Imphal, Jan. 10: The Gaan-Ngai festival of the Zeliangrong community kicked off at Ragailong in Imphal East district of Manipur today, with the aim to foster unity and harmony among various communities in the state.

Several communities, including the Meiteis, participated in the five-day post-harvest festival that is widely celebrated in all the Zeliangrong-inhabited areas of Manipur and in other parts of the Northeast as well.

Chief secretary N. Nabakishore said the Zeliangrong community comprises Rongmei, Zemei, Paomei and Liangmai tribes which mainly inhabit the western parts of the state.

The inauguration began with young people lighting a torch using traditional methods, with a ritual known as hoi kaomei. The festival also featured shot put and long jump events, which are traditional sports of the community.

A folk song and a group dance were performed by Zeliangrong boys and girls dressed in traditional attire.

The people were also served sumptuous cuisines.

Pou Amu Kamei, the president of the Zeliangrong Union (Assam, Manipur and Nagaland), said Gaan-Ngai has been celebrated as an inseparable part of the community every year in the villages.

In 1995, the Zeliangrong Union took the initiative to celebrate the festival on a larger scale so that it would help spread its spirit of welfare and unity among the Zeliangrong tribes as well as all other communities in the state.

Ningthouja Lancha, convener of the Good Will Mission for Peaceful Co-existence, who was a guest at the ceremony, told The Telegraph, "Amid the current ethnic tension, all the communities come to enjoy the festival together. I feel that we will be able to bring back compassion and harmony and restore peaceful co-existence in the state."

The goodwill mission was initiated amid the tension arising out of the indefinite economic blockade imposed by the United Naga Council on the state's supply lines and the counter blockade in the state.

Nabakishore said, "The Zeliangrong community, known as Kabui, has been living in harmony with the valley people for many years. The current economic blockade has reduced the gaiety of the festival to some extent."

R.H. Gonmei, chairman of the Manipur Scheduled Tribes Commission, said the Gaan-Ngai festival is celebrated to mark man's coming out of the caves and the beginning of human civilisation.