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'The Kachin Manaw Festival' is associated with which country?
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Answer: Option A — Myanmar
Detailed Solution
The Kachin Manaw Festival is the most important traditional festival of the Kachin people of northern Myanmar. It is held every year in January, mainly at the Manaw Park in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, and lasts for several days.
The Manaw (also spelt Manau) festival was traditionally held by the Kachin people to celebrate important events, such as victories in war, the new year, a good harvest, the gathering of tribes, or the honouring of the spirits (nats). It was also held to pray to the spirits for blessings and good fortune. Today, it is mainly a cultural festival that celebrates the identity and unity of the Kachin people, who include several groups, such as the Jinghpaw, Lisu, Lachik, Rawang, Zaiwa and Lhaovo.
The central feature of the festival is the Manaw dance. Thousands of people, dressed in colourful traditional costumes, with the women wearing red woven skirts and jackets decorated with silver ornaments, dance in long lines that move in patterns around the tall, decorated "manaw poles" in the centre of the festival ground. The poles are painted with traditional designs and symbols that represent the history and beliefs of the Kachin people. The dance is led by dance leaders wearing headdresses decorated with hornbill feathers, and is accompanied by the music of drums, gongs and pipes.
The Kachin people are related to the Singpho (Jingpho) people of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India. India and Myanmar share a long border of about 1,640 km, along the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
Other festivals of Myanmar include Thingyan (the water festival and New Year, in April), Thadingyut (the festival of lights, in October) and Tazaungdaing (the festival of lights, in November).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Thailand is known for Songkran and Loy Krathong.
- ✗Bhutan is known for the tsechu festivals, such as the Paro Tsechu.
- ✗Nepal is known for Dashain and Tihar.
Quick tip
Remember: The Kachin Manaw Festival = Myanmar (Myitkyina, Kachin State), January and the Manaw dance around decorated poles. The Kachins are related to the Singphos of India.
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Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.