collect the objects and carry it to the village gate while the dance party leads the way and threw it. Only men folk are allowed in the disposing ceremony. When finally darkness consumes the light and as people watched over the eastern horizon, they’ll see the same number of dead souls lighting the resin of the pine and slowly vanishes as they crossed into the eastern hills towards Kazeiram.
By- O.T. Ramshan
Come March and you’ll get to see the glory of the yester years in its full description. As the season of spring sets in and the rhythm of the wind changes, the village is now in the mood of celebration. With the leaves on every tree now sprouting new shoots, the whole countryside is in lush full green and the blossoming wild cherries heralds the coming of the New Year. And the youths are now so upbeat to throng the village ground with all the traditional attires to showcase the rich cultural heritage of our forefathers. The village street is painted red with the folks, young and old, adorning themselves with Haora and Chonkhom. The essential identity of the Tangkhuls, as it were, has been rather cultural. Every Tangkhul village in the days of yore might well look like a politically independent unit with the power of wielding the village emanating from the chief of the village, but in its schematic theorization in terms of its social orientation, it was rather a cultural unit. The refined understanding of the locals towards their society was crystallized in their belief in the existence of a well defined culture, social norm, moral ethic, convention and institutions that bound/bind their social networks. In fact, the traditional Tangkhul society was very firmly intertwined with agricultural activities – agriculture being the only means of their livelihood. The folksongs and the stories, which include fairy tales handed down from generation to generation quite vividly, relate the daily agricultural activities of the rural people.
Phalee village, earlier Phadang, is one old Tangkhul village situated at about 22 Km from the district headquarter, Ukhrul on the western fringe of the district and about 86 Km from the capital, Imphal. Resting at 5033 feet above the sea level and the latitude and the longitude cutting at 25008’ 34000” N and 94017’ 96034” E (source: Google) respectively, this scenic village enjoys the world tropic climate that virtually suits the habitation of different varieties of edible crops, trees, wild fruits, birds, insects, burrowing animals etc. And as per the 2011 census, the village has 794 households of which the people of this village are predominantly cultivators by profession. The legend has it that the people of Phalee were the descendants of Makhel who, after a lengthy migratory stage through the northern Tangkhul range finally settled down at the present location. While some traced back their origin directly to Maram area where the last dispersal of Nagas took place. Eight respective clans ascribing to different roots of origin make up the present Phalee. The manifestation of the rich cultural heritage of the good old days of this village can still be seen in the celebration of LUITA PHANIT, the seed sowing festival. Luita Phanit is basically an agricultural festival. It is like flipping the pages of a written history where you get to see the daily social activities of the past as if it is for real. Since the advent of Christianity in 1923 and in the years that followed, an understanding between the Christians and the non-Christians of this village was brought about in regard to the fixation of the date for its celebration wherein, March 15th – 20th of every year was exclusively set aside for this festival. No one is allowed to go to work during the festival and every one, young or old, obeys the order given by the village chief. Back in the day every able men of the village used to leave the village right after Thishâm (festival of the death) in the month end of January and the first week of February, as laborers to some distant places, especially Imphal. They would make it a point to come back home from their respective work places before the full moon of the spring season as the seed sowing festival would soon begin. And so usually its celebration falls on the full moon day. It’s almost a week long celebration and even now the intensity of the celebration is quite immense. The first day of the festival is exclusively meant for the royal family or the chief’s family wherein the oldest of the chief’s family (Kasâra) performed animal sacrifice, especially chicken. This is called Therkeat meaning the chief of the village has to first begin the act of sowing in order to propitiate the Ameowa (the god) so that the whole village has a plentiful harvest at the end of the year. The old man then takes some paddy and mixed it with the sacrificial blood, goes to the paddy field and sows it. The whole day he would not talk to anyone that comes up on his way nor do people dare to talk to him lest untoward incident befall upon the village. This is also called Ayangashi Tõrika meaning the chief goes first. The chief’s family also performs another sacrifice called Kahu Yaka which is performed at the northern flank of the village gate not very far away from the local settlement. The second day of the festival is meant for the villagers and it is called Hâkrot meaning slaughtering of pigs. It is on this day that pigs are slayed - whether rich or poor every family kills a pig for the festival. Pork is perhaps still the most preferred meat among the tribal, if I am not mistaken, so is with the people of this village. This day is also called Sheangri Tõrika meaning it’s the day for the public to start sowing. The third day is called Yorkhang where the married sisters of the family are being called by their loving brothers for a hearty meal. This practice exactly resembles the tradition of Ningol Chakouba of the Meiteis. Then the remaining 3 days is all about cultural display and showcasing of different talents where eating and drinking local brewed rice beer becomes the major part of the festivities. Things have changed now and with the coming of Christianity the old practice of animal sacrifices and brewing rice beer have stopped. The strict adherence to the norms of celebration in tune with the old ways has slowly waned away. And yet there is so much of enthusiasm in holding steadfastly onto the customs and traditions of the past.
