Lui-ngai-ni celebrated with traditional fervour

IMPHAL, February 17: Biggest ever seed sowing festival of the Naga community was celebrated throughout the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur with traditional fervour on Thursday. One of the most important and main programme was held at the Bhagyachandra open air theatre, boat, palace compound with the Governor of Manipur and Mizoram Ved Marwah as the chief guest. Wishing the people, particularly the Nagas on the occasion, Marwah outlined the reasons for celebrating festivals saying festivals help in bringing people of different sections and classes together. They also bring fun and laughter and also good fellowship to the people whose lives might otherwise be drab and dull. They also remind the people year after year of special events of happening that might otherwise be forgotten as the year's go by, he added. 'Lui-ngai-ni', a seed sowing festival of the Nagas has of late come to occupy an important place among the festivals celebrated by the people of the State. Stating that the festival has been given a more modern name and a more cohesive shape in 1987, he said that it was indeed a praiseworthy step for the State Government to recognise the significance of the day and declare a public holiday on the day. The Union Ministry of Tourism has also listed it as one of the tourist festivals, the Governor said. The Nagas, he said, like other tribal communities of the Northeast have a rich cultural heritage and form an integral part of the country's cultural heritage.