Observe the colorful harvest festival of Mizoram

Mizoram has always been recognized as one of the beautiful states in North Eastern India. The state is filled with greenery and beautiful sceneries. Mizoram also consists of numerous tribes and cultures which celebrate a number of festivals, and the best part is that every festival is enjoyed with great zeal by organizing fairs and many events. At the time of celebration, the people wear and display their traditional dresses and relishes with their local traditional dishes and this is the reason why a number of tourists visit Mizoram at the time of festivals in order to taste the local food. The tourists also visit the place in order to explore the beautiful and colorful culture of the state.

The Pawl Kut festival is also known as the Straw festival and is usually held for three consecutive days in order to celebrate nature, specially dedicated to the harvest of the straw. The festival generally takes place in the month of December before the beginning of the spring season and is considered as a colorful harvest festival that is accompanied by ballet, songs and dance.

According to a story, it is believed that in 1450 AD, famine struck around, and it lasted for three centuries i.e. till 1700 AD. Because of this reason, there was no major crop production which resulted in extreme poverty. So, the people asked for blessings to the Almighty and soon after that, there was a major crop production along with a good rainfall which seemed to change the entire scenario. Therefore, people took it as a sign of blessing and so the people started celebrating the Pawl Kut festival in order to offer thanks to the Almighty for blessing them with a good harvest.

• As the festival is all about new beginnings, the people of Mizoram celebrate it by eating meat and eggs. The people also perform a ritual called Chawnghnawt, where the mother and the children sit on a monumental platform and the mother feeds her children with the meat and eggs and after which the children perform the same ritual and feeds the mother. The main reason for performing this ritual is to cherish and strengthen the bonding between the family members.
• There are lots of fun activities, dancing, and singing events organized by the local people where both male and female enjoy their hearts out and dance to the glory.
• Also, in order to collect meat, the male member of the family goes hunting. And during this festival, people donate food to the poor, which is also one of the customs of this festival.