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1.1.1.      Traditional Drum

During the revival movement the traditional drum made its way deep into the church’s life and its indispensability in traditional singing and dancing found a parallel exigency in formal Christian meetings. It created a rhythm for the singing and dancing and did help to intensify the exhilaration of the whole revival atmosphere. Its power seemed to the church leaders to upset the formality and solemnity of the church. Saiaithanga, then a theological graduate and close associate of the missionaries from the early twenties relates the influence of the drum and says, ‘as long as the singing and the drum beating went on people kept on dancing and would not stop’.[1] J.M. Lloyd represents the official church’s mentality towards the drum when he writes, ‘it (drum) appeared to dictate to the congregation and even the Holy Spirit’.[2] He reasons that the drum was often in unreliable hands since the drummer was always self- appointed.

It can be safely assumed that by this time the widespread use of traditional drums had found an appropriate accompaniment in the emergence of hymns composed by Maras with indigenous tunes. These two factors together added much to the attraction of the revival movement. The use of drums by Christians was a cultural threat from the traditional view point. Supplemented by the new Mara tunes and dancing, the drum proved to be a great factor in pulling the people away from traditional life and from their absolute allegiance to the chieftainship. The melodious music of the drum to the revival enthusiasts, thus, became a noisy gong to the traditional authorities of the Mara society.

Traditionally, the drum was deeply rooted in the Mara religion and culture. On every religious and festive occasion the drum played a vital role. Without drums, the Maras did not usually sing. There is a Mara saying, ‘celebrating a festival without drums is meaningless’. Singing, drumming, dancing and drinking rice beer were inseparably connected with each other. However, when the Maras embraced Christianity, they abandoned all because it was associated with the old pagan religion. As a result, the drum was seen as unchristian and was not used in the church. Western tunes in tonic sol-fa were prescribed in the church services to curb using drums and traditional tunes.

2.      Conclusion

The advent of the British government and the Christian missionaries inevitably transformed the religious, social, political and cultural life of the Mara society in many ways. Consequently, the life of the Mara society was paralysed by the imposition of laws and orders by the British officials in an attempt to secure peace and suppress savage practices. On the other hand it also liberated the Maras from injustice, social and cultural structures and oppression in various ways. As a whole the works of the British government and the Christian missionaries made constructive as well as destructive transformations and changes not only in physical appearances, but also in psychological and intellectual areas. As a result, the Maras started to develop the idea that all that is associated with Mara traditional religion and culture was pagan, profane and secular and not fit for the newly converted Mara Christians.

As a result, they abandoned their valuable social and cultural elements and regarded them as secular and worldly and even profane while western culture and traditions were automatically adopted as sacred, religious and pious. In other words, the Mara traditions and culture were alienated in the Mara land and western culture and traditions were becoming more influential. They began to look with disgust at their traditional values through the glasses of their new European masters. If we look at all of these in the light of the postcolonial perspective, it is a sign of pseudo-European Maras who had been proselytized to western traditionalism and ways of life. On the other hand, reinterpreting the then rejected traditional cultural elements like the Laipo institution bring reestablishment of lost identity and social and spiritual transformation in the Mara Christian context.

Revival movement was commenced when the land was subjugated and the society was utterly shattered. The British regime imposed new laws and regulations, and divided the land and the people to suit its administrative convenience and commercial ambitions. To worsen the confused state of mind of the people, Christian mission came to propagate a new religion. The Mara people suffered losses of their land, identity and selfhood. They were simply bewildered. In such a chaotic confusion the revival movement took place. It tended to be a cultural revival and turned out to be an antidote to the prevailing process of westernisation. The revival movement in Maraland saved the Mara people from complete British assimilation. It thus provided the people with a setting for regaining and maintaining their identity and selfhood. Several Mara cultural elements have been incorporated by the revival movement in Mara Christianity. Firstly, a new type of hymn called ‘indigenous Mara Christian hymn’ was born from the revival movement with traditional Mara tunes. These new indigenous hymns really quenched the spiritual thirst of the Mara Christians and give the Mara Christian a new identity. Secondly, the rediscovery of the value of the Mara poetical words in Mara Christianity was a radical paradigm shift. It was a complete change to the

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[1] Saiaithanga, Mizo Kohhran Chanchin, 52.

[2] Saiaithanga, Mizo Kohhran Chanchin 192.