|
Chakhesang
The Chakhesang Tribe celebrates seven festivals in a year, all the festivals are based on the
agricutural cycle. The Sukrunye is the most important festival, which is celebrated in the first month of the year. Traditionally the
Sukrunye festival covers 19 long days, starting from Nyede to
Vuta Zhongu.
However it has been now restricted to a 6 day event. The word "SUKRU" implies sanctification of father by performing the following ritualistic ceremony-During the ritualistic ceremony everything new is used including utensils and hearth with three logs of one and half feet grid and 2 ft in length.
The men are forbidden to use water fetched by women. The men folk go to the village well early in the morning before any animal or birds touch the water and take a fresh water bath. After sanctifying themselves, the clean water is brought home, a fire is lit by the traditional fire making method and an unblemished cock is killed, cooked with the holy water and eaten to sanctify the boys for the rest of their lives.
Sukru rituals are also performed when a new house is constructed .The word "NYE" means festival. The entire men folk go for the community bird-catching and snaring, which are later hung on the decorated tip of a tall bamboo. The divergent kinds of birds and snares caught foretell the fortune of a person's future.
The fifth day of the Sukrunye is called Chedi. On this day animals are killed and every household smears the blood of the animals on the post of the house. The first fetched out suitable for eating meat and
hezo (rice-beer) are offered to the high Priest and elders of the village. In return the givers are majestically blessed by an act of libation. The 'Thuno
Nuso' ritual is only meant for the women folk. The mother performs this ceremonial ritual to make sacred her young virgin daughter. They kill an unblemished young hen and it is partaken to sanctify themselves for their entire lives.
During this festival the young men and women dance and sing together drinking Hezo. Traditional games and sports like wrestling, music contest, Top fights,
Thuluva (played with a wild ball fruit) Tsuphre-stone throwing competition (long stones weighing 50 to 100 kgs)
are organised by different age groups. s
|