Tangkhul Naga Community celebrates seed sowing festival in Delhi

Recently, Tangkhul Nagas living in New Delhi came together to celebrate 'luira phanit', a seed sowing festival, with great enthusiasm.

"Awakening through culture" was the theme of a day-long seed sowing festival organised by Tangkhul Katamnao Long Delhi, a student organization.

Over a thousand people of Tangkhul Naga community dressed in their traditional attires marked their presence at the festival.

They showcased traditional folk dances, music and indigenous games besides a beauty contest.

One of the major attractions of the festival was the performance of the 'seed sowing dance' by young girls.

"It is to preserve the cultural identity of the Tangkhul Nagas and secondly to expose and to reach out our identity to the outside world so that we can inculcate the values with respect each other's culture and thirdly it is for the unity of the Tangkhul community here in Delhi and for the Nagas of Northeast as a whole," said TKLD President Phungshok.

Students also performed the ancient lifestyle of Tangkhul tribe and demonstrated the different kinds of indigenous games.

It was a great opportunity for visitors to sample the rich culture and traditions of the Nagas.

"It's so amazing to showcase our rich culture and traditional heritage with full of vibrant colors and everything. It's a great opportunity to perform for us at such big event which is called 'Luira Phanit' which is the festival of seed sowing festival. We also get privilege to perform seed sowing festival dance so it's very good," said a participant, Pamreila Shinglai.

Another attraction of the event was a folk song competition by the participating groups.

Such events provide a platform to youngsters to showcase their talent.

Rewben Mashangva, the King of Naga Folk Blues, also mesmerized the audience with his energetic performance.

"This is our biggest festival in our history and this is being organized by the TKLD for the first time in Delhi is very pleasurable to be part of this event which is very important to preserve our heritage and we have so many people coming together. In fact we have one of the largest populations from Manipur so it is one of the collective functions where we can see, meet and interact our cultural heritage and it is a good pleasure," said the organizer of the event, Mayocollin Phazang.

Such events help the locals to understand the rich cultural diversity of the Northeast and helps promote national integration.