“The best Purim ever” in India with the Bnei Menashe
Dressing up while reading the Megillah in Manipur
“It was the best Purim ever” is how Shavei Israel’s emissary to the Bnei Menashe in India, Yochanan Phatluel, described the holiday celebration this year at Beith Shalom, the Shavei Israel Hebrew Center in Churachandpur, Manipur.
You only have to look at the pictures below to know immediately that Yochanan has got it right. From the festive community hall, decked out in all manner of banners, paper cuts and Israeli flags; to the painted faces and clown hair wigs spreading smiles across the Bnei Menashe community, this was a Purim to remember.
The Ben Zevulun brothers
There were speeches (Yochanan gave one, as did the Bnei Menashe women’s society chairman Ruth Lennu Haokip); songs from three different groups (the “RC Nightingales,” the Bnei Menashe Youth Choir and the talented Ben Zevulun brothers – see picture); a sarcastic but always good-natured Purim drama; and what Yochanan called the highlight of the day: the women-only Queen Esther Beauty Pageant.
Costumes for the competition were designed by the community’s mikveh (ritual bath) attendant, Rukhama Jolly. The contestants paraded across the stage to a hip hop and rock music soundtrack and the pageant was broadcast by a local TV channel in Churachandpur. A reporter from the AFP (Agent France Presse) was also in attendance to report and photograph the event.
The Purim festivities in Manipur also included the traditional evening and morning prayers; a reading of the Megillah (with “shouts, yelling and howls whenever the name of Haman was mentioned,” Yochanan reports), and a traditional community feast, sponsored by Shavei Israel.
With so much going on, Yochanan had no time to chill – between coordinating events and delivering his speech, his camera was constantly on the go. Was it the best Purim ever? Take a look at all the inspiring photos we have on our web page and let us know! Here are the links: