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The first day
beings with all young men going to
the village well to bathe. In the night, two
young men will go to the well to
clean it. Some of the village youth
guard the well in the night as no
one is allowed to fetch water after
cleaning the well. The womenfolk,
especially, are not allowed to touch
the well-water. Hence they have to
see that water is fetched for the
household before the well cleaning.
Early next morning, all the young
men of the village rise to wash
themselves at the well. The whole
process is carried out in a
ritualistic manner. The young men
will don two new shawls (the white
Mhoushü and the black Lohe) and
sprinkle water on their breast,
knees and on their right arm. This
ceremony is called “DZUSEVA”
(touching the sleeping water) and it
assures them that all their ills and
misfortunes have been washed away by
the purified well-water.
On their return from the well a cock
is sacrificed by throttling it with
the bare hands. It is taken as a
good omen when the right leg falls
over the left leg as the cock falls
down. The innards of the fowl are
taken out and hung outside the house
for the village elders to come and
inspect it. Beginning from the
fourth day of the festival, a three
day session of singing and feasting
starts.
The THEKRA HIE is the best part of
the festival where the young people
of the village sing traditional
songs throughout the day. Jugs of
rice-beer and plates of meat are
placed before the participants. On
the seventh day the young men go for
hunting. The most important ceremony
falls on the eight day when the
bridge pulling or gate pulling
ceremony is performed or inter
village visits are exchanged. Until
the close of the festival, no one
goes to the fields and all field
works cease during the season of
feasting and song. The young
unmarried girls with closely shaven
heads sit down with the bronzed
youth and sing tunes of bygone ages,
recreating a past where no care
touched the human soul.
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