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It is said that when Krishna, Radha and the gopis danced the Ras Leela, Shiva made sure that no one disturbed the beauty of the dancing. Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva also wished to see this dance, so to please her he chose the beautiful area of Manipur and re-enacted the Ras Leela. Hundreds of centuries later, in the 11th century, during the reign of Raja Loyamba, prince Khamba of the Khomal dynasty and Princess Thaibi of the Mairang dynasty re-enacted the dance and it became known as Lai-Haraoba, the most ancient dance of Manipur.

The arangetram was known as Gejjepooje in old Mysore district, meaning worshiping the ankle bells in kannada, a south indian language. For a dancer, ankle bells are considered divine. In olden days, disciples were not allowed to wear ankle bells till their first public performance. They paid obeisance to the ankle bells, wore them & then performed.

Mohan Khokar, dance historian and chronicler compiled and edited special issues of Marg on Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri, Odissi and Folk dance along with Mulk Raj Anand.

Snippets - Monthwise listing

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