The festival, no doubt, is all about merry making and a showcase of traditional sports, yet nevertheless it is a time of invoking the super natural being to bless upon them with a prosperous year so that they have good harvest at the end of the year. One very interesting feature of this week-long celebration is that on the first day of the festival the chief of the village comes at the village gathering with a handful of paddy and disperses the paddy on the ground and declares to the villagers that they can thenceforth begin the sowing of seeds. One plausible conclusion we can make out of this is that there was no well-defined demarcation of spiritual and secular elements, both of which are well ingrained into the cultural life of the people, and the chief of the village was both the head of the village in modern political sense as well as the chief priest of the village. As such the role of the chief of the village is quite enormous. Even though we don’t practice animism any more, where any event was preceded by customary rituals such as animal sacrifice, the enactment of the same act is still done by the chief though in a different way. The chief of the village then declares to the folks that they can now start sowing the paddy and also decrees an order that every cattle which are kept in the open fields has to be brought home by every owner after the festival is over. The competition items during this festival includes folk song (this includes yarra laa, ngakhâkva laa and phalee Awungashi laa), folk dance, luita laa, high jump, long jump, wrestling, bamboo climbing, carrying rice pounding stick on the back, tug of war, trumpet, flute, violin, guitar and many more. Tug of war is one showpiece of an event that really captivates the hearts of the audience with equal numbers of men and women at each end of the rope trying to pull with their utmost strength. There goes a proverbial saying, and folks still believe in this act, that if the rope they pull breaks then the year has many good things in store for the village. The luita laa which is sung in group by clapping their hands all together, their position in an encircling manner, is more or less related to agricultural activities...Iramyo iramyo karing kumluiya..karinga kumluiya liuwtõ phanit sawosa...thipai marai rangwui tawose...yangnaowa liuwthiuw mihaolo..(Countrymen countrymen the New Year has come...New Year has come, let’s celebrate luita festival...let’s start sowing the seeds...May the village chief invoke the blessing for sowing....). That the time for the Luita festival of the village is quite propitious, with the rain pouring down right after the festival is over, is reverberated by the timeless folk blues of the yesteryears which goes....Khui kachi yangnao shimthiuw liuthiuw serâroi, Phalee yangana shimthiuw liuthiuw theang karing nirsheane...( Every chief of the surrounding villages has invoked the god for sowing, but when the chief of Phalee does the invocation for sowing, it rained...)
The folk dance of Phalee symbolizes two things: victory after going to war and a dance offered to the dead. There was a time when head hunting and inter-village feud were very prominent. When the men after going to battle comes home victorious, the villagers joined the party after the heads were being brought home as war trophy. The mesmerizing footsteps of the folk dancers is so thrilling to watch and even as they jump and dance as they enter the village playground, the girls enthralled the crowd with a beautiful folk song.....oh oh yaronao pasi chong yuwe chong, yuwe thingwon khawone heh...oh oh thingwon khawone heh lanaomui lanao malishi shilo heh...oh oh khisõ malishi kongyaola kongyaola ila lishiye heh...(The song is all about praising men, saying that the wavering headgear worn by them looks like a blossoming wild cherries and that who would not love them because even the gods love them all the way). The song rather depicts the beauty of the youth where the charm of the days of youth is being epitomized. The steps of the folk dance also resembles the strides of the majestic bird, hornbill. In fact it is called Warâng Phichâk, meaning all the steps and movement of the dance is learnt from the movement of the bird, hornbill. The war cry along with the juggling footsteps of two men in the middle is the imitation of the dance performed by the legendary Phunghon and Roikhor. This dance was also performed when a man of high social status died and that it is performed during the celebration of the feast of the dead or Thishâm. The feast of the dead is usually celebrated at the beginning of the year in remembrance of their near and dear ones who have died the previous year. They placed some objects or any articles corresponding to the number of deaths that took place the previous year, in the middle of an open ground wherein the chief priest comes and performed some rituals. The dance is then performed basically to show respect and honour to the dead souls and even as they journey to the land where the dead lives, Kazeiram in Tangkhul, it is believed that they shall be given an ostentatious welcome by the dead souls. And finally when the sun has set, they collect the objects and carry it to the village gate while the dance party leads the way and threw it. Only men folk are allowed in the disposing ceremony. When finally darkness consumes the light and as people watched over the eastern horizon, they’ll see the same number of dead souls lighting the resin of the pine and slowly vanishes as they crossed into the eastern hills towards Kazeiram.
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