SMO is not a paradigm shift away from the Search Engine Optimization process, but rather a method making a site more easily linked to, increasing it's visibility in social media searches on custom search engines, and more commonly included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and vlogs. A basic SMO approach is to add buttons to bookmark pages at 'del.icio.us' or 'furl', to 'digg this article', to share on 'Facebook', etc.
But it's not as easy as it sounds. Users, unlike web crawlers, can be easily put off with shameless self promotion. So finding the right balance when it comes to adding links is essential to building brand recognition and improving overall site visibility. SMO can be considered an advanced form of word to word and viral marketing using social networks. SMO is tricky because there is no general course of action, since current trends and fads, new concepts as well as user's fickleness factors into the process.
How it works
The ever-growing SMO components list provides you with the option of focusing the optimization process on one or on a combination of components.
• Blogging
• Social Bookmarking
• Rating Systems • Podcasting
• Social Networking
• User Reviews • Video Sharing
• Collaborative Ranking
• Wikis
SMO always demands quality, uniqueness and user oriented content similar to SEO, but with the advantage that distribution of your content always increases your credibility. This credibility is the result of linking on one hand and users' trust on other. Bookmarking and tagging, especially social bookmarking can play a crucial role in helping your content to travel round the Internet.
Advantages of Social Media Optimization
The importance of SMO is visible in the almost immediate benefits it awards both the individual and institution. The low cost high return advantage is the biggest plus point of SMO. Also, perceived commercial overtones are less, giving your content a natural feel. The online communities can promote and sustain a substantial traffic increase to your website. Finally, SMO is non-offensive to SEO and will not disrupt other traffic to your website.
Clearly, Social Media Optimization offers advantages which complement Search Engine Optimization and help direct more traffic thereby increasing revenue and visibility.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Many people are overwhelmed with abbreviations and new media terms. Below follows an explanation of a number of popular and often-used terms related to search engine marketing. This list is constantly being updated.
Registration: (Zie Submission)
Algorithm: A combination of rules that a search engine uses to position a website in its result lists when a search is performed. No search engine reveals to the outside world exactly how its algorithms work. This protects them from their competition and prevents spam indexing.
Backlinks: All the links to a specific web page. Also called "inbound links".
Banning: WWeb pages that are removed from the index of a search engine due to spam indexing and/or because these web pages do not satisfy the guidelines.
Cloaking: In search engine marketing terms, this is the action that ensures that search engines take up the content of a URL that is different from that which the surfer sees displayed. This can be done using different techniques. Different search engines have clear rules against prohibited cloaking. Those who violate these rules run the risk of their web pages being punished and in the worst case of being banned from the index of the search engines. Allowable cloaking usually occurs when these search engines also offer PPC. All who offer cloaking services should be able to present their permitted method to access the search engines. If not, one must be able to explain what the risks of prohibited cloaking are.
Content: The content of a website.
Conversion: The relationship between the visitors of a website and the actions undertaken is considered a conversion. This includes sales made or a request for more information, and is often expressed as a percentage. If a website has 50 visitors and 10 of them take action, the site has a 20% conversion.
CPC/Cost Per Click: The system in which advertisers pay an agreed amount for each click that someone makes on a link that takes them to their website.
CPM: : The system in which advertisers pay an agreed amount for the number of times their advertisement is seen by a consumer, regardless of the further action taken by the consumer. It is intensively used in the case of printed material, sending information and direct marketing, as well as in the online sales of banner advertisements. CPM stands for "cost per thousand", since the advertisements are often sold in blocks of 1,000.
Crawler: A search engine component that collects lists by automatically "crawling" or searching through the web. A search engine crawler (also called a "spider" or "robot"), follows the links to web pages. It makes copies of the web pages found and stores these in the search engine index.
Delisting:This is when pages are removed from a search engine index. This can happen when they are banned or for another reason, such as a fault in the search engine system.
Directories: A type of search engine in which the lists are gathered by human effort instead of via automatic "crawlers". In directories, the websites are checked, summarised in approximately 25 words and placed in a given category.
