Marams' naked wrestling held
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Maram Khullen, December 23 2008: THE MUCH awaited naked wrestling of Maram's sportive festival Kang Ngi was held at the picturesque hill top of Maram Khullen village in Senapati district this evening.

Hinga Karangnamei, the only surviving Naga queen of the village and the Marams permitted media persons to take photographs of the naked wrestling, which was a closely guarded sporting tradition of the village till 2006. Naked wrestling is the most important event of the sportive festival of Kang Ngi which is exclusively for male villgers to test strength and establish heroism of nearly 10,000 Marams of Mathak Sagei, Khullakpa Sagei and Makha Sagei of Maram Khullen village, the origin of Maram tribes, located 90 km north of Imphal in Senapati district.

Hundreds of villagers mostly women and children in their colourful traditional attire came to watch the wrestling from afar.

Gutsy Maram men tugging at each other's little piece of cloth covering their vital parts as they wrestle at Maram

This is the second time that photographs of the unique indigenous game were allowed to be published for the outside world.

Even today the customary laws of the Maram tribe prohibit movement of females close to the courtyard while the game is on.

The village authority displays some placards which read "girls restricted" in front of the courtyard.

"We impose the restriction as the area is the sacred court of our village" informed K Namba, the village chief of Khullakpa Sagei (clan) said, "this is as per our customary laws".

Kang Ngi is a post harvest festival celebrated for a week starting from the 16th day of the lunar month of the Marams.

Usually, the festival falls in the last week of December or in the beginning of January.

But this time, the wrestling was held this evening.

It will conclude tomorrow.

Local MLA K Raina, who couldn't attend the festival due to his health problem, told this reporter that even as the traditional rules of the game prohibit any form of clothing in naked wrestling as the name suggest, a few wrestlers are now wearing little piece of clothes around their waists.

In the past, any male villager who came to the wrestling court with his clothes on was taken as a coward and unmanly.

Since the advent of Christianity in the village, there had been some changes in the way the festival is celebrated.

"Even though my Khullakpi mother never adopted Christianity, I'm a Christian now", admitted K Namba.

Stone throwing contest, long jump, Hoi Laoba and religious rituals are other events of the festival.

But by about 1980, its celebration got gradually reduced in magnitude.

This may be attributed to adoption of Christianity by the villagers.

Around 50,000 Marams live in Manipur's 39 recognized villages.