Manipur Sangai Festival attracts over 30,000 visitors on the 8th day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 28 2014 : Around 30,000 people turned up to witness the Manipur Sangai Festival today, just two days before the closing of the 10-day long 5th edition of the tourism festival.

The venue was almost jam-packed at 3 pm and till 7.30 pm, hundreds of crowds were standing on queue to get inside the festival premises on either side of the way which leads to the main entrance of the festival at Hapta Kangjeibung.

Police set up several check points to prevent any chaos.

All the stalls and the food stalls were over-crowded by visitors who came to witness the State level mega festival.

BOAT, the cultural programme venue was also jam-packed on the 8th day of the festival and the audience was mesmerized by the dance performances of Thailand and Tripura cultural troupes.

To control the avid visitors, police set up barricades along the gate of Hapta Kangjei-bung till BOAT and the vistiors were allowed entry phase by phase.

It is expected that the number of visitors in this year's edition would be comparatively higher than the previous years.

Enthuisastic crowds make their way to the main venue of Sangai festival

According to a reliable information from the police, more than 30,000 tickets were sold today and to prevent unauthorised selling of the tickets in other places, police put a seal on either side of the visitor tickets.

It is expected that large numbers of visitors might turn up tomorrow as well to witness the festival.

On the otherhand, stalls which promote indigenous craft items and highlight the history of Manipur are the major crowd pullers at the ongoing festival.

With Imphal War Museum showcasing many historic relics of World War -II, many visitors throng the stall every day to have a glimpse of the items which were collected by World War-II, Imphal Campaign Foundation.

One can witness many rare equipment, arms, ammunition, original maps, documents and other war weapons which were used by both Japanese and British forces.

One of the fierce battles between the forces of these two world powers were fought in Imphal and adjoining areas in 1945 .

Yumnam Rajeshwor of World War-II Imphal Campaign Foundation said that half of relics shown at the stall were collected by them from different places of the State while another half of their collection were handed over to them by different individuals.

He said that after seeing the relics, one can not only imagine how fiercely British and Japanese soldiers fought in Manipur but also assume the fact that the State was a major battle ground during World War-II which continued from 1939 to 1945 .

World War-II Imphal Campaign Foundation which collected the artifacts of the war by excavating different areas, was set up by Arambam Bobi and Yumnam Rajeshwor.

Seven stalls run under the sponsorship of National Bamboo Mission are also drawing good crowds at the ongoing tourism festival.

Different types of elegant and artistic items made of bamboo and cane are showcased at these stalls.

Some of the items which have grabbed the eyeballs of the visitors are sofa, lamp, lukmai, cup, stool, candle stand, bicycle, table etc.

Stall keeper Lourembam Ongbi Ranibala said that the items shown at the stall were made by the artisans who have got training through NBM.

If proper treatments are given, bamboo items can last long like any other items made of wood, she added.

On the otherhand, with the photographs of never seen before beautiful birds, the stall jointly run by State Forest Department and People's for Animal (PFA) has also gained the attention of the visitors.

PFA Joint Managing Trustee Akoijam Abhinash said that the photographs are showcased to enable the people understand about the rare wildlife and birds.

He said that books written by different wildlife experts of the State are also made available at the stall.