Ailung Avennoho Phom
There’s often a sense of enthusiasm and eagerness when the season of the year arrives irrespective of which one it is, because it reminds us of the past and its pleasant fragrance incite a sense of longing and déjàvu. For instance, winter season generally signifies coldness and clear sky but it also synonyms with the Christmas which often times captures and seizes our mind. Similarly, when the spring season comes, the festival mood on the face of the masses is an undeniable genuine cheerfulness. ‘Monyü’ is one of the important festivals of Phom tribe. It is a six day long festival which fall from1st–6thApril every year parallel with the ‘Aoleang Monyu’ of Konyak tribe. The ‘Monyü’ festival is so deeply rooted in the minds and souls of the people that the nomenclature of the season of the month (April) is based on the prefix of the festival name ‘Monyülien’ meaning ‘the month of Monyü’.
“Monyü’ festival remains one of the nostalgic reflections of my childhood because of its enduring memories that provoke with the outset of spring season. The arrivals of ‘Monyü’ festival particularly bring unimaginable pleasing and excitement. The most frolic recreation that we relished as kids was the traditional game of swinging. The process of making a swing was the blissful moment for us. The first step for making a swing was to go looking for a right swing ropes in the forest. The ropes are typically found in the hilly areas, rocky mountain and slippery slope and are generally wrapped and tied knot with nearby trees. This required climbing tall rugged trees facing unexpected challenges. The adventure was risky, yet thrilling. When the rope are ready to carry back to the designated location where it is going to be hung, the eldest and the tallest from the group take the large portion of the rope while the shorts and younger one take the tail part. This very gesture indeed displayed justice and equality not as mere law but moral principles. Despite the difficulty, it was a moment of pride for achieving the goal and appreciates each other saying ‘unity is strength’. The second step was to clear the selected area where the swing rope would be hung. The area should be little slope and steep, and the branch of the tree should be strong enough to be able to hold even ten person swing at one go. Once all the necessary works are completed, one who tied a knot in the swing rope should be the first to try. This was done to build trust among the peers that no dreadful intention was involved while knotting a swing rope. Traditionally, boys are just executor while girls ride the swing primarily.
The most delightful aspect of the ‘Monyü’ festival was indulging in special delicacies which include sticky rice cooked in pot and biscuit made of rice powder and dried yam leaf mixed with pork which locally called ‘Anphat’. The satisfaction of enjoying these long-awaited favorites food was the rarest form of over the moon. Sharing meals and drinks with friends around the kitchen fire while exchanging lighthearted moment and gossiping the fictitious love story of an ‘Ant and Acacia’ still echoes in our hearts as springs arrives.
Another indelible memory of ‘Monyu’ festivals was rhythmic beating of log drum throughout the festival. The log drum is usually long enough that eight to ten people can stand comfortably opposite to each others. The sound resonates powerfully, symbolizing unity and discipline. The moment we stepped into the Morung environments, maintenance of disciplines instantaneously abide us. For instance, if we happened to be beating the log drum with the elders, we were not allowed to cease leaving them beating on the ground of moral respect. They would say ‘beat the drum until you no longer hear yours’, the energy it required to keep up was only God knows. Even the sound of rain and thunder fail to defiance to our harmonic sound of log drum. Even today, the echoes of those beats evoke cherish memories reflecting the richness of tradition. The digital blessedness of today is matchless to the joy and laughter we had back then.
Background of ‘Monyü’ festival
It is difficult to articulate when and how the ‘Monyü’ festival had commenced but we are certain why it was started. The motive of the celebration of ‘Monyü’ festival had been revamp with the passage of time. Centuries back, the rationale behind the celebration of ‘Monyü’ festival was basically marking the end of winter and beginning of summer, seeking the unknown divine power to bless their field, honoring the daughter of the family, lamenting the demise soul of love ones and glorifying the heroes. On the contrary, the ‘Monyü’ festival of today rather concentrates on protection and preservation of cultural folk song, dance, craft, attire and custom and cuisine. The shift from being practitioner to preservation of culture is due to few factors such as modernize way of life, the influence of modern education on culture and coming of the gospel denouncing savage and barbaric life.
The primitive people were oblivious of what cause change in season. Their days were count with the rotation of day and night. The most fascinating things of the people of yore were their ability to prognosis when to sow a seed based on full moon, half moon and new moon. Despite their lack of meteorological knowledge, they sustained their life by sowing and reaping at the right season. ‘Monyü’ is a festival of rest with optimistic intention anticipating what nature has in store and ready to embrace it.
Initially, ‘Monyü’ festival used to celebrate for twelve days during our forefathers time. The date of the festival was fixed with great caution based on the lunar calendar month. Because there was a very high form of superstition in the society that wrong date fixation would bring calamitous to the life of the people. They fear that it would lead to destruction of crops, unbearable famine, and epidemic and lose in the head hunting expedition. There was non-uniformity in the date of ‘Monyü’ festival among the Phom villages leading to variation in celebration, but when Phom Student’s Conference in 1960s and 70s attempt to make it uniformity to avoid inconsistency there was strong objection from all the villages fearing the consequences of interrupting the superstition. But to our relief, no such mishaps were ever witness on account of breaking the superstition. The‘Monyü’ festival is vibrant today, reflecting its optimistic and promising future.
