"Hand-gestures are an integral part of the form. The hand-gestures are prevalent in the older Maibi tradition as well, but they do not have any names. The later Rasleela tradition has Sanskrit names for the hand-gestures, in fact that is [the] way we were taught. Other Indian dance forms have very similar traditions of hand-gestures. Later on, in the 1970s during the peak of the political unrest Hidanmayum Thambal Sharma started a new tradition as he re-named the hand-gestures with Meitei names."