| Etymology | "Dance of the guests" |
|---|---|
| Genre | Folk dance |
Khual Lam is aMizo traditional dance from the Indian state ofMizoram that is performed for guests.[1] Nowadays, it is performed in every major Mizo cultural festival but still maintains the tradition of performing for guests such as the stateChief Minister, orgovernment officials.[2]
Female dancers wearPuandum, which is a handwoven big black shawl striped in red, yellow, and green. ThePuandum is draped over the shoulders of the females. The size of the stripes may vary.[3]
Male dancers wearNgotekherh, a traditional big white shawl with black patterns with and black and white stripes. The black patterns may vary from square patterns to stripes. It is also draped over the shoulders of the males.[3]
For the first part of a typical Khual Lam dance, dancers extend an arm while taking a step forward and retract the arm back to sway their shawls and do the same for the other arm and leg. The second part of the dance is where a male and female face each other; they first sway side to side, then bend, and push their elbow/arm backward for the shawl/cloth to move.[1]
On rare occasions such as cultural festivals, extra steps are included that are more traditional, such as lifting the cloth high then squatting down while retracting your arm, and repeating the step. It would look appealing when viewed from above as the former Mizo chiefs would view from a mountain.[1]
No songs are sung during the dance, rather, it is accompanied by traditional instruments mainly the dar (gong) and khuang (drum) with usually a 7/8 beat.[4]
Khual Lam means the dance of the guests, deriving from theMizo wordskhual (meaning "guest") andlam (meaning "dance").[5]
Tlatea of Pangrawn's third son was named Kalkawilama, who lived in Kawilam. One day, Kawilam town was celebrated withChapchar Kut. Tlatea's friends returned from drinking alcohol, they wrapped theirzu bel (wine pots) in a huge cloth and brought it into Kawilam. Native Kawilam people saw them and exclaimed:
"Oh look! Guests (can also be translated as strangers) are dancing toward us!"
which bore the name Khual Lam.[6]
The Mizo people before theBritish colonization believed the soul either went toPialral, which is heaven, orMitthi Khua which is hell. TheSakhua states that one may only enterpialral by obtaining the title ofThangchhuah, where either dance or hunting must be mastered to obtain this title.[1]
The Khuangchawi ceremony is where the Thangchhuah title is given, and it was necessary to invite people from the nearby villages on this occasion. On their way to the ceremony, Khual Lam was performed for the honored invitees.[7]