Lai Haraoba is an ancient Manipuri fertility rite celebrating cosmic union between male and female principles. In later days it was enlarged to incorporate cosmological and ideological categories of the Meitei nation, assuming an intense and complicated ritual theatre structure.

Mediated through the ritual functionaries of the Yoirel i.e. priest, Amai i.e. priestess, and Pena i.e. minstrel, representing the primal elements in creation, of fire, wind, and water. It is performed by the entire community during the pre-agricultural season i.e. February-June and, in some villages, the pre-harvest winter months. The ritual lasts normally seven or nine days in the lunar calendar. The Moirang principality in Bishnupur district celebrates it for a month, in May. Four varieties of Lai Haraoba emerged, corresponding to ethnic and geographical distribution of constituent Meitei communities. The four varieties can be mentioned as Kanglei i.e. the core Meitei culture based in Imphal and surrounding areas, Moirang including Loktak Lake, Kakching i.e. the Loi tributary of the Meitei, at Kakching in Thoubal district, and Chakpa i.e. village tributaries, with the Andro on the eastern foothills of Nongamijing hills and other peripherally spread Chakpa villages to the north, west, and south. The Kanglei Lai Haraoba is regarded as the core ritual, reflecting their belief systems and philosophy.

Deeply inlaid principles of the creation of the universe and its existence through the balancing factors of male and female union, of the sky-father and earth-mother, their congress sustaining equilibrium and strength, and the interaction between ancestral energy and humankind, are enacted with dance, music, sports and theatre during this ritual. The human acts as priest to affect this cosmic drama. The cult of the placenta takes on a metaphysical character to enunciate the origin, life force, and creative energy of deities appeased during the celebrations.

Creation of the universe by Atiya the sky-father, creation of the world and mankind by Asiba the creator-son, and organization of human affairs in the conduct of Pakhangba, the father-knowing figure all are important. The eternal father and mother assume a dynamic, vital position in the centre of the temple precincts, the spirits of clan or lineage deities are drawn out through Maibis i.e. female mediums, and the guardian spirits and other community gods invited to participate. At each annual cycle, the lineage or clan ancestral deities are given life. They assume habits normally associated with humankind. The initial ritual is connected with the drawing-up of the life spirit by a female medium in a trance. It happened via specially prepared raw thread hung through a pot on the necks of the lineage males. She draws the deities` spirit up from the life-giving water, taken in a simulated boat journey to the temple precincts. The participants cross the ancestral space in the compound where fertility-giving materials are kept. The Maibi then restores the deities` life spirit. The ritual enactment is termed lai ikouba, this means drawing the deity from the water.

The next day, the slumbering Lai is awakened by the Pena`s songs and bathed. The Lai then relates to worshippers through the female medium who gets possessed and, in trance, provides messages for healing the sick and infirm. In the afternoon, traditionally attired members of the community take out an elaborate processional ritual, enacting the beginning of the universe, stars, sky, sun, moon, and the creation of men, through the giant sexual act of the primal forces. This is termed as laipou.

Embryological events in conception and birth are danced out to Pena music and termed hakchang sagatpa i.e. formation of the body. The father`s seeding and its acceptance by the mother are mimed in khayom jagoi i.e. `cosmic-bud dance` to the `Hoirou hoyd Pena` song addressed to the male and female principles. The action starts after moments of stillness. The earth`s motion begins and the human moves. The procession takes the shape of the ancestral serpent dragon, as the Maibi and Pena form the head, the Lai bearers with the maidens the jaws and teeth, and the men, women, and children its body. After prolonged chants and simultaneous movements and hand gestures depicting the sequence of the Lai`s birth, growth, settlement, and clothing, the action goes on to the sexualization and romanticization of phallic energy heightened by mellifluous dance and archaic erotic lyrics.

The Mzibis paton jagoi, where their dance steps simulate the straight but wavelike movements of Nachan, the centipede, energizes the sexuality, and the playful remarks between the lead and the response group, of catching fish with a phallic character, begin die symbolic foreplay for sex. The Panthoibijagoi with romantic overtones to sexual congress between the creative forces Nongpok Ningthou and Panthoibi, represents the union of male and female principles. Finally, the universe begins to throb with the orgasm of creation, as a white cloth spread in the centre takes the form of the expanse of the universe, fixed on four lineage males acting as pillars, and two Maibis holding thread balls dance the sexual act.

Next, the community led by the Maibis moves around the yard, confirming the fixation oinonglon (sky), leirol (earth), and nunglon (underworld). Thepaphal i.e. dragon`s spread also signifies the balanced order of the universe. The semen or vital energy is now absorbed into the earth-mother`s womb for future procreative acts.

The father is present in the mother. Each day, these rituals are performed, and the Pena lulls the deities to sleep through the naosumlol i.e. king`s lullaby. Two days before the close, the gods and their consorts are taken out in a palanquin for a hunt and feast in a natural environment. The daily rituals continue, but sports and races are organized. At the end, the Maibis dance the thangthaba (cleansing by sword) to ease out bad and foul elements in the body polity, and scrap and consign them to the flames. Health, longevity, and the necessity of energy to flow again seem to be emphasized. On the penultimate day, a new ritual is added, the enactment of human concerns to secure the world`s life and society`s health through a dramatic performance of Saram Pakhangba. This is another name for Nongpok Ningthou. Here Panthoibi as Nurabi, a plains tribal woman, clears the jungle with her colleagues played by women in the audience. They meet a hill man who disputes their possession of the land. They quarrel, but are united through an elder`s mediation. This signifies maintenance of the body polity through manipulation of the earth and cleansing of rivers and waterways. Just as the body`s nerves and veins are kept in proper order through healthy activity, with morality, discipline, and love. Jokes, fun, wit, and sexual banter reverberate in this ritual drama. Earlier, perhaps in the twelfth century when these characters are mentioned in royal texts for distribution of tasks, the performance was antiphonally sung. Prose and dialogue could have been added later when crosstalk became a feature of southeast Asian theatre. Another ritual, of seeking the Lai`s marriage, is not compulsorily attached.

The last day is one of serene, intense oath-keeping engagement between the gods and the worshippers-enactors of their revelry. The community performs another ritual, of songs of cutting down trees, and finally ougri hangen i.e. `song of creation`, the chant of thengou, the ultimate `summoning of the spirit`. This perhaps symbolizes the gathering up of souls after the straying of elements during the festivities. It is also a vow of the deities when, after being appeased and celebrated for the past few days, the continuity of the universe and liberation of the minds and bodies of the human group is the efficacious result. Lai Haraoba patterns human interaction with the gods and elements for the benefit of the future.