Aizawl: Mizoram is set to celebrate Chapchar Kut, the most important festival of the Mizos in March.
A meeting of the Chapchar Kut Organising Committee, chaired by Chief Minister Lalduhoma, decided that the spring festival would be observed for a week beginning March 9.
The main celebration will be held at Lammual Ground in Aizawl on March 13.
Festivities will commence with a ‘Kut Run’ on March 9. As in previous years, the Central Young Mizo Association (CYMA), the largest civil society organisation in the State, will provide T-shirts to participants at its own expense.
On March 10, exhibitions of handloom, textiles and handicrafts will be organised, along with food-processing units and a food court, the venue for which will be announced later. A flower show will also be held at Aijal Club on the same day.
Painting and photo exhibitions, along with a Chapchar Kut film screening, will take place on March 11 at Vanapa Hall and the State Information and Public Relations Department’s Lianchhiri Run Hall in Aizawl.
A living museum showcasing traditional Mizo life will be organised at a model Mizo village (Zokhua) in Falkawn, about 15 km from Aizawl, on March 11 and 12.
The organising committee decided that the main celebration on March 13 would begin at 10.30 a.m. and last for six hours. Chief Minister Lalduhoma will preside as the ‘Kut Pa’ (father of the festival), while Art and Culture Minister C. Lalsawivunga will serve as the ‘Kut Thlengtu’ (host).
Officials said the festival would be observed as a garbage-free event, with participants instructed not to leave waste at any of the venues.
The theme for this year’s Chapchar Kut has been chosen as “Zo nun ze mawi – Inremna” (Mizo code of ethics—peace).
The Chief Minister’s Trophy, carrying a cash prize of 1 lakh, along with a citation and a memento, will be presented during the celebrations.
Chapchar Kut is traditionally observed after the completion of the most arduous phase of jhum cultivation—the clearing of forest land.
Historians trace the origin of the festival to between 1450 and 1700 AD, in a village called Suaipui, near present-day Myanmar. The celebration declined during the late 19th century after the arrival of British missionaries, who opposed it on religious grounds.
The festival was revived in 1973, stripped of animistic practices and alcohol, and has since evolved into a major cultural event, drawing visitors from across the country and abroad, including ethnic Mizos from Bangladesh and Myanmar.