Yak dance from Arunachal to be in R-Day parade next year

The famous yak dance from Arunachal Pradesh has been selected for the tableaux to be presented during the Republic Day parade next year.
Fifteen states and union territories have been selected this year. Arunachal Pradesh finds a place in it with only two other states from the Northeast - Manipur and Tripura, an official communique said today.
An expert committee comprising 10-15 members was appointed by the defence ministry to choose tableaux from among all the states, it said.
The expert committee chose Yak dance, which is a famous pantomime of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism.
The masked dancer represents the members of a family who are said to have discovered the Yak with the help of a magical bird hundreds of years ago.

Performed during Losar festival, the dance represents the joy of the people upon finding the yak and their belief that performing the dance would relieve them of all their complications and anxieties.
Arunachal Pradesh had missed out on a hattrick this year after presenting in 2015 and 2014 with the theme 'Igu Dance' and 'Aji Lhamu' respectively at the Republic Day programme.