Imphal, Manipur, April 9 (HBTV): Today marks the beginning of the Meitei Lunar calendar 'Sajibu' month. The Meitei community is observing its New Year today.     

Feasting on Meitei's traditional dishes and giving gift to elders by married women mark some of the highlights of the festival. Market places usually start getting crowded and prices of vegetables start to skyrocket days before the festival. Traditional Manipuri dishes prepared during the event requires meticulous selection of different ingredients. Shopping vegetable items, fruits, and flowers play an important part in the celebrations of the festival. For instance, just preparing transitional Manipuri spicy salad known as “Sinju,” people use more than fifteen to twenty different vegetables. The more the varieties of vegetables are used, the more the salad is considered tasty.           

Interestingly, many of these vegetables required for preparing traditional dishes such as Sinju are found or eaten only in Manipur. Other than Sinju, Ironba, Ooti, Chagempomba, and Bora are some of the must-have dishes in every local household. The dishes are then presented as offerings to deities first. 

After feasting, it is a tradition to climb to the nearest hilltop to symbolize achieving greater heights in life. The tradition is known as “Cheirao-Chingkaba,” which means climbing hilltops on the day of the New Year to attain higher positions in life.