By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Shad Suk Mynsiem (Dance of Happy Hearts) at Lympung Weiking, Jaiaw will soon be celebrating its centenary but this was achieved not without a struggle, Seng Khasi leader Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih told reporters on Friday.
This dance festival of the Khasis has been being held at Lympung Weiking since 1911. The centenary celebration of the Shad Suk Mynsiem at the above venue will be held on April 16 to 18.
Shad Suk Mynsiem is a thanksgiving dance of the Khasis to God Almighty blessing the year that had gone by and to seek blessings for the coming year.
According to oral tradition, the Shad Suk Mynsiem was actually performed right from the pre-historic era, said.
He, however, informed that the challenges to hold this dance festival started to crop up after the coming of the British and Welsh Missionaries.
According to Nongkynrih, the British administration began to prevent the holding of such festivals terming them as “pagan”. It was during this period that the Seng Khasi faced great challenges to observe this annual religio-cultural festival, the Seng Khasi leader said.
Seng Khasi general secretary BS Rumnong said it was the courage and fearlessness of the early Khasis to defy the orders of the British which ensured that this event continues to be observed to this day.
Nongkynrih informed that the original venue of the Shad Suk Mynsiem is on the land where the present Apollo Bakery is located at Mawkhar. Later the venue was shifted to Lympung Weiking.
He further recalled that during the 1920’s, they were prevented from holding the dance festival at the Mawkhar venue since the Syiem of Mylliem had given a land patta to a private individual for the land. This forced the Seng Khasi to shift the venue to Lympung Weiking.
Nongkynrih highlighted that earlier the traditional archery took place at Lympung Weiking but later stage, the authorities disallowed this sport at the venue and permission was granted only for holding the Shad Suk Mynsiem and the Seng Kut Snem.
Admitting that the movement for reviving the Seng Khasi religion has gained momentum a few years ago, he said it is not an organised religion and believes in the principle that the God the maker and creator (Blei nongbuh nongthaw) is one, irrespective of any religion a person may belong to. Nongkynrih also pointed out that the Seng Khasi unlike other organised religions does not place any restrictions on its followers.
Every member of the Seng Khasi lives according to a set of universal human values given by the ancestors. The Seng Khasis also do not have a place for worship like the church or temple but believes that God lives amidst nature hence the identification of sacred spaces like the Lum Shyllong and Lum Sohpetbneng where the traditional rituals are conducted, Nongkynrih informed.
But the aggressive nature of organised religion has in recent times compelled the members of Seng Khasi to also look for a common meeting place.
Rumnong asserted that it is the Seng Khasi which has nurtured and conserved the traditional cultural practices of the Khasi after the Khasi Christians had literally abandoned these practices.
As part of this celebration, a procession of all the dancers would start from Madan Iewrynghep to Lympung Weiking on Saturday.
On Saturday evening, Union Minister of State of Water Resources Vincent H Pala will release the souvenir of the centenary and also inaugurate the Seng Khasi official website at the Seng Khasi Hall in Mawkhar.