When is Chapchar Kut?
Chapchar Kut is a public holiday in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram on a Friday in early March.
This popular spring festival is the biggest and most popular in the calendar of the Mizo people.
Traditions of Chapchar Kut
In this part of India, farming involves Jhumming, which is a system of rotating which fields are used for planting each year. This means that each new growing season brings some heavy-duty jungle clearing, chopping down and burning bamboo and trees to make the ground ready for a new crop.
In the 15th century, a tradition of taking a well-earned break and relaxing for a few days after the clearing work began. In those days, the festival could last for days and in the run-up to the grand finale, the traditions of the festival were established. What was also established was that this is primarily a festival of joy. Though it was never heavily religious, as the state and Mizo people moved away from traditional beliefs to become Christian, the festival fell out of favour. It was revived in the 1960s and 1970s.
Today it has grown to be the biggest of the Mizo festivals - the other two big festivals are also agricultural - Mim Kut and Pawl Kut.
And although the role of alcohol has been reduced in this dry state, the gaiety and fervour of Chapchar Kut still shines through with plenty of dancing and music to keep everyone in good spirits.
Chapchar Kut takes place on the Assam Rifles ground in Lammual and involves around 15,000 performers and most of the spectators also get involved in proceedings - particularly Chai, the last dance of the festival.