GetawayPage / Doorway Page: A web page made with the hope of scoring well in the free search engine lists for a specific period of time, but one that in itself does not provide much information to the visitor. Instead, visitors often will only see something enticing on the page that leads them to other pages (i.e. click here to enter), or they are automatically quickly taken past the page. In the case of cloaking, the visitor will not even see the page. Several search engines have rules against "doorway" pages, while in general they are allowed by paid programmes. They are also called "bridge" pages, "gateway" pages and "jump" pages.
Graphical Search Inventory: Banners and other types of advertising units that can be synchronised with keywords. These consist of pop-ups, browser toolbars and rich media.
Index: The collection of information a search engine has that searchers can query against. With crawler-based search engines, the index typically consists of copies of all the web pages they have found from crawling the web. With human-powered directories, the index contains the summaries of all web sites that have been categorised.
Landing Page: The specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking a search engine listing. Marketers attempt to improve conversion rates by creatively testing various landing pages. This encompasses the entire user experience including navigation, layout and copy. Source: Did-It.com.
Link Popularity: A raw count of how "popular" a page is based on the number of backlinks it has. It does not factor in link context or link quality, which are also important elements in how search engines make use of links to impact rankings.
Link Text: The text that is included in a link. Example: search engine is a link that contains the text "search engine".
Listings: The information that appears in a search engine as the result of a search.
Meta Search Engine: A search engine that uses the lists of two or more different search engines instead of conducting its own search.
Meta Tags: : Information placed on a web page that is not intended to be seen by the visitor but rather to send information to search engines, browser software and other applications.
Meta Description Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to define how their pages must be described in the search engine lists. Not all search engines use this tag.
Meta Keywords Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to add text to their pages in order to score better in the search engine lists. Not all search engines use this tag.
Meta Robots Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to suppress the indexing of their web pages by search engines, which is especially useful for those that cannot create robots.txt files. The Robots Exclusion page provides official details.
Optimisation: Making a website search-engine-friendly, so that each search engine finds the website, assesses it positively and places it at the top of the results when a search is made.
Organic Listings: : Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included, regardless of payment. Paid inclusion content is also often considered "organic" even though it is paid for. This is because that content usually appears intermixed with unpaid organic results.
Outbound Links: : links on a given web page that lead to other web pages, regardless of whether they remain linked to the same website or lead to other websites.
PPC/Pay Per Click: Stands for "pay-per-click" and means the same as "cost-per-click".
Paid Inclusion: An advertising program in which, for the payment of a fee, pages are guaranteed inclusion in the index of the search engines. This paid addition, however, provides no guarantee concerning the organic ranking. For example, Looksmart is a directory that indexes pages and sites based not on position but on relevance. Sellers pay to be included in the directory on a CPC (Cost per Click) or Cost-per-URL basis, without being guaranteed a specific ranking.
Paid Listings: The lists that search engines sell to advertisers, usually by paid placement or paid inclusion programmes. These are the opposite of organic scores, which are not sold.
Pay-for-Performance: A name popularised by a number of search engines as a synonym for pay-per-click. Advertisers pay only for the advertisements that generate clicks and traffic. This is in contrast to CPM-based advertisements in which the advertisements themselves cost money, even if they produce no clicks.
Query: See search term.
Ranking/Positie: : The ranking a specific web page or website has in a search engine. For example, a web page about apples can be high on the lists as the result of a search on the word "apples". Nevertheless, the "rank" indicates its precise position, whether on the first page of the results, the second page or perhaps the 200th page. As alternative, one could also say to be first among all the results, or be ranked 12th or generally 111th. All things considered, the fact that a page is mentioned only means that it can be found within a search engine as the result of a search, not that it automatically scores well for this search. This is also called positioning.
Reciprocal Link: An exchange of links between two websites.
Registration: See submission.
Results Page: The page that is displayed after a user enters a "search" is called the "results page". It is sometimes also called the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
Robot: See crawler.
Robots.txt: A file used to prevent the indexing of web pages by the search engines.
