Mr Chapchar Kut contest, 2012

Models fashion traditional clothes on the ramp at the 2012 Chapchar Kut Festival at Mizoram.

Chapchar Kut literally means - a festival held during the period when the bamboos and trees that have been cut down are being awaited to dry to be burnt for jhumming. During this brief layoff period of jhumming, the Mizo ancestors could have all the time for themselves. They spend their leisure hunting games, fishing, et al. The Chapchar Kut festival evolved sometime between 1450 -1600 A.D. when the Mizo forefathers inhabit Lentlang. In the olden days, the festival could last for days and in the run up to the grand finale, there are well laid down steps to be followed. Everyone in the village have a role to play; of course, the youths were most involved in every stage of the preparation and in the festival itself. Designed to be a festival of joy, all disputes and differences that may be there in the community should be settled, even altercation between married couples was a taboo during the celebration of the festival. Abundant supply of meat must be there and home brewed liqour must be over-flowing to keep their spirit high. They danced away all all their cares and made merry all night long. That sums up how the Mizos celebrate Chapchar Kut in the olden days when they were heathens.

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