Manipuri youth having a great time during Yaoshang/Holi festival on the streets of Imphal town.
One of the major festivals of India, Holi, is celebrated with enthusiasm and gaiety on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun. The Northeastern state of Manipur also celebrates the festival for five days but calls it a different name; Yaoshang. The Thabal Chongba - a kind of Manipuri folk dance, where boys and girls hold hands together as they sing and dance in a circle, is particularly associated with this festival. Yaoshang to Manipur is what Durga Puja is to Bengal, Diwali to North India and Bihu to Assam.
The 48th Annual Yaoshang Sports Meet is also a part of the Yaoshang Festival. Annual sports meets are organized in each localities all over Imphal by the localities' youth organizations and clubs. The Annual Yaoshang Sports meet is organized by the Young Development Sports Community.
Lathmar Holi of Brijbhoomi - Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana - is very well known. The seven day long festivity of Holi in Brijbhoomi gets emulated in another Vaishnavite region in far off Manipur. This festival is known as the Yaoshang Festival.
Like the inhabitants of Brij, Manipuris too are close to the folklore of Krishna, Radha and the Gopis, but the local sensibilities married to 'Holi' are quite unique and makes the festival more Manipuri than anything else. From calling it Yaoshang to Thabal Chongba to Yaoshang sports, the festival carries both religious and secular fervour.
Yaoshang Festival is celebrated on the full moon day of Phalguna Purnima and it is currently one of the most important festivals of Manipur. Sports festival is organised in every locality as a part of celebrating the festival since the last four to five decades. Main highlight of the festival is the Thabal Chongba (a folk dance).
The literal meaning of thabal is 'moonlight' and chongba means 'dance', thus 'dancing in the moonlight'. In earlier times, this dance was performed in the moonlight accompanied by folk songs. The only musical instrument used was a dholakar drum. Up until a hundred years ago, this folk dance was performed only in the moonlight. Later, lanterns were introduced in the Thabal Chongba back in 1950s. Besides dholak, even dishes and metal tubs were also used as drums during that time. Gaslights were also brought into use in the Thabal Chongba as a source of light.
Source :- http://tourismmanipur.nic.in/festivals.html/ http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=53788
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