Yaoshang is Manipur's five-day spring festival, the Meitei counterpart of Holi, beginning on the full moon of Lamta (Phalguna, February–March). It blends Krishna worship in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition with uniquely Manipuri customs such as the thabal chongba moonlight dance and week-long community sports.
When: Full moon of Lamta / Phalguna Purnima, running five days (February–March)
Where: The Manipur valley — Imphal and Meitei villages across the state
Deity: Shri Krishna (Shri Govindajee), in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition
Observance: Burning of the yaoshang hut, Krishna worship, playing with colours, thabal chongba dance, children collecting nakatheng gifts, community sports
Regional name: Yaoshang / Yaosang (Meitei); corresponds to Holi and Holika Dahan elsewhere in India
How Holi became Yaoshang
When the Meitei kings of Manipur embraced Chaitanya Vaishnavism in the eighteenth century, the spring festival of Holi merged with older valley traditions to become Yaoshang, today among the most beloved festivals of the state. It opens at dusk on Phalguna Purnima with the burning of a small thatched hut — the yaoshang — recalling the Holika Dahan bonfire and, in local memory, the burning of a hermitage associated with the child-deity Pakhangba narratives of the valley. Straw for the hut is traditionally gathered by children, who then go door to door asking for nakatheng, small gifts of money, with a cheerful licence no householder refuses. At the Shri Govindajee temple in Imphal and in household shrines, images of Krishna are honoured with sankirtana singing, and the days that follow belong to gulal, devotion and dance in equal measure.
Five days of colour, dance and sport
Yaoshang lasts five days, and each has its own flavour. Colours and scented water are played mainly among children and the young, with elders sprinkled respectfully. The festival's most distinctive sight is thabal chongba, the 'moonlight dance': in village grounds after dark, young men and women join hands in a great circle and dance to drums and song — one of the few traditional occasions where unmarried Meitei youth mingle freely, always under the eye of the community. Equally characteristic is the sports meet: local clubs organise races, football, and indigenous games for all ages, so that the festival doubles as a community athletics week. Devotional sankirtana parties visit homes singing of Krishna and Chaitanya, and households prepare festive food to share. The festival closes with a final round of colours and the ceremonial conclusion of the dances.
Keeping Yaoshang in Ottawa & Canada
Yaoshang itself belongs to the Manipur valley, but Manipuri families in Canada keep its spirit alive in ways that travel well. The date follows Phalguna Purnima — the same full moon as Holika Dahan, which our calendar pages compute for Ottawa — so families can light a small symbolic lamp or diya where an outdoor fire is not practical, offer prayers to Krishna at home, and play colours indoors or in a backyard once the March weather allows. Video calls to relatives in Imphal during thabal chongba evenings, teaching children a few steps of the dance, and cooking festive Manipuri dishes are all honest, joyful ways to pass the tradition on. Ottawa's wider Holi celebrations in spring offer a natural occasion for Manipuri families to join the larger community while explaining what makes Yaoshang their own.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
Is Yaoshang the same as Holi?
It is Manipur's form of Holi, kept on the same full moon of Phalguna, but it runs five days and adds distinctly Meitei customs — the burning of a thatched yaoshang hut, children collecting nakatheng gifts, the thabal chongba circle dance and a community sports week — all woven around Krishna worship in the Chaitanya Vaishnava tradition.
What is thabal chongba?
Thabal chongba, the 'moonlight dance', is Yaoshang's signature custom: after dark, young people join hands in a large circle and dance to drumming and song in the village ground. Traditionally it is one of the few festive occasions where unmarried young men and women of the community dance together, and it continues on several nights of the festival.
How is the date of Yaoshang fixed?
Yaoshang begins on the full moon (Purnima) of the lunar month of Phalguna — called Lamta in the Meitei calendar — which falls in February or March. Because it is a lunar date, the Gregorian date shifts each year; the site's calendar computes the corresponding Holika Dahan/Purnima date for Ottawa.
Source: Meitei Vaishnava tradition of the Manipur valley. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.