ROI: Abbreviation for "Return on investment" and refers to the percentage of profit or revenue resulting from a specific activity. For example, one can measure the ROI of a paid campaign by comparing the total amount allocated to the campaign (€ 200) to the amount of revenue produced (€ 1.000). In this case the ROI is 500%.
Top positions: sites located at the top of the result lists when a search is executed.
Spam:Regardless of the search engines, a marketing method that search engines consider as harmful and thus as unable to provide relevant, qualitative results. Some search engines have written guidelines concerning what they consider to be spamming. In the end, any activity can be considered by a given search engine to be harmful and as spam, regardless of whether there are published guidelines. An example of spam is nonsensical doorway pages that are designed to satisfy algorithmsin an unethical way. This is only one example. Determining what is and is not spam is not always easy due to the fact that different search engines have different standards. A specific search engine can have different standards concerning what is allowed depending on whether the content is gathered in an organic way or via paid inclusion. Spam is also called spamdexing.
SEA: Search Engine Advertising
SEM: Search Engine Marketing
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SERPS: See result page
Shopping Search: Shopping with shopping search engines allows customers to search for products and prices in a search environment. Shopping sites can pay to be present on a number of "shopping" search engines.
Spider: See crawler
Submission: The transaction that includes a URL in the index of a search engines. Unless done by paid registration, in general this addition means nothing. Moreover, the addition of the URL does not help your scores in a crawler-based search engine unless specific SEO efforts were made. This registration can be done manually (i.e. you fill in an online form to accomplish the addition) or it can be automated via a software application. (See alsoRegistration).
Usability: : A measurement of how easy it is to use something. This can be a piece of software, hardware or a website. In general this is defined in terms of the needs of the user. Often graphics designers as well as technical people must take account of usability. Usability describes the complete spectrum of that which affects the success of a website.
XML Feeds: A form of paid registration in which a search engine is fed information on pages via XML, rather than collecting this information by crawling through actual pages. Sellers can pay to have their pages added to a spider-based search index, or do so yearly per URL or on a CPC (Cost Per Click) basis that is based on an XML document that represents each page on the client site. New media types are being introduced for paid inclusion, including graphics, video, audio, and rich media.
Search Engines: : Each Internet service designed to provide Internet users/surfers the ability to find information on the Internet via this database.
Search Terms: : (search) words entered by someone into a search engine to obtain sites as a result.
Registration: (Zie Submission)
Algorithm: A combination of rules that a search engine uses to position a website in its result lists when a search is performed. No search engine reveals to the outside world exactly how its algorithms work. This protects them from their competition and prevents spam indexing.
Backlinks: All the links to a specific web page. Also called "inbound links".
Banning: WWeb pages that are removed from the index of a search engine due to spam indexing and/or because these web pages do not satisfy the guidelines.
Cloaking: In search engine marketing terms, this is the action that ensures that search engines take up the content of a URL that is different from that which the surfer sees displayed. This can be done using different techniques. Different search engines have clear rules against prohibited cloaking. Those who violate these rules run the risk of their web pages being punished and in the worst case of being banned from the index of the search engines. Allowable cloaking usually occurs when these search engines also offer PPC. All who offer cloaking services should be able to present their permitted method to access the search engines. If not, one must be able to explain what the risks of prohibited cloaking are.
Content: The content of a website.
Conversion: The relationship between the visitors of a website and the actions undertaken is considered a conversion. This includes sales made or a request for more information, and is often expressed as a percentage. If a website has 50 visitors and 10 of them take action, the site has a 20% conversion.
CPC/Cost Per Click: The system in which advertisers pay an agreed amount for each click that someone makes on a link that takes them to their website.
CPM: : The system in which advertisers pay an agreed amount for the number of times their advertisement is seen by a consumer, regardless of the further action taken by the consumer. It is intensively used in the case of printed material, sending information and direct marketing, as well as in the online sales of banner advertisements. CPM stands for "cost per thousand", since the advertisements are often sold in blocks of 1,000.
Crawler: A search engine component that collects lists by automatically "crawling" or searching through the web. A search engine crawler (also called a "spider" or "robot"), follows the links to web pages. It makes copies of the web pages found and stores these in the search engine index.
Delisting:This is when pages are removed from a search engine index. This can happen when they are banned or for another reason, such as a fault in the search engine system.
Directories: A type of search engine in which the lists are gathered by human effort instead of via automatic "crawlers". In directories, the websites are checked, summarised in approximately 25 words and placed in a given category.
GetawayPage / Doorway Page: A web page made with the hope of scoring well in the free search engine lists for a specific period of time, but one that in itself does not provide much information to the visitor. Instead, visitors often will only see something enticing on the page that leads them to other pages (i.e. click here to enter), or they are automatically quickly taken past the page. In the case of cloaking, the visitor will not even see the page. Several search engines have rules against "doorway" pages, while in general they are allowed by paid programmes. They are also called "bridge" pages, "gateway" pages and "jump" pages.
Graphical Search Inventory: Banners and other types of advertising units that can be synchronised with keywords. These consist of pop-ups, browser toolbars and rich media.
Index: The collection of information a search engine has that searchers can query against. With crawler-based search engines, the index typically consists of copies of all the web pages they have found from crawling the web. With human-powered directories, the index contains the summaries of all web sites that have been categorised.
Landing Page: The specific web page that a visitor ultimately reaches after clicking a search engine listing. Marketers attempt to improve conversion rates by creatively testing various landing pages. This encompasses the entire user experience including navigation, layout and copy. Source: Did-It.com.
Link Popularity: A raw count of how "popular" a page is based on the number of backlinks it has. It does not factor in link context or link quality, which are also important elements in how search engines make use of links to impact rankings.
Link Text: The text that is included in a link. Example: search engine is a link that contains the text "search engine".
Listings: The information that appears in a search engine as the result of a search.
Meta Search Engine: A search engine that uses the lists of two or more different search engines instead of conducting its own search.
Meta Tags: : Information placed on a web page that is not intended to be seen by the visitor but rather to send information to search engines, browser software and other applications.
Meta Description Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to define how their pages must be described in the search engine lists. Not all search engines use this tag.
Meta Keywords Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to add text to their pages in order to score better in the search engine lists. Not all search engines use this tag.
Meta Robots Tag: Gives the authors of a web page the ability to suppress the indexing of their web pages by search engines, which is especially useful for those that cannot create robots.txt files. The Robots Exclusion page provides official details.
Optimisation: Making a website search-engine-friendly, so that each search engine finds the website, assesses it positively and places it at the top of the results when a search is made.
Organic Listings: : Listings that search engines do not sell (unlike paid listings). Instead, sites appear solely because a search engine has deemed it editorially important for them to be included, regardless of payment. Paid inclusion content is also often considered "organic" even though it is paid for. This is because that content usually appears intermixed with unpaid organic results.
Outbound Links: : links on a given web page that lead to other web pages, regardless of whether they remain linked to the same website or lead to other websites.
PPC/Pay Per Click: Stands for "pay-per-click" and means the same as "cost-per-click".
Paid Inclusion: An advertising program in which, for the payment of a fee, pages are guaranteed inclusion in the index of the search engines. This paid addition, however, provides no guarantee concerning the organic ranking. For example, Looksmart is a directory that indexes pages and sites based not on position but on relevance. Sellers pay to be included in the directory on a CPC (Cost per Click) or Cost-per-URL basis, without being guaranteed a specific ranking.
Paid Listings: The lists that search engines sell to advertisers, usually by paid placement or paid inclusion programmes. These are the opposite of organic scores, which are not sold.
Pay-for-Performance: A name popularised by a number of search engines as a synonym for pay-per-click. Advertisers pay only for the advertisements that generate clicks and traffic. This is in contrast to CPM-based advertisements in which the advertisements themselves cost money, even if they produce no clicks.
Query: See search term.
Ranking/Positie: : The ranking a specific web page or website has in a search engine. For example, a web page about apples can be high on the lists as the result of a search on the word "apples". Nevertheless, the "rank" indicates its precise position, whether on the first page of the results, the second page or perhaps the 200th page. As alternative, one could also say to be first among all the results, or be ranked 12th or generally 111th. All things considered, the fact that a page is mentioned only means that it can be found within a search engine as the result of a search, not that it automatically scores well for this search. This is also called positioning.
