Mizoram Festivals

People of Mizoram (Mizos) are agriculturists. The profession they practice is known as  Jhum Cultivation. They slash down and cultivate the land. All their other activities revolve around the jhum operations and their festivals are all connected with such agricultural operations.

Mim Kut :

Known as the  Maize Festival it is usually celebrated during the months August and September, after the harvest of Maize. Mim Kut is celebrated with great fanfare by drinking rice-beer, singing, dancing and feasting. Samples of the previous year's harvest are consecrated to the departed souls of the community.

Chapchar Kut :

This festival is celebrated after the tedious task of  jhum, i.e. ,jungle-clearing. Chapchar Kut is  a spring festival.

Pawl Kut :

Celebrated during December to January Pawl Kut is Harvest Festival  after the harvests are over. It is perhaps the greatest festival, with plenty of grains in the barn and all the labours of the year over, what better time is there than this to have a great festival.

DANCES

The Mizos, blessed as they are with a beautiful environment and rich culture, are vibrant and sociable people. They love to dance as much as they love to sing. They can boast of a number of folk and community dances which have been handed down from one generation to the other through the ages. The dances are expressions of the gay, carefree spirit of the Mizos.

Cheraw :

Also known as " Bamboo Dance ", for bamboos are used in this dance. The dancer moves by stepping alternatively in and out from between and across a pair of horizontal bamboos, held against the ground by people sitting face to face at either sides. They tap the bamboos, open and close in rhythmic beats. The bamboos placed horizontally, are supported by two bases, one at each end. The bamboos, when clapped, produce a sharp sound which forms the rhythm of the dance. It indicates the timing of the dance as well. The dancer steps in and out to the beats of the bamboos with and grace. The patterns and stepping of the dance have many variations. Sometimes the stepping are made in imitation of the movements of birds, sometimes the swaying of trees, and so on.

Khuallam :

Khual, in the Mizo language, means guest, and lam stands for dancing. So, Khuallam is the dance of the guest. To have a place in paradise, one had to prove one's mettle either in war or in hunting or by being a man of distinction in society. To claim a distinguished place in society, one had to perform various ceremonies which included offering community feasts and dances. These ceremonies, taken together, were known as 'Khuangchawi'. While performing "Khuangchawi" one was obliged to invite relatives from nearby villages. The guests entered the arena of the "Khuangchawi" dancing Khuallam. The dance is normally performed by men dressed in 'Paundum' (traditional Mizo clothes with red and green stripes) to the accompaniment of a set of gongs known as Darbu.

Chheih Lam :

'Joie de vivre' would be the appropriate term to describe 'Chheih Lam', a dance that embodies the spirit of joy and exhilaration. Chheih Lam is performed to the accompaniment of a song called Chheih hla. The song is sung to the beats of a drum or bamboo tube or clapping of hands. People sqaut on the floor in a circle while a dancer stands in the middle reciting a song with various movements of limbs and body.

Chai Lam :

Chai is a festival dance. It is a community dance with men and women standing one after the another in a circle, holding each other on the shoulder and the nape. The dancers sway to and fro and swing their feet to the tune of the song sung in chorus by all of them, while a drummer and a gongman beat their instruments. Horns and Mithuns are other important instruments used in the dance. Legend has it that once they started dancing, they did not know when to stop.

Rallu Lam :

Strictly speaking, Rallu Lam is not a dance as such. It is rather a celebration or a rite in honour of a victorious warrior. When a warrior comes back after a successful compaign, he is given a warm and colourful reception by the village Chief. The celebration consists of a re-enactment of the warrior's heroic exploits.

Solakia :

Originally, this dance was used to be performed mainly by the people of the Maras and Pawi communities of Mizoram. They remain the best exponents of the dance to date. Like Rallu Lam, Solakia was also performed in earlier time to celebrate a victory in war. Marked with five principal movements, the dance seeks to recapture the actions of a hero at war.

Sarlamkai :

One of the most impressive Mizo community dances, Sarlamkai is a variation of Solakia. The two dances are almost identical. The only difference lies in the dress and tempo. No song is sung; only gongs or cymbals or drums are used to beat time.

Par Lam :