The Lai Haraoba is one of the most important rituals of Manipur. It mirrors the culture of Manipuri people. The Meetei word ‘Lai’ means God, haraoba means ‘pleasing’. Hence, literary meaning of ‘Lai haraobastands ‘Pleasing of God’ (Hudson, 1975:104). E. Nilakanta Singh, a local cholar interprets LsiHaraoba as ‘merry making of gods and goddesses’. Colonel MeCulloch also describes Lai Haraoba as (Lai=Deity, and Haraoba= to be merry or to make merry. Many of the local scholars believed that the antiquity of Lai Haraoba goes back to mythological origin. NgariyanbamKulachandra, PanditAchouba, describes about the origin of Lai haraoba. According to him, the word Lai Haraoba is derived from Lai Hoi Laoba, literally shouting of hoi by the lais. That is a ritual performance based on Meetei myth of creation. It is a performance, re-enacting the act of creation by the Almighty. The Manipuri version in his book ‘Meitei Lai haraoba’ about the origin of the word laiharaoba runs as follows: