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Entertainment Luira Langanui La Mayar lapho mamaho. An important event of Luira festival is the “Laa khanganui” (virgin dance), which is akin to a beauty pageant. Only virgin women performed “Laa khanganui”. The dance was more or less a beauty contest. It was a sacred declaration of virginity. The “laa khanganui” is truly the most colorful and grandeur, most exciting music and song competition, where all the unmarried girls who have attained puberty must take part and where the most beautiful girl of the village is to be selected from among the virgins. Any girl who refused to participate at the “laa khanganui” is suspected of being pregnant and heavy punishment is meted out to her. The competitors are allowed to wear well-designed and embroidered tradional short skirt exposing the calves and the upper portion of the body from the waist. Their heads are decorated with headgears, hands with armlets, bangles and kongsang for the lone covering of their breasts. The participants will move on the ground surrounded by spectators. As they moved in, they rock their bodies, performed slow movement or dance with tune of the music. The spectators are the judges and they will decide the fate of the virgin who become the most beautiful virgins. If the girl missed uniform footsteps, falls down on the ground or one of the ornaments falls off from her body, it is considered that the morality of the girl is not above reproach, heavy fine is imposed on such girl by the village. This kind of ritual encourages the Tangkhul girls to remain virgin and maintain high moral standard until they marry and live with their husband.
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