Lambaka festival at Waithou Chiru village
photo by Angir Chiru
The state of Manipur is inhabited by many
tribes who are broadly divided into two – the Naga and the Kuki. The Chiru
tribal belong to the Naga fraternity and have a Mongolian type of countenance.
Dolang, Waithou, Charoi Khulen, Bungte, Nungsai, Kangchup, Lamdangmei,
Thangjing, Sadu and Ural are Chiru inhabited villages with a total population
of about seven thousand only. It is believed that they are originally from
Tamenglong district.
Like some of the Naga tribes, the Chirus
have a recognized house called Sher
where unmarried young men at night keep in ready weapons of attack and defence
like licenced guns, spear, daos, and shields etc. Females are strictly
prohibited to enter it. It is the hub of village polity and events ranging from
festivals to group clashes are discussed and decided here first.
Lambaka – the festival of merry-making is
held every year in the month of Wakching (December-January) in front of the Sher for three or four days
consecutively. The village elders including the chief come to the Sher for morning obligation and
discourse. Dance items and songs are frequently interrupted with liberal
supplies of yu (rice beer) and pork
cooked in ginger and chilli sauce. Girls
of marriageable age called Sangpi
come to the Sher with head loads of yu brewed in their homes. Before the
liquor is served it is customary on the part of the Sangpi to enact a dance by rounding the Sher three times. Boys of marriageable age, Reibak Derkai, dance opposite the Sangpi.
During the dance, a peculiar dholak made
from hollowed tree trunk and skin of Serow (Capricornis sumatraensis) is used.
Mouth organs consisting of gourds and small bamboo tubes and also horns of
either a buffalo or a mithun (bos frontalis) are other musical instruments.
The Lambaka festival is an ideal occasion
for the young boys and girls to meet. The elopement, Sungkung Moiloi, follows
the festival. Mangkat (bride price) consisting of three bronze saucers, a
strong and coarse cloth, Ponrobo, and
rupees three hundred are inspected and agreed by the Tangba, the henchmen of the village chief, before the marriage is
solemnized. After the formalities, the boy and girl are declared engaged.
The boy has first to stay for three years
at the residence of the girl’s father helping him in his work. The system is
called Leng lo and if anyone breaches it the punishment is either a big pig or
a cow for community feast and the offender has to pay the bill. During this
period of three years no physical intimacy is allowed.
Konjengbam Kameshore
(Courtesy: North East Sun, New Delhi, February
26-March 4, 1994)