Festivals of Mizoram

The Mizos have three annual festivals called Kut, marking three different stages of the agricultural process, because Mizos have always been shifting agriculturists. The three festivals are – Chapchar Kut, Mim Kut and Pawl Kut.

Chapchar Kut

Chapchar Kut or spring festival may be considered as the most important and grandest festival of the Mizos and it is the time for merry-making and enjoyment for all. Chapchar Kut normally lasts three days and three nights, during which drinking, feasting and dancing continue throughout. Oral tradition says that this festival was first celebrated in Seipui village in Burma (the present Myanmar) where the ancestors of the Mizos lived many years ago. Chapchar Kut was celebrated to give thanks to God for saving them from all kinds of injuries and for the blessings he bestowed on them during their engagement in the jungle especially at the time of clearing of forest for jhum cultivation at the beginning of the year. So Chapchar Kut is still observed today in the last part of February or early part of March every year when the felled trees and bamboos of the jhum are left to dry and the shifting cultivators have leisure time to enjoy themselves in their respective villages.

All Mizos, irrespective of age and gender distinction, participate in this grand festival. Decked in colourful dresses, boys and girls go on a dancing spree, which sometimes last all through the night. Young men and women, holding one another’s shoulder would dance in the village chief’s courtyard day in and out during the festival to enjoy themselves. This festival (Kut) is no doubt, the gayest of all the three festivals. That is why some people refer to this festival as, ‘a time to celebrate one’s own head’ which means, one may enjoy this festival in extreme joy, with no limit and without considering any other problems that surround him.

On the day of the festival, the people, particularly children, would be dressed in their finest clothes. In those days, everyone brought platters of cooked rice, eggs, meat etc. out on the platform at the centre of the village, usually in the chief’s courtyard and put the food items into the mouth of their friends and relatives. That was really an enjoyable celebration for all the people present in the ground. Young men and women would prepare themselves to dance in a big group called Chai lam. The most important item in the celebration, that is, Chai dance should be performed throughout the night, especially on the first night, failing which would bar them from dancing for the rest of the Chapchar Kut festival.

On the third day the young men and girls assembled at the centre of the village and form a circle, every girl positioned between two youths, whose arms cross over their necks, holding in their hands clothes which hang behind like a curtain. Inside the circle is a drummer or gong- beater, who chants continuously and the young people taking up the refrain would tread a slow measure in time with the song, while cups of zu (rice beer) are brought to them in rotation.

Amidst hard toil, scarcity and threat of tropical diseases the citizens of the Sailo (and other chiefs) domain would have their weary souls recharged by sharing in the celebrations of various ceremonies and festivals. Expressions of joy, freedom and solidarity through informal gatherings, singing and dancing to the rhythm of drummers and gong-beaters was an important feature of the community existence of the Mizos. In fact, the success of Chapchar Kut depended on how long the young people could continue in singing and dancing. The dancers had to perform Chai dance, sing and dance along, drinking rice beer occasionally. How long they could dance would be the best indicator of the success and failure of Chapchar Kut. It was said that, in one of the villages called Chawngtui, they danced for such a long time, almost till the last part of the year, that they ate up all the stocks of rice and other edibles. Since they did not cultivate due to prolonged festival in that particular year, they had to disperse from their village for want of food. That was the record for the most joyous celebration of Chapchar Kût.

Mim Kut

Mim kût was celebrated with solemnity, in honour of the dead. In this Mim kut or autumn festival, the first fruit of the crops were offered to the dead. Mim Kut may be the darkest of the three Kuts. The word Mim is derived from a popular plant known as Vaimim (maize) and sometimes used as a substitute for rice. It was believed that the spirit of the relatives would re-visit their houses during this particular Kut. This festival is purely observed for the spirit of the dead, especially of their close relatives. Mim Kut takes place mostly in the month of September every year when the crops, other than paddy, in the fields were reaped and when the weeding work in jhum cultivation was lighter. Some people observed the same in the last part of August. In this festival, fresh vegetables, maize bread, necklaces and clothes were offered to the spirits. The first fruits of the crops were offered to the departed souls. They were placed on a shelf near the place where water was stored in the typical Mizo houses.