Reciprocal Link: An exchange of links between two websites.
Registration: See submission.
Results Page: The page that is displayed after a user enters a "search" is called the "results page". It is sometimes also called the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
Robot: See crawler.
Robots.txt: A file used to prevent the indexing of web pages by the search engines.
ROI: Abbreviation for "Return on investment" and refers to the percentage of profit or revenue resulting from a specific activity. For example, one can measure the ROI of a paid campaign by comparing the total amount allocated to the campaign (€ 200) to the amount of revenue produced (€ 1.000). In this case the ROI is 500%.
Top positions: sites located at the top of the result lists when a search is executed.
Spam:Regardless of the search engines, a marketing method that search engines consider as harmful and thus as unable to provide relevant, qualitative results. Some search engines have written guidelines concerning what they consider to be spamming. In the end, any activity can be considered by a given search engine to be harmful and as spam, regardless of whether there are published guidelines. An example of spam is nonsensical doorway pages that are designed to satisfy algorithmsin an unethical way. This is only one example. Determining what is and is not spam is not always easy due to the fact that different search engines have different standards. A specific search engine can have different standards concerning what is allowed depending on whether the content is gathered in an organic way or via paid inclusion. Spam is also called spamdexing.
SEA: Search Engine Advertising
SEM: Search Engine Marketing
SEO: Search Engine Optimization
SERPS: See result page
Shopping Search: Shopping with shopping search engines allows customers to search for products and prices in a search environment. Shopping sites can pay to be present on a number of "shopping" search engines.
Spider: See crawler
Submission: The transaction that includes a URL in the index of a search engines. Unless done by paid registration, in general this addition means nothing. Moreover, the addition of the URL does not help your scores in a crawler-based search engine unless specific SEO efforts were made. This registration can be done manually (i.e. you fill in an online form to accomplish the addition) or it can be automated via a software application. (See alsoRegistration).
Usability: : A measurement of how easy it is to use something. This can be a piece of software, hardware or a website. In general this is defined in terms of the needs of the user. Often graphics designers as well as technical people must take account of usability. Usability describes the complete spectrum of that which affects the success of a website.
XML Feeds: A form of paid registration in which a search engine is fed information on pages via XML, rather than collecting this information by crawling through actual pages. Sellers can pay to have their pages added to a spider-based search index, or do so yearly per URL or on a CPC (Cost Per Click) basis that is based on an XML document that represents each page on the client site. New media types are being introduced for paid inclusion, including graphics, video, audio, and rich media.
Search Engines: : Each Internet service designed to provide Internet users/surfers the ability to find information on the Internet via this database.
Search Terms: : (search) words entered by someone into a search engine to obtain sites as a result.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Manipur, the land of jewels, gateway to east India, bordered on the north, west and south by the hill tracts of Nagaland, Assam and Mizoram is identified by some historians as the setting for episodes of the Mahabharata epic. The land of misty mornings, mountains and plains that lies just next to Burma was formed, according to legend, when Lord Shiva touched the point of his trident to the earth and created a lake which formed the background for his dance with his consort, Panthoibi. Legend also has it that Manipur was the land where Arjuna, the unerring marksman and the most courageous of the five Pandava brothers in the epic, fell in love with Chitrangada, the daughter of a local king and married her. Manipur's association with dance goes back to the gandharvas and the apsaras (celestial beings) as well as Arjuna, Balarama and Narada (epic heroes).The land is also the birthplace of many folk and community dances as well as the youngest but the most distinctive form of classical dance in the country - the Ras Lila. The origin of the Rasa dances were rooted in a dream of Rajasthani Bhagya Chandra Maharaj (1763-1798) where he saw Lord Krishna in dance and merriment with his love, Radha, and the other gopikas (milkmaids). Even today the raiment worn in the Ras Lila, the stiff under skirt and the short upper one reaching up to the knees, are attributed to King Bhagya Chandra Maharaja's dream.
