A Reflection on the Objectivity of the Sangai Festival of Manipur By Salam Rajesh in The Peoples Chronicle manipurtimes/news-article/the-peoples-chronicle-article/item/13712 Manipur has been the proud host to a multi-faceted festival held annually in Imphal in these past few years with the purpose of showcasing the assets of the State. The ‘Sangai Festival’ – taking its name from the elegant brow-antlered deer Sangai which is an endangered species and found here only in Manipur – was launched by the Government of Manipur with the vision of ushering in new interests in the tourism sector to serve multiple purposes such as generation of employment for youths and promotion in tourism related activities that could benefit both the State and the native people. Broadly speaking, the concept of the festival such as that which is being projected presently, would be a wider canvas projecting the ethnicity of the native people – the peculiarity in lifestyle of a set of people living in a time zone between South East Asia and South Asia, the age old lore interpreted through the folk art traditions, the belief systems interpreted through socio-religious ceremonies and ritual worships, the transition of a cultural lifestyle seen in both pre and post Vaishnavite influence, and in pre and post Christian era. The festival could be such that it encompasses the lifestyle of all ethnic communities settling in Manipur since ages, exhibiting the actual practice in life that we see in the hills and the plains of Manipur. As we see the Sangai Festival in its present form, there is not much of a difference from a larger size fair (maybe like the Surajkund Mela), for the simple reason that the emphasis of the ‘festival’ is more concentrated on the nature of a fair where we find merchandise from outside are the main attraction of the ten day event. The cultural evenings apparently are presented in a manner in which it is a supplement to the fair and is not the focus of the festival. When we are talking about a festival of this nature, we would be meaning a festival that is truly representative of the age old traditions of the ethnic communities living in the State. That could be meaning a presentation of the socio-cultural traits of the native people, recreating the picture of the different aspects of life that we see in the various parts of the State. On the other hand, the choice of the venue for the main events of the festival is actually the deterrent of the festival, meaning thereby that instead of facilitating a comfortable ride to the festival venue, wherein families could comfortably approach the venue to enjoy their time, there is a contradicting feature where one finds the approach to the festival venue tough going and obviously over-crowded and with too much restrictions everywhere. The choice of venue is a nightmare for those who have their offices or residences near the venue, for the reason that during the period of festival the restrictions imposed on traffic necessitates them to have prior permission from the administration to return to their homes in the evening or to reach their offices. Just imagine that one has to seek the express permission of the Deputy Commissioner to return home! The approaches to the venue itself are a nightmare, more so today as the Sanjenthong bridge is not functional. Urban Imphal is already congested, and with the restrictions on movement of traffic for the Sangai Festival, negotiating through the roads in Imphal East has become truly tough and frustrating. The proposal of the Government to have a permanent exhibition ground at Lamboikhongnangkhong could be a solution to minimise the headache of organising the Festival in central Imphal, whereas, a choice of the venue in a rural setting with ample space for accommodating the main venue, parking lot and a breathing space for the outing families would be more ideal. The focus is not only on the main venue itself, but should be more on how to accommodate the thousands of visitors thronging to the festival venue. There has to be a model ring road around the venue with easy exit and entrance points. At this point of time, the average visitor is more concerned on how to reach the venue without hassle and more concerned on where to park their vehicles. For those reluctant to negotiate through the confusing traffic, viewing the festival live on television would be a better option. Read more manipurtimes/news-article/the-peoples-chronicle-article/item/13712
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 00:24:23 +0000
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