The Zeme and Liangmai community gathered together at the beautiful Benreu village in Peren district of Nagaland in traditional finery to celebrate the Lamsimngyi festival, a popular Zeliang festival on Wednesday.
Lamsimngyi was declared as a Zeliang restricted holiday by SC Dev, the then Deputy Commissioner of Kohima on October 31, 1966 .
To commemorate the 52nd year of declaring “Lamsimngyi” as a Zeliang restricted holiday, the village become a hub of celebration with traditional sports and games.
Lamsimngyi or Kwapwangyi is a festival of celebrating the loving relationship between near and dear ones.
On the first day of the festival, traditional snacks are cooked and shared among close ones and women gather in groups to enjoy with each other and men look after the household chores that day.
On the second day, the men participate in different sports and games and different teams feed each other with fresh meat and other food items before the competition starts.
All households abstain, so that no injury or harm befalls anyone while they compete on the day of Lamsim and the women stay indoors to pray for the male members of their family.
If a family member dies, the male members of that family doesn’t participate in the competition.
Competitions like long jump, shot put and wrestling will be held during the festival.