Liangmai celebrates Chagah Ngee to appease Charawang
Source: Hueiyen News Service / NNN

Imphal, October 30 2013: Chagah Ngee or the Blessed Festival of the Liangmai indigenous community was celebrated at Namdilong, Kanglatongbi with much traditional gaiety and religious fervour today.

According to belief of Liangmais, objective of the festival is to appease their god, Charawang, who will bless them in return.

In the olden days, the festival used to be celebrated for 5-6 days but now it has been shortened to just one day as an incorporation of all important tenets of the festival and to fit in with the modern Christian life.

Today's Chagah Ngee celebration was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhngam as chief guest, IFC Minister Ngamthang Haokip as Functional President and Vice Chairman of HAC Z.Kikhonbou Newmai, MLA of Sekmai A/C Kh.

Devendro, Vice Chairman of ADC Tamenglong K.Humaliabouu; EM of ADC, Tamenglong A.Ramwangdin; EM of ADC Tamenglong N.Tadoubou and Member of ADC Tamenglong, Tuntanbou Gongta as Guests of Honour.

Liangmai celebrates Chagah Ngee to appease Charawang

Speaking on the occasion, Gaikhngam said that Manipur is made up of different communities with different culture and tradition but shared the same destiny.

He called upon the people to realize the importance of celebrating the Chagah Ngee festival along with knowing their real identity so that they can preserve the age old customs and traditions of their forefather.

Westernization is a good idea but youths should not forget to preserve the age old customs laid down by ancestors, he added.

He concluded his speech by giving his best greetings for the upcoming Kut festival of the Chin-Kuki-Mizo and Ningol Chakouba and expressed grief on learning of the recent bomb lasts which shook the state ahead of these auspicious celebrations of the state.

Kikhonbou Newmai briefed the gathering that Liangmais are a sub tribe of Zeliangrong who mostly inhabited in the north-west of Tamenglong, southern part of Senapati, eastern part of Peren District, Nagaland.

He said that even if the festival is not celebrated at the state level, it is observed every year at Tamenglong and Senapati districts.

Nagaland government has declared a state holiday to celebrate the auspicious festival.

A community is represented by its culture and identity and should not discriminate among each other.

It should live by following a set of do's and dont's of the particular culture, he added.

He believes that Chagah Ngee will be celebrated as a state festival on a large scale in the state in the near future.

Devendro said that Liangmais are a group of kind and pure-hearted people.

He assured that he would try to meet the requirements of the village Namdilong for setting up of a tribal girls' hostel, a memorandum for the demand of which was submitted by the Namdilong people to him earlier.

He also promised to finish up with the undergoing construction work of a community hall in the village by 2014 .