The Tangkul festival of Luira Phanit is celebrated in the city with the same fervour as in Manipur
The rest of the year, this community chooses to keep a low profile, but come the time of the annual seed-sowing festival, Luira Phanit, and the members of the Tangkul tribe in the city go full out, celebrating their cultural roots through their traditional dance. Organised by the Tangkul Shimkhur Pune, the festivities saw 300 youngsters of the tribe participate in the dance, held at the Film and Television Institute of India on Saturday.
M Kazingmei, the coordinator of the festival says that back home in Manipur this is a five day event. “The Tangkul tribe is one of the most densely populated tribes from Manipur. However, most of the younger members travel outside the state in search of jobs and for education purposes. Quite a lot of our tribe has settled in Pune, and celebrating Luira Phanit is a way us to stay attached to our roots back home.”
The festival, which was a day long affair, had events like their traditional dances and songs, in addition to competitions to keep the celebrations alive. Joy Horum, the ex-coordinator of the Tangkul Shimkhur Pune, says, “We have around 400 youngsters staying in the city. We divided the members in four groups and had a tug-of-war, a folksong singing and a pork-eating competition. In addition, we also had a top spinning competition, which we call Sadkhangatak and a seed throwing competition called Sadtheila. Later, everyone performed the traditional Tusom dance that is common in the northern part of the state.”
Kazingmei says that while cities like Delhi Mumbai and Bengaluru boast of higher populations of the Tangkhul tribe members it is only in Pune that this festival is celebrated. “It is a way in which we stay connected to our past. In a fast changing world where even we are changing occasions like these help us stay connected to our history.”