The Ras Lila dances though in appearance a folk community dance form, reveal highly stylized and honed characteristics. The basic theme of the Ras Lila is the love of Radha and Lord Krishna and their differences and tiffs and making-up and the final joyous celebration of eternal togetherness. They are portrayed as the ideal couple, the ideal lovers. Though the theme itself and the strong vein of classicism evident in the Ras Lila seem to suggest an earlier origin, it was really in the 18th century that the Ras Lila flowered and blossomed into a fine classical dance form. What today goes by the term 'classical Manipuri dance' is based on a foundation laid by King Chandra Kirti (1850-56).
The five Rasas of the finely sculptured Manipuri Rasa tradition each have a specific occasion and season at which to be performed. The six main phases of the dance form are generally composed of an initial stage where Lord Krishna appears and translates his emotions into natya (dance) and abhinaya (expression). Radhya follows and they dance in unison. This forms the Ras Lila proper and is followed by bhangi or argument during which one or the other piqued lover refuses to participate in the general merriment. The lover then proceeds to appease the dejected one and persuades him or her to forgive and join in the dancing again. Milan or reunion of the lovers is then celebrated along with the gopis and gopikas. The final stage is one of prayer where both Radha and the gopis pledge never-ending devotion and trust.In each of the Rasas, however, the sequence of the stages may differ. Maha Rasa, the most elaborate of the Rasas is performed during kartika (November) during the full moon. It depicts the parting of the lovers. Radha threatens suicide in a desperate attempt to impress upon Krishna the depth and intensity of her love. Krishna returns.
Basant Rasa is performed in spring (March-April). The focus in this Rasa is a serious quarrel between Radha and Krishna when he reneges an agreement with his love. a painful separation follows. Latter, a contrite Krishna returns to plead with her. In the Kunj Rasa, joy at togetherness even in the seemingly trivial occupations of daily life is the main theme. Nitya Rasa can be performed on any day of the year. Diva Rasa has to be performed only during the day. The Ashta Gopi/Ashta Shyam Rasa is performed during spring and depicts eight gopis in joyous celebration with eight forms of Lord Krishna. In the Natha Rasa eight gopis sport with Krishna in a magnificent show of colour, mime and facial expression. The poetry of the Rasa dancers is based on the Bhagavat Purana and the verses of poet Jayadeva in the Gita Govinda written in the 12th century. Occasionally women singers take over the singing of the verses allowing the dancers to concentrate purely on the movements and the mime. During the most popular festival of Lai Haroba, the rituals enact the formation of cosmos, the creation and destruction, very symbolically, by placing leaves (the male and the female principle) in the lake at the culmination of a ritual procession. The Jatras (a form of ballet) are usually held during the three major seasons in the annual cycle. The Jhula jatra is performed in autumn and during the monsoon; the Dhol Jatra in winter and the Rath jatra in spring. Men and women sing and dance hand in hand. Among the other popular dances of Manipur is the Pung Cholam where performers dance with the pung or mridanga (king of drum) to amazingly agile and synchronized movements. There is also the Thabal Chongba performed in moonlight in March. But the Manipuri Rasa tradition of classical dance remains the most distinctive and alluring among the classical Indian dance forms in its raiments, its expressions, its music and its very character.
I just saw the picture of the wedding dress from Manipur called Poloi. I have to say it's really amazing. I mean how can someone walk in that? or even sit down? I searched around and found out that they also wear it when they play out Ras Leela. It also said that the dress is sewn on the body. I still can't see how it can be comfortable at all.
The Ras Lila dances though in appearance a folk community dance form, reveal highly stylized and honed characteristics. The basic theme of the Ras Lila is the love of Radha and Lord Krishna and their differences and tiffs and making-up and the final joyous celebration of eternal togetherness. They are portrayed as the ideal couple, the ideal lovers. Though the theme itself and the strong vein of classicism evident in the Ras Lila seem to suggest an earlier origin, it was really in the 18th century that the Ras Lila flowered and blossomed into a fine classical dance form. What today goes by the term 'classical Manipuri dance' is based on a foundation laid by King Chandra Kirti (1850-56).