Mim Kut is not a time of joy and merriment as it is observed for the spirit of their relatives. The souls of the dead were expected to partake of the meal. The soul of a dead person was supposed to come out of the head of the dead and remain around the village for about three months. During this period, the bereaved family would ask the departed soul to remain with them. They had to keep an empty seat  for the soul at meal time and small portions of meat and food were kept aside for the soul at every meal. During this period, if a woman misbehaved with another man, she would be considered an adulteress. After this period was over, the soul was sent to the spiritual world by performing a ceremony of separation called inthen. It is believed that the souls of the dead went to Mitthi Khua or Pialral after observance of the three days. Since the people bade farewell to the souls of their near and dear ones, it was not a joyful feast at all. This festival is also sometimes referred to as |ahna Kut which means the “feast of weeping”. Everyone was free to eat food only after three days. During this period, there would be much singing both in the family and the community. The songs invariably spoke of the dear ones who had left this world. Mim Kut is rarely observed today by the Mizos, perhaps due to Christianisation. The idea behind it is no longer practical and the Mizo Christians would like to observe Good Friday and Easter Sunday instead of Mim Kut. That is why only Chapchar Kut remains popular in the present time.

Pawl Kut

This festival is held after the paddy harvest, mostly in the month of January, that is why January is named by the Mizos as Pawl kut thla (the month of Pawl Kut). This festival is enjoyed by the community especially by children and women in the beginning of the year. They prepare their best food and feed one another in a selected yard called lungdawh with great amusement and enthusiasm. The oldest among the three Mizo festivals, Pawl Kut was a kind of harvest festival as well as a sort of thanks-giving festival for the community, usually held after the harvest of rice in jhum cultivation, mostly at the turn of the New year according to the present Gregorian Calendar. It is regarded as a festival for the children though adults also participate in it. During this period, they usually have “chhawnghnawt” in which children in their costumes feed each other with meat, eggs and rice. No doubt, male members of the village would enjoy this festival with home-made rice beer while the women and children are involved with different kinds of merriment organised for themselves.

There are two assumptions for the origin of festival. Some say that it originated with the catching of rats (Zu pawl) that were found in a heap of straw when the Mizos lived in Burma. Others assume it began with the severe famine, which visited the Mizos when they were in Kabaw Valley around 1450-1700 A.D. After the famine was over the people prepared a feast.

There is a legend behind the origin of this festival. In olden days when the Mizos were in Chin Hills, which is now in Burma, there was a famine that lasted for three years. In the fourth year the people had a very good harvest of a variety of crops. The chief told the people that after three years of famine the ‘Chung Pathian’, the supreme God, had blessed them with sufficient food. So they celebrated it by giving thanks to God. Since then, Mizos continue to celebrate this festival. Although a festival for children, young men and women join the children in their amusement while most parents were drinking around their children. Some people said that the duration of feasting and drinking depended on the amount of Zu (liquor) available for the occasion. It was perhaps because of excessive drinking during other festivals, which often resulted in shameful drunkenness that the early Mizo Christians insisted on total abstinence from drinking.

Mizo Kut had a great impact on the life of the masses because even the poorest would enjoy, as it was celebrated by the whole community. On these occasions, they forgot all their worries. Everyone was given equal treatment. This gave the poor a sense of equality in society, since no discrimination was made between the rich and the poor.

These festivals filled the people with new inspiration to work hard as well as a sense of living together in peace and harmony. These festivals reformed social life, which enhanced feelings of fraternity, harmony and oneness in Mizo society.

The most important feature of the Pawl Kut festival was that the people did not drink so much rice beer (zu) as in other festivals. A special drink for children called Zulawm was commonly used on this occasion. This Kut also gave a sense of equality to the people. It was perhaps a type of thanks giving to the goddess (Khawzing Pathian) for the blessing of their good harvest. This festival brought joy, happiness and tolerance. It is a unique feature of the Mizo culture, and highlight the Mizo way of life.

In addition to the above three festivals, in all the other cultural ceremonies amongst the Mizos, a community feast (Ruai) was placed as significant, essential and is part and parcel of the society. Rich and poor, children and adults, men and women would partake of the grand feast as a sign of close-knit society for their life philosophy being, share and live, grab and die. No one tried to grab alone but shared his fortune with others.