- First Friday of March
- Mizo spring festival
- Cheraw bamboo dance
- Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura
Where it began
Chapchar Kut is tied to jhum, the old way of farming in the Mizo hills. After the bamboo and trees on a hill slope are cut, there is a pause while they dry before the fields are prepared. In that pause, with the hard work done, people gather to celebrate.
One story tells of a village called Seipui, where a hunting party came home with nothing. To lift the spirits of the people, the village chief called for a feast with meat and rice beer. The joy of that day was repeated every year and spread to other villages.
The festival is thought to be several hundred years old. Over time it became a shared celebration of all Mizo people, kept with music and dance rather than the old rituals.
How it grew over time
Centuries ago
By tradition, the festival begins in Seipui village and spreads across the Mizo hills.
Early 1900s
The festival fades for many years as ways of life change in the hills.
1962
Chapchar Kut is revived on a grand scale in Aizawl.
1973
It is brought back again as a mass celebration of culture, with music and dance at its heart.
Today
The festival is a state holiday in Mizoram and a showcase of Mizo dance, music and crafts.
How it is celebrated in different places
Aizawl, Mizoram
The capital hosts the main celebration, with hundreds of dancers in traditional dress and big crowds.
Lunglei and district towns
Towns across Mizoram hold their own dances, music contests and food stalls.
Manipur and Tripura
Mizo communities in neighbouring states keep the day with dances and church community gatherings.
New Delhi and beyond
Mizos living in other cities and abroad hold Chapchar Kut evenings with cheraw and songs.
Chapchar Kut moments
Chapchar Kut today
The star of the day is cheraw, the bamboo dance. Men kneel and clap long bamboo poles together in rhythm while women in bright woven puan step nimbly in and out. Other dances such as chheihlam, khuallam and chai fill the grounds.
Stalls sell Mizo food and handloom, and a playful custom called chhawnghnawh, where friends feed each other boiled eggs, brings lots of laughter.
