Correspondent
IMPHAL, March 17
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]anipur Governor Vinod Kumar Duggal hosted Pichhkari function at Raj Bhavan in Imphal today and extended his greetings to the people of Manipur on the occasion of Yaosang, the premier festival of Manipur.
The five-day Yaosang festival began in Manipur on Sunday. Yaosang which is known as Holi in other parts of the country is celebrated here from March 16 to 20 for five days. It commences on the full moon day of Phalguna or Lamta in Manipuri calendar.
Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh also greeted the people of Manipur on the occasion.“Yaosang, the festival of colours, is one of the biggest festivals of Manipur when everybody old and young enjoy with gaiety and enthusiasm,” said the Chief Minister in his message.
“Yaosang is a unique festival that brings people closer in a spirit of brotherhood and social harmony amongst the different communities in our state,” he stated.
The main highlight of the festival is the ‘Thabal Chongba’ dance, a Manipuri folk dance where boys and girls form a circle and hold hands and sing and dance during the night. But these days the younger generation of boys and girls dances to the tunes of flute, saxophone and drums played by local band parties at night.
The dance which usually begins soon after the sun set and continues till midnight. While the young ones for Thabal Chongba at night, Vaisnavite elders perform the traditional Holi Pala and Eeshei (devotional songs) at various places of worship including the Shree Shree Govindajee temple in Imphal during day time.
On the other hand children and even the elderly people collect donation from house to house which is locally known as ‘Nakatheng’ and the money collected is spent on parties and merry making in groups once the ‘Yaosang’ is set on fire in their respective localities.
Besides celebrating the festival every localities in the state particularly in the valley areas organise sports meet for their respective areas or pockets during the five-day Yaosang festival after collecting sacred flame from Kangla fort in Imphal since the last three to four decades.
Unlike other places even the daily newspapers in Imphal stop their daily publication for five complete days beginning tomorrow (March 17) till March 20 in view of the festival as the newspaper hawkers are unwilling to work during the festival. As a result, the journalist’s fraternity under the aegis of All Manipur Working Journalists’ Union, too joins the sports meet for the fourth time this year at Khuman Lampak sports complex here.
So there is a saying among the tourists in particular to make their trip to coincide with the Yaosang festival in Manipur and carry home the memories to cherish all your lives.
PTI Imphal: The coulourful festival of Holi was today celebrated in militancy-affected Manipur with much pomp and show, reports from districts said. Youngsters took out march past in different parts of the state and various social organisations and local clubs organised sports activities and functions where people participated instead of visiting temples unlike past. These organisation appealed to different militant organistions not to disturb the festival which will be celebrated for five days from today.
