Aizawl, Dec 5 (IANS): The Mizoram government plans to promote Mizo traditional attires by urging the people of the state to wear them more often, officials said on Thursday.

Chapchar Kut is one of the most important spring festivals in Mizo society.

After the clearing of the forests for ‘jhum’ cultivation (slash and burn method of farming), this festival is celebrated with great fervour by the people of Mizoram.

People dressed in bright costumes with attractive headgears sing, dance and make merry during the festival, which is normally celebrated during February-March every year.

Nearly all Mizo festivals revolve around tilling of the land.

Mim Kut, Chapchar Kut and Pawl Kut are the three major festivals in Mizoram all of which are in some way or the other connected with agricultural activities.

The Mizos, irrespective of age and gender, participate in these festivals.

Decked in colourful dresses, young men and women go on a dancing spree which sometimes last all through the night.

Mim Kut is celebrated in August-September in the wake of harvesting of the maize crop.

Dedicated to the memory of their deceased relatives, the festival is underlined by a spirit of thanksgiving and remembrance of the years.

The first harvest is placed as an offering on a raised platform built in the memory of the dead.

The Pawl kut festival is a post-harvest carnival, celebrated during December-January.

Again, a mood of thanksgiving is evident, because the difficult task of tilling and harvesting is over.

Community feasts are organised and dances are performed. Mothers with their children sit on memorial platforms and feed one another.

This custom, which is also performed during Chapchar Kut, is known as Chhawnghnawt. Drinking of rice-beer is also part of the festival.

These two days of festivities are followed by a day of complete rest when no one goes out to work.