Boys and girls participate in a run during the Yaoshang sports festival in Manipur

Imphal, March 24: From the festival of colours to a celebration of sports, Holi has undergone a metamorphosis in Manipur.

Yaoshang, as Holi is known in the state, is celebrated for five days in March every year. But instead of the riot of colours one associates with the festival elsewhere in the country, residents of Manipur prefer to celebrate it through the universal medium of sports.

As in previous years, the state celebrated Yaoshang with a flurry of sporting activity, beginning March 18. The revelry ended only yesterday, with the World Cup finals in South Africa, and people got back to work today after almost a week.

Before the process of its evolution began three decades ago, Yaoshang was all about dancing the Thabal-Chongba, playing with colours and feasting. The boisterous merrymaking has since been replaced by a serious pursuit of excellence in sports. Every locality in the districts of the valley organises a five-day sports meet under the banner of the Yaoshang Sports Festival.

There are no barriers of age and sex, which means that anyone who is physically fit can compete in the recreational sports and athletics events.

The spirit of Yaoshang was reflected in sports minister A. Aza’s gesture of gifting volleyballs and footballs to members of the Assembly on March 17, a day before the five-day festival began.

R.C. Sharma, advisor to the Dharmalaya Social Welfare Centre in Imphal, told The Telegraph that his organisation had been hosting the Yaoshang Sports Festival for 56 years now. “We aim to groom future champions at the grassroots level. We take it very seriously because the sports festival has actually helped in identifying national and international-level champions,” he said.

S. Budhi, president of the Socio-economic Athletic Cultural Organisation, said it was good to see Yaoshang evolve into a festival that has more to it than mere merry-making.

“Yaoshang is to Manipur what Durga Puja is to Bengal, Diwali to north India and Bihu to Assam. But our festival is not just about letting one’s hair down. We have struck a balance between festivity and constructive activity,” a veteran sports organiser said.