Sawm - Kivah

Sawm - Kivah is one of the festivals that is prevalent in Manipur in which the young boys of the Lawm are placed in different houses of the girl`s family and settle there as one of the members of the family. As the young boys are associated with the family of the girl for a very long time it makes the boy attached to the family and vice versa the family too gets attached with the Sawm boy. As such the girl`s family prepares a lavish feast for the boy when he completers his tenure with the family. This feast is formally known as the Sawm - Kivah.

Sawm Kivah primarily comes at the end of the tenure of a Sawm which is to celebrate the successful working of such voluntary system. It is a celebration done at the time of departing with the Sawm member. It is well encouraged by the community in order to assure that such voluntary activity will continue to take place even in future. A functioning Sawm includes the young boys and the girls of the community who help each other to work out the daily responsibilities. In this the boys of the Sawm are placed by the chief of community in the hoses of those families who don`t have brothers. In that case the main interest as well as the responsibility of the Sawm boy is to serve the girl and her family in all possible ways, even in matters of cultivation when the family of the girl fail to complete it in time. This also includes providing security to the girl whenever she attends a feast outside her family. Whenever the girl looses her stability due to heavy drinking then it remains the responsibility of the boys of the Sawm to safely reach the girl to her house. Likewise the girl too is supposed to take full care of the boy who leaves his family for her protection.

Sawm - Kivah provides an opportunity to the boys and girls to make a formal confession regarding their feelings towards each other. With the passage of time the Sawm member grow up. As they grow up, some may pursue different future plans while some of them fall in love with each other. A Sawm member is free to fall in love with either the same Sawm member or with any of the Sawm members. In such a situation the sawm girl and the Sawm boy finds the occasion of Sawm kivah to be the best time to seek the consent of the girl`s parents. In that case the meaning of Sawm kivah changes and all the members of the Sawm which varies from ten to twelve raises the question and seeks the opinion of the girl`s parents. In case the parents agree then a date is fixed and declared during the Sawm Kivah.

Sawm - Kivah includes the most important members of the tribe like the chief, the priest as well as the parents of the girl. The occasion is celebrated with pots of Zu or rice beer which is prepared by the girl along with her friends from some times ago before the Sawm kivah takes place. The drink is first sipped by the Chief, then by the Thiempu or the priest and then by the parents of the girl. Zu is very commonly used in the Kuki tribe. Whenever a mutual relationship is to take place the tribe celebrates it with Zu which represents the consent of all. Sawm- Kivah further includes all the Tuchchas and Becha relatives of the girl`s father. Together they celebrate the occasion of Sawm Kivah in which the biggest honour is to offer the head portion of the slaughtered pig. The Sawm Kivah continues till three days and in the second day other members from other sawm come to congratulate the girl and boy for their relationship with gifts and they enjoy by dancing and singing.

Thus the occasion of sawm kivah is one of the most celebrated festivals of the kuki tribes that form an integral part in the society of kuki tribes.