Curtain raiser of Barak Fest held
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 11 2019: Villagers of Liyai (Zhaimai) village, Senapati and its surrounding villages celebrated the curtain raiser of Barak Festival, 2019, today.

In the morning, villagers of Liyai village, led by the village chief/king D Paoyu and Senapati ADC Executive Member (Education) Th Thaikho Peter, gathered at Barak source � the origin of Barak river located at the said village, and conducted a ritual/ceremony seeking blessings from Barak water (Avourei).

Later the villagers headed towards the house of the king and received D Paoyu and Thaikho Peter as the observation chief and observation host respectively by chanting and shooting guns as customary practices.

Curtain raiser of Barak Fest held

Delivering the key note address, convener of Barak festival 2019, DA Sahriinii informed that Barak river, which originates from Liyai village, is formed by six tributaries and the river flows through a 900 kilometre long distance covering Manipur, Assam, Mizoram and empties itself into the Bay of Bengal.

He asserted that Barak river is one of the richest rivers in the world in terms of aquatic biodiversity with more than 2000 species of fishes.

The Barak festival was celebrated for the first time in 2017, from 11 to 14 December, under the aegis of Naga People's Organization (NPO), he said, adding that the State Government declared the festival as a State level festival from last year.

He further conveyed that this year Barak festival will be celebrated from December 12 to 14 at Mini Stadium, Senapati.

Thaikho Peter, in his speech, stressed on the importance of organizing the festival saying that it will send a strong message to the people for the preservation and protection of the environment.

Lauding the State Government for recognizing Barak festival as a State level festival last year, Peter expressed keen desire for making afforestation and beautification of Barak source and Liyai village the essence of the festival.

Urging the villagers to mull over preserving environment and maintaining ecological balance, he also noted the role of State Government in saving the source of the river along with the support of the people.

He also appealed the State level Barak festival observation committee to acknowledge and conserve the source of the river.