Kohima: The Pochury Naga community of Nagaland is celebrating their biggest festival Yemshe throughout the state with all traditional rituals, pomp and gaiety.
In Kohima , hundreds of enthusiastic Pochury people, both young and old gathered at ‘The Heritage’ in Kohima on Saturday to celebrate Yemshe festival, the festival of the Pochury community, where Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary Veterinary and Husbandry Yitachu and retired Director, Printing and Stationary S Katiry joined the festival as the chief guest and guest of honor respectively.
One of the elder of Pochury tribe, S Akho Leyri spoke on the significance of the festival as Yemshe is celebrated anticipating new bountiful harvest of one year’s hard labour under scorching sun and merciless rain and is celebrated for 22 days in olden times and only after the last day which is the greatest day of the festival which is also called ‘sanctification day’, all kinds of harvest begins.
Yemshe literally means ‘Aroma of the house’, ‘Yem-House and she-aroma’, which means the aroma of the food that comes out of the house.
He asserted that during the festival, villagers will clean whole village, footpaths, wells and fields and construct baskets making-cum-resting places.
After that the head of the family will perform all rituals, engaged couples (fiancé & fiancée) renews their relationship with exchange of food or wine and eat together and many young couples come to know each other and get themselves engage during this period.
As such, he said this festival is important and enjoyable moment particularly to young people and farmers in general.
The greatest day of the festival is sanctification day, observed on the culmination of the festival with great solemnity and harvest from the very next day which is the happiest moment of the farmers.
The celebration witnessed Yemshe greetings, folk songs and mass folk dance led by Meluri range under Phek district of Nagaland, the homeland of Pochury tribe. (UNI)
