Culture
A Mizo Folk Tale - Offering of food and grains to the deceased
Current Updates | Culture | Luke Sangkima | 15-Jun-2021
Long ago once upon a time, there lived two lovers named Tlingi and Ngama. As lovers, they met each other in some undisclosed locations only known to them. One day they agreed to meet near a hillock which both knew. In those days, their village was at war with one another, therefore no one was permitted to reveal their whereabouts by making a noise when they venture into the forests.
As Tlingi reached the tryst she sat quietly at a place where she could not be seen easily by anyone who passed by. Ngama came to the other side of the hillock and he too sat quietly and waited for the arrival of his lover. So, they sat and waited for each other not knowing they were so close physically, only to be separated by the hillock between them. As they kept waiting for each another, they thought the wait would be short one, both expecting their lover to turn up soon. However, it so happened that their wait for each other continued for days, to weeks and then months. Tlingi unfortunately died out of love-sickness as the wait went on ceaselessly. Aware of the sad demise of his lover, grief stricken Ngama went and planted flower-bearing trees where his lover was buried. He also made it ritual to visit the grave from every now and then.
No long after Tlingi’s death, Ngama suffered from depression – he could neither eat well nor have proper sleep. He became all skin and bones, weak and unstable. Unable to bear the pangs of separations Ngama one day went into trance, and he went to the Mitthi Khua1 where he met his beloved who was also lean and thin by now. Both Tlingi and Ngama were very happy that they met each other again.
Ngama found that the house where Tlingi lived needed repair and so they went into the forest to collect building materials. Trees which Tlingi thought to be big were not so big in the eyes of Ngama. Big bears in the eyes of Tlingi appeared as tiny as worms to Ngama. Thus, Ngama reasoned that the difference in sight was perhaps one was in a spiritual being while the other a human being.
Ngama then recovered from his trance and became a normal human being again. He then promised to feed Tlingi with the first crops he reaped from the field. From that day onward the Mizos offered food and other crops ceremonially to their dead kith and kin. It is from this tory that the origin of one of the festivals of the Mizo Mim Kut is traced.2
Note:
- According to their beliefs Mizo classified the abode of the dead as Pialral and Mitthi Khua. The former was meant only for Thangchhuah, one who performed great feasts in his lifetime. The latter place was considered as the resting place of the souls of all ordinary men.
- The Mim Kut festival may be compared with the feast of “All Souls’ Day” being celebrated by the Catholic Church on 2 November. Mim Kut is otherwise known as Tahna Kut meaning “festival of weeping” because it was solely held in remembrance of the departed souls.
(The Author is a retired Profesor of History)
Leave a comment
