Yaosang is the Holi of Manipur, a true spring fest and a community festival. By Sushma Wahengbam
Children moving door-to-door like carol singers, collecting goodies and wishing you the best, young boys and girls colour-darting each other and the indulgent elders watching over it all.... The Yaosang festival of Manipur is the Holi of the northeast and celebrated avidly in the month of lamta according to the Meitei lunar calendar or in the month of February/March according the Gregorian calendar.
There are different versions about the origin of the celebration of Yaosang. One version goes that traditionally the five-day festival was known as “loipan” and was considered divine merriment to mark the birth of Pakhangba at Kangla fort to leimaren and Soraren Sidaba. It is also said the festival of loipan came to be known as Yaosang when Vaishnavism was at its height in Manipur, during the reign of Maharaja Bhaigyachandra, who ruled Manipur from 1709-1748 A.D.
On the morning of the first day of Yaosang, all the youths of the locality gather at the site where the shang or the hut is to be built. They bring with them straw, bamboo, dao (axe) and other items. The elderly men are bystanders, watching, instructing and advising the youths on making the hut. Young girls prepare tea and snacks for them.
Then a Brahmin places the idol of lord Chaitanya inside the hut. Everybody chants kirtans and recitations from the holy books and the air is rife with passionate cries of “Hari-Bola” and “He Hari.” Once the puja is over, locals remove the idol and burn the hut down. Staunch Vaisnavite Meiteis usually fast this day and break it after the ceremonial fire. After this, young boys and girls, adorned in traditional dresses, go from door-to-door for nakatheng or donation. These kids have the right to bless elder donors in return.
The second day of Yaosang begins very early. Young girls set out for collecting donation for the community again but this time the young boys don’t help them. Instead, they sprinkle colours on them. Every street is filled with youngsters chasing each other with water balloons, buckets of coloured water and powder. Elderly and middle-aged men and women sit in front of their thongal (gate) watching the proceedings, cheering them and sometimes admonishing them if they go overboard and act rowdy.
Teenaged boys and girls also collect money from the community for Thabal Chongba or dancing in the moonlight, an officially endorsed date night of sorts. The youngsters start dancing at dusk and continue late into the night. Here too they are accompanied by their elders. The ritual is like going to the ball, symbolising the introduction of young girls to the society. The young men look their best as if on a prom night. lanterns and gaslights were introduced in the Thabal Chongba in the 1950s. Now there is percussion, music and strobes.
For the elderly, Yaosang means visiting the shrines of Shri Shri Govindaji and Shri Shri Bijoy Govindaji.
On the last day, women of the community enact the role of Brajamai or the gopis of Vrindavan. locals believe that on their return from the Govindai temple, they acquire special healing powers temporarily. So parents wait with their kids on the roadside, hoping to be touched and blessed by them.
Yaosang is also the time for preparing different snacks and delicacies to be shared with neighbours and relatives. Middle-aged women turn vendors.
Then there are the sports events, the preparation of which is intended to wean the youth away from drugs. The first day witnesses torch rallies from different localities on the streets, everybody marching towards the Kangla Fort to light up the sacred flame, marking the beginning of the competition.
Yaosang is not just about colour, merry-making but also of sharing the ethos of togetherness and reciprocity. A truly community festival.