IMPHAL, January 7:The Kang-he festival of the Maram tribe starting from the 24th day of Kang-he kii (December/in leap year or January in regular year) spreads for over 5 days, with each day being marked for various forms of festivities.
The famed bare bodied wrestling falls on the 4th day of the festival and is traditionally performed at the king’s compound/ground. The traditional 3 clans of Maram Khullen village occupy their respective separate places at the ground where women folks are restricted around the wresting arena.
As the bare bodied wrestling is taken as a medium to test the strength of the village youths, meat of different varieties are prepared to feed the youths who are to take part in the wrestling. To avoid any `misfortunes`, youths as well as elders or parents/fathers whose sons are to take part in the wrestling avoid sharing contacts with the wife and female folks.
Prior to naked wrestling,
The villagers also observe ‘Lemkatu,’ before the wresting starts wherein the youths go to the jungle and catch birds with bare hands. Upon finding one, they will display the bird that has been caught at the respective king’s house.The day is also significant for male children from 9 month or 3/4th years are traditionally purified through bathing at the village pond and thereafter administered membership to his respective Morung with rituals.
Different forms of long jump, shot put and other activities are also exhibited on Kang-he day. The champion in the long-jump with extraordinary performance is gifted with a shawl by the King’s wife. Other activities like wrestling and shot put are also conducted just to test the strength and capability of village youths.
The Kang-he festival is fast becoming a popular social and cultural festival for the Maram tribe with the participation of tribe members across the length and breadth of State. Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Francis Ngajokpa in his greetings said that the festival would rekindle the ‘oneness’ and renew the spirit of togetherness and unity.validating this belief, the Maram students’ Union (MKS) is also undertaking the initiative of outreach to encourage, promote and expose the real meaning of Kang-he to the people of Manipur.