Yaoshang

What is worn for Yaoshang

Yaoshang, also spelled Yaosang, is the five day spring festival of the Meitei people of Manipur, held from the full moon of Phalguna, around the time of Holi. A hut of straw is burned on the first night. Children go from house to house asking for small gifts, and in the evenings young people dance Thabal Chongba, a circle dance in which they hold hands to songs and drums. The women wear the phanek, a wrapped, striped cloth worn at the waist, with a blouse and a light shawl called inaphi, often in bright colours or in white. The festival is also the occasion of colour play with water and powder, in the manner of Holi. The date follows the Manipuri lunar calendar.

The sarees

PhanekThe Manipuri wrapped cloth.