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No one is allowed to
harvest until the whole period
of festival is over. Originally, the festival
commenced from the last part of
September with different
categories of observances till
the final day which falls ion
the first week of October every
year. Yimshe is observed only on
the 5th October keeping in tune
with the final days of the
traditional observance of the
festival.
When the time approaches, the
village spokesman will announce
the arrival of Yimshe. The very
next day the festivities will
begin with the observance of the
first part of rituals.
There will be preparations. The
youth of the village will clean
the whole village, footpaths,
wells and fields and construct
Basket and resting places. After
the necessary materials used in
rituals are fastened to the main
post of the front house.
Engaged couples will renew their
relationship with exchange of
food or wine and eat together.
Many young couples come to know
each other and get themselves
engaged during this period. As
such, this festival is
important and enjoyable
particularly to young people and
farmers in general. This is
known as Big Yimshe.
The small Yimshe, like Big
Yimshe, is also celebrated with
rituals. For sanctification of
the house, a ritual feast has to
be hosted by a rich family. All
the villagers will observe the
period with great solemnity till
the end of the period. The
family who host the
sanctification feast has to
fulfill the following conditions
before the feast day.
1. The family who host the
Sanctification Feast will have
to provide wine to all families
of the village.
2. The family will have to host
a dance party of his (head of
the family) age group, men and
women in the village and in Khel
wise as well. Feast will be
given to the dancers, and meat
will be distributed to all his
age group friends.
3. Cutting of bamboo mugs will
be held twice. All the host’s
clansmen/nephews will make new
bamboo mugs. They will take wine
from these mugs which will be
kept with the host. Also all the
old mugs will be collected from
every house and kept in the
host’s family for drinking wine.
4. Only paddy rice will be
arranged (not millet, maize etc
) and distributed to all the
houses by the host and later
cooked rice will be again
collected and redistributed to
all the families of the village.
5. All the clansmen will take
one Mithun and a chicken to a
river on the way to the jhum
field and feast. They will
construct a resting shed there
for the host of the
Sanctification feast. It is
believed that in the second
life. Those who have not hosted
the sanctification feast can not
sigh with a deep breath as “ewhi”,
but can only say “korowhi” and
those who have not preformed the
resting shed feast they can only
say “owhi”
6. For reserving of frogs, one
axe each for three rivers is
given to the villagers, as frogs
in these rivers are reserved.
This will be followed by giving
out a big feast to all the
village elders. After that it
will be announced in the village
that Yimshe festival and no other
should go to these rivers to
catch it.
7. After wine and food is
arranged, the master of the
festival will ask his villagers
to fetch him pine-woods and he
will give a big feast to his
villagers. Men will take 6
pieces of meat while women will
take only 5 pieces.
8. All the clansmen will carry
well-prepared food and wine and
go to the reserved rivers and
make bridges/ladders for frog
catchers to enable them to go to
any part of the river. At the
same time, they shall eat and
drink and enjoy themselves. This
is a part of many games they
play.
9. A chicken will be kept in a
cage in a selected tree on the
way to the field. After that a
selected group will go to that
spot with dried frogs where
chicken was kept and have a
feast there. Every household
have to perform this. Even the
poorest family have to perform
this ritual by roasting Brinjal
as the substitute to frogs and
chicken.
10. It is traditionally believed
that the most fertile lands
were under the control of
devils. Sacrificial acts also
therefore have to be performed
according to the fertility of
the land. For the most fertile
land for the less fertile land a
chicken has to be sacrificed,
then a pig and chicken has to be
sacrificed in the field. Two big
gourds of wine will be carried,
one for halfway and the other
for sacrificial consumption.
While coming back from their
fields a particular group will
not mingle with other groups.
So, a Mithun group, pig group,
Pig group and Chicken group
shall come back home separately.
Likewise, wine also will be
taken separately.
After all the arrangements like
collection of green vegetables,
meat etc. and performances of
rituals are completed, the
master will select six
supervisors; two for washing
ginger, four to supervise the
butchers for preparation of the
feast for the whole village. All
young and old will come and help
the host in preparation of the
feast. In this feast, Mithun,
Pigs and Chicken will be
slaughtered. If there is no
Mithun there pigs will
substitute a Mithun. Womenfolk
will pound rice and cook. While
the men folk will be busy for
cutting of the meat, and other
difficult jobs. By sundown, all
villagers, from youngest to the
oldest will come together to
attend a great feast.
Few quantities of all sorts of
foodstuffs and rice grains shall
be shared and offered to the
dead souls as farewell gifts and
greetings of the Yimshe Feast.
The last day of the feast will
be impressively observed as the
Feast Cleansing Day. All will
remain at home and no one will
do anything, neither go on
journey nor anywhere. From the
very next day all types of
harvests and collection of house
construction material etc. will
begin as the happiest moment for
the farmers has come with the
blessings of God.
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