Happy New Year?

Sajibu Cheiraoba

Today is Manipuri version of new year (which twelve months begin with spring). Every household celebrates with a grand dinner comprising of seasonal dishes and fruits, eaten to the heart's content.

In the afternoon, people climb nearby hills upto the summit to mark the occasion (also to digest all the rich foods) and symbolising the start of the new year with aplenty foods, strength, stamina and endurance.

The festival concludes with Thabal Chongba (jumping dance going round and round in circles holding hands together) in the evening till late at night.

(P.S. Those layers of hills and mountains in the far right were obscured by today's nasty atmosphere rendering a bland sky. The circular polarizer did some tricks to reproduce them, at least a slight hint of their existence!)