Celebration of food stock after yearlong hard labour

Manipur is one of the Northeastern states which is widely considered as the land of festivals. The festivals of Manipur represent their cultural and religious aspirations. The people of Manipur celebrate numerous festivals such as Luira festival, Kang festival, Manipur Sangai festival, Lai Haraoba, Heikru Hidongba etc. All the festivals of Manipur are vibrant and colourful, and the people celebrate it with great zeal and enthusiasm. And all these festivals are celebrated by singing, dancing and preparing delicious local cuisines.

Also known as the Chavang Kut, the Kut festival of Manipur is an autumn festival which is celebrated by the Kuki- Chin Mizo tribe of Manipur. This festival is however described differently by the different tribes, and it is usually celebrated to thank the Lord for showering His blessings upon the community with good harvests. This is a happy occasion for the people and so they celebrate the festival with joy and happiness. Therefore, this festival is called Chavang Kut, where Chavang means autumn and Kut means harvest

The festival is celebrated during the autumn season, i.e. on the 1st of November every year as this is the time of the year when all the harvested crops are gathered. Therefore, the farmers who have worked hard the entire year comes together and celebrates their hard work through this festival

• During this festival, the local people of Manipur clean their houses and also whitewash it in order to welcome the festival
• The festival is started with various rites and rituals that are performed in order to pay honour to the deities for bestowing their blessings to the farmers with abundant and healthy crops. For this, the farmers gather their crops and show their gratitude to God for the crops
• After the rituals are done the village priests distribute ju which is a rice beer to the local people
• The celebration is incomplete without singing, dancing and relishing the taste buds with the local delicacies
• The celebration also includes the arrangement of sports activities and other cultural programmes where all the community people can come together and celebrate this auspicious festival. This way through this festival the people try to celebrate it together and give rise to love, peace and harmony in their daily lives.
• An important highlight of this festival is that the community organizes a beauty pageant at the time of the festival
• This festival also gives the local people a chance to showcase their folk dance and songs that reflects their lifestyle and tradition which makes it one of the enjoyable festivals of Manipur
• This festival also gives the local people a chance to showcase their folk dance and songs that reflects their lifestyle and tradition which makes it one of the enjoyable festivals of Manipur