Chapchar Kut is celebrated in the month of March. It is the start of
spring and nature starts playing with colour. This heralds the
festive mood in the lives of Mizos and they prepare themselves to
celebrate Chapchar Kut, the festival of happiness. It is considered
to be the most important traditional festival of Mizoram and is
celebrated with great pomp and splendour.
The Mizos traditionally have three main festivals namely- Mim Kut,
Pawl Kut and Chapchar Kut.
The 'Chapchar Kut' festival is one of the oldest festivals of Mizoram.
Farmers cut bamboo forests to make place for jhum or seasonal farming.
The season, in which they wait for the chopped bamboo heaps to dry under
sun before being burnt is called Chapchar. Kut means festival, as the
farmers have nothing else to do during the season.
People wear colourful traditional clothes and hats made from beads and
parrots' feathers. In this festival they don't wear any shoes. A
traditional bamboo dance is performed where only women participates
while the men sit on the ground and beat the bamboos against each
other.
Chapchar Kut is celebrated in all the Mizo villages and is a very
important cultural tradition in the society. Each village developed its
own brand of celebration to suit its own time, idiom and ethos over the
years. The celebrations carried on for four to five days.