Unique auction held for prosperity of Hongmahn village
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, January 03 2008: Rs 500 for an empty plastic container and Rs 600 for a sugar cane stalk.

These were some of the highest biddings on stake at a unique auction of motley crew of items held at Hongmahn Tangkhul village under Saikul Assembly Constituency of Senapati district today to raise fund for successful hosting of the celebration of the next year's Chumphut Phunit (the annual festival of removing grain from the granary for the first time) .

Conducting the auction, a Meetei man, who not only married a Tangkhul woman, but has also baptised and settling down at Hongmahn village, encouraged the bidders to raise their stake with his glib talks.

Hongmanh womenfolk take part in a tug of war competition.

At the bidding on the empty plastic container, when the auctioneer roared over the mike, 'It is an important container that can store Ngari and preserves its sweet smell for long.

Don't think about the item per se but of the reputation at stake', a woman of the village but married to a man of another village, promptly came up with a bid of Rs 500 and became the proud owner of the plastic container.

Out of three empty plastic containers, thus auctioned, the lowest bid at which the hammer thuddered on the table was Rs 300 .

The first item put up for auction was the head of a pig.

Starting off with Rs 200, the bids vying for the prized trophy increased gradually until the chief guest of the function social activist Leishangthem Yaima of Lamlong sealed the fate of the pig's head for Rs 1000 much to the disappointment of other bidders.

Around 10 sugar cane stalks were also auctioned at the event with Rs 300 being the lowest bid for one of the stalks.

The Post Commander of 23 Assam Rifles Major Akshay, who was among the dignitaries, managed to secure one of the sugar cane stalks with a bidding of Rs 400 .

However, the winning feat of their officer seemed not to amuse some of his sepoys who were heard murmuring among themselves that they could have bought a load of sugar cane from the market just for Rs 100 and with the remaining Rs 300 a Bara Khana could have been arranged for the night.

Around 20 pieces of Arum (Pan) which were put up for auctioned were swept at a bid of Rs 500 .

Three-four Phoubot of paddy that were auctioned at the event were lapped up by a villager who had originally come to village to teach but settled down after marrying a local woman after bidding the offer at Rs 7,500 .

After the end of the interesting and unique auction, chief of the village Akhui Zimik explained that the event had been organised to raise fund for ensuring successful celebration of the Chumphut Phunit festival which has been going on since yesterday, next year too.

Instead of going around asking donation from the people, it also serves as an entertainment with generous bidders contributing their money towards the cause, he added.

In connection with Chumphut Phunit festival, the village chief said it is one of the traditional festivals of the Tangkhuls which is being celebrated even before embracing Christianity.

It signifies removal of grain from the granary on a fixed day for the first time in a year after the last annual harvest for organising a community feasting and praying to God for sufficient sustenance to last the year, the village chief elucidated, adding that the people of his village have been celebrating the festival every year.

In ancient time, the festivity went on for three-four days during the first week of January and it had strong religious sanctioned.

But these days, there have been certain relaxation, he recalled wistfully.

Apart from the community feasting and the unique auction, various games and sporting events were organised on the last day of two-day long festival at the village today with the most interesting competition being the tug of war between the Meetei bachelors coming from other villagers to take part in the festival and the Meira Paibis of the village.

Assam Rifles also sponsored volleyball matches for the young boys and girls of the village.

Chief guest of the function had also presented sports items like volleyball, football and volleyball net to the villagers even as a granddaughter of former Chief Minister late Moirang Koireng donated a sum of Rs 1000 .