The five Rasas of the finely sculptured Manipuri Rasa tradition each have a specific occasion and season at which to be performed. The six main phases of the dance form are generally composed of an initial stage where Lord Krishna appears and translates his emotions into natya (dance) and abhinaya (expression). Radhya follows and they dance in unison. This forms the Ras Lila proper and is followed by bhangi or argument during which one or the other piqued lover refuses to participate in the general merriment. The lover then proceeds to appease the dejected one and persuades him or her to forgive and join in the dancing again. Milan or reunion of the lovers is then celebrated along with the gopis and gopikas. The final stage is one of prayer where both Radha and the gopis pledge never-ending devotion and trust.In each of the Rasas, however, the sequence of the stages may differ. Maha Rasa, the most elaborate of the Rasas is performed during kartika (November) during the full moon. It depicts the parting of the lovers. Radha threatens suicide in a desperate attempt to impress upon Krishna the depth and intensity of her love. Krishna returns.
Basant Rasa is performed in spring (March-April). The focus in this Rasa is a serious quarrel between Radha and Krishna when he reneges an agreement with his love. a painful separation follows. Latter, a contrite Krishna returns to plead with her. In the Kunj Rasa, joy at togetherness even in the seemingly trivial occupations of daily life is the main theme. Nitya Rasa can be performed on any day of the year. Diva Rasa has to be performed only during the day. The Ashta Gopi/Ashta Shyam Rasa is performed during spring and depicts eight gopis in joyous celebration with eight forms of Lord Krishna. In the Natha Rasa eight gopis sport with Krishna in a magnificent show of colour, mime and facial expression. The poetry of the Rasa dancers is based on the Bhagavat Purana and the verses of poet Jayadeva in the Gita Govinda written in the 12th century. Occasionally women singers take over the singing of the verses allowing the dancers to concentrate purely on the movements and the mime. During the most popular festival of Lai Haroba, the rituals enact the formation of cosmos, the creation and destruction, very symbolically, by placing leaves (the male and the female principle) in the lake at the culmination of a ritual procession. The Jatras (a form of ballet) are usually held during the three major seasons in the annual cycle. The Jhula jatra is performed in autumn and during the monsoon; the Dhol Jatra in winter and the Rath jatra in spring. Men and women sing and dance hand in hand. Among the other popular dances of Manipur is the Pung Cholam where performers dance with the pung or mridanga (king of drum) to amazingly agile and synchronized movements. There is also the Thabal Chongba performed in moonlight in March. But the Manipuri Rasa tradition of classical dance remains the most distinctive and alluring among the classical Indian dance forms in its raiments, its expressions, its music and its very character.
I just saw the picture of the wedding dress from Manipur called Poloi. I have to say it's really amazing. I mean how can someone walk in that? or even sit down? I searched around and found out that they also wear it when they play out Ras Leela. It also said that the dress is sewn on the body. I still can't see how it can be comfortable at all.
Friday, December 19, 2008
MY STATE. MANIPUR
Manipur is situated in the eastern-most part of India situated in between 24°49′01″N and 93°57′00″E and is bounded by Myanmar to its east. After the independence of India, a democratic form of government was formed in the region with the Maharaja as the executive head and a legislature was established. Manipur became a Part “C” state from 26th January 1950 and it was in 1957 a territorial council of 32 members was set up. In 1963, a legislative assembly was established and Manipur finally achieved full statehood on January 21, 1972.Manipur is a thinly populated state and presently the state is composed of only 9 districts.
Manipur was rightly called “The jewel of India” by Jawaharlal Nehru .The state is mostly mountainous and the valleys are dotted with lakes and is a paradise for nature lovers. This state has many places of natural scenic beauty unknown to most of the people of India. There are many places of tourist interest in state. The capital of the state Imphal is a centre of culture and commercial activity. The other places of tourists’ interest are Bishnu temple at Bishnupur, Loktak Lake, the biggest fresh water lake of eastern India, the Orchid yard at Khongampat. Keibul Lamjao the only floating National Park in the world is also located here in the state. There is one university-Manipur University, Imphal and one agricultural university in Central Agricultural University; Imphal , in the state.
The people of Manipur are grouped into three main ethnic communities: the Meiteis, majority of the people those inhabiting the valley, and the other two main ethno-denominations are, namely Nagas and Kuki-Chins .Besides Marwaris, Bengalis, Nepalis and people of other Indian communities also live here in the state. Agriculture has been the main occupation of the people of Manipur. Paddy is the main crop while maize is also cultivated. Handloom has been the biggest industry of the state where almost 3 lakh of the total population are dependent on it. Manipuri handicrafts are world famous and a major portion of the handicraft products are exported The are almost 10,000 small scale industries in the state. The state has been the first ever to introduce Oak Tasar industry where almost 30 million Tasar cocoons are produced each year.
There have been many social conflicts in the recent past, resulting in tensions between the Meiteis (the valley people) and the so called Naga people residing in Manipur for ages. Manipur is also involved in a border dispute with Nagaland .Manipur is considered a sensitive border state where the foreigners entering Manipur must possess a Restricted Area Permit which can be obtained from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or certain other state government offices. Permits are valid for only 10 days, and visitors must travel only on tours arranged by any authorized travel agents, in groups of four only. Moreover, they have to come to Imphal only by air and will not be permitted to travel outside the capital city. Although amazing but it is true that the game polo originated in Manipur from a similar game called Sagol Kangjei and the British soldiers and planters took it back to England, modified the rules and made it popular around the world .
Manipur is one of the least developed states of India with lack of economic as well as educational infrastructure. Although the GDP is growing at a good rate but heavy industrialization is negligible here. The state is naturally very beautiful with so many varieties of endangered species of animals and birds living here. The state has a long way to go in the field of industrial as well as economic development to stand up face to face with other developed states of the nation.
Manipur was rightly called “The jewel of India” by Jawaharlal Nehru .The state is mostly mountainous and the valleys are dotted with lakes and is a paradise for nature lovers. This state has many places of natural scenic beauty unknown to most of the people of India. There are many places of tourist interest in state. The capital of the state Imphal is a centre of culture and commercial activity. The other places of tourists’ interest are Bishnu temple at Bishnupur, Loktak Lake, the biggest fresh water lake of eastern India, the Orchid yard at Khongampat. Keibul Lamjao the only floating National Park in the world is also located here in the state. There is one university-Manipur University, Imphal and one agricultural university in Central Agricultural University; Imphal , in the state.
The people of Manipur are grouped into three main ethnic communities: the Meiteis, majority of the people those inhabiting the valley, and the other two main ethno-denominations are, namely Nagas and Kuki-Chins .Besides Marwaris, Bengalis, Nepalis and people of other Indian communities also live here in the state. Agriculture has been the main occupation of the people of Manipur. Paddy is the main crop while maize is also cultivated. Handloom has been the biggest industry of the state where almost 3 lakh of the total population are dependent on it. Manipuri handicrafts are world famous and a major portion of the handicraft products are exported The are almost 10,000 small scale industries in the state. The state has been the first ever to introduce Oak Tasar industry where almost 30 million Tasar cocoons are produced each year.
There have been many social conflicts in the recent past, resulting in tensions between the Meiteis (the valley people) and the so called Naga people residing in Manipur for ages. Manipur is also involved in a border dispute with Nagaland .Manipur is considered a sensitive border state where the foreigners entering Manipur must possess a Restricted Area Permit which can be obtained from the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or certain other state government offices. Permits are valid for only 10 days, and visitors must travel only on tours arranged by any authorized travel agents, in groups of four only. Moreover, they have to come to Imphal only by air and will not be permitted to travel outside the capital city. Although amazing but it is true that the game polo originated in Manipur from a similar game called Sagol Kangjei and the British soldiers and planters took it back to England, modified the rules and made it popular around the world .
Manipur is one of the least developed states of India with lack of economic as well as educational infrastructure. Although the GDP is growing at a good rate but heavy industrialization is negligible here. The state is naturally very beautiful with so many varieties of endangered species of animals and birds living here. The state has a long way to go in the field of industrial as well as economic development to stand up face to face with other developed states of the nation.
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