I had a wonderful time playing Holi n that also with all fun n frolic for five days in my life ..that's Imphal
I was mesmerized by such a culturally evolved society but it was bit confusing as there were certain practice I was not able to understand like holika dahan...which got me more intrigued to understand this Manipuri culture....
These are some information which is based on books n interaction with locals...
In the very olden times Manipur valley was inhabited by the people belonging to seven clans who were commonly called Meitei or Meeteis. The Meiteis had their own system of religion, which had its own myths and legends, Gods and Goddesses, priests and priestesses, rituals and festivals, etc. though it was more or less akin to the animism of the tribals. The Meiteis embraced Hinduism in the 18th century A.D.
The tribes of the hills remained unconverted and were relegated by the new Manipuri Hindus to the "degraded heathens". In the later part of the history, when Manipur fell into the hands of British Administrators, missionaries were brought in the hills n converted the tribes to Christianity.
The Manipuri Muslims or "Meitei Pangals" were settled with their religion in Manipur Valley during the 17th century onwards. They are called "Pangans" as derived from Bengal (Bangan then Pangan) the place where they migrated.
The people settling in the valley are called Tam-mee (Valley people) while the people settling in the hills are called Ching-mee( Hill people ). The various social categories like scheduled tribe, scheduled caste and general were made only after Manipur merged with India.
The Meiteis who form the major community have their own Creation myth....Their creation Myth clearly shows how the various plants, living things including humanbeings were created. The Gods who took part in the Creation were considered as powerful Gods and they are worshipped till today.
Every Meitei household keeps a sacred place for Lainingthou Sanamahi who played a major role in creation. Along with this a sacred place for Universal Mother Goddess”Ema Leimarel Sidabi” is also kept separately.. Above this the Meiteis also worship Pakhangba as God of the world outside the household (lamlai). Lai Haraoba which is performed till today is a very important festival which depicts everything from creation till stage by stage development of Meitei Civilization. The real identity of Meiteis can be established from Lai Haraoba only. The religions, customs, beliefs of the Meiteis are all based on Creation ...
Interaction with Hinduism:
In early 17th century the king turned towards Hinduism. He constructed a temple dedicated to Lord Krishna The king readied himself to get baptized by to Sakhya religion. Shakhya religion was also called Nimandi Religion and they were the worshippers of Lord Vishnu and his incarnation Lord Krishna.Vishnu Upasana is also calledVaishnavism. a
Later a Brahmin named Shantidas along with his followers came to Manipur to spread Ramandi religion. Then King Pamheiba under his influence abandoned Sakhya religion and turned towards the new religion called Ramandi. Ramandi religion was the religion of Lord Rama worshippers. Shantidas enlightened the mind of king Pamheiba about the difference between these two Hindu religions. i.e.Nimandi and Ramandi. He explained thus – Nimandi religion is the religion of an ascetic. Its follower has to renounce all worldly pleasures and wealth. This religion belongs to the pious and the saintly people. Such religion is inappropriate for a Kshatriya warrior ..
Then King tried to forcibly convert his people into the new religion by leaving their old Manipuri religious practices... But the people had deep rooted sentiment for the old Manipuri religion. So the conversion was not completely successful, even though there were some changes.
Shantidas knew that the mentality of the people would not be easily changed so he tried different ways to deal with the situation. Some of the changes he introduced were
Brahmins were allowed to enter the Meitei temples to perform the various religious rites.
Then king gave the order to dug out the buried bodies of the dead and the skeletal remains were collected and burnt and the ashes were thrown to Ningthi river. From then onwards the Meiteis started cremating their dead.
Before this the Meiteis did not cremated their dead. Instead there was practice of burial of dead bodies. In the next year the grave would be dug out again to collect the bones. The bones were thoroughly washed and then put in a pot to perform the last rites. This was called Mang Chanba or secondary burial. For the kings and the noblemen the skull was covered with gold or silver and buried again. Then on the completion of one year instead of secondary burial a death anniversary called Kumon Phiroi is being observed.
Rearing of pigs and fowls in the household was prohibited. People were fined if they did so.
During this time, with the falling of misfortune in the land and instability in the minds of the people for their unwillingness to leave old religion and accept new religion, there was utter confusion.
So in order to pacify the minds of the people Shantidas advised the king to revive Sanamahi worship saying that God was one and Sanamahi was the incarnation of Shri Krishna and Rama was also the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. With these a sacred place for Lainingthou Sanamahi was maintained and worshipping started.
But the efforts for conversion to Ramandi religion never ceased. Shantidas thought that until and unless the priceless old manuscripts called Puyas were destroyed people would not accept his religion. So in 1732 A.D all the Puyas..religious text were collected and put to flames in front of Kangla Utra. This incident is called Puya Meithaba in the history of Manipur. In this fire around 120 different Puyas were burnt but it was presumed that the actual number of manuscripts were much more than this.
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However hard Shantidas and the king tried Meitei religion could not be totally replaced by the new religion. This forcible conversion led to a great rift between the king and his people. Seeing the situation Shantidas adopted new measures to appease the people.
The statue of Lainingthou Sanamahi which was destroyed was made again by casting in bronze.
People were then allowed to worship Sanamahi at their homes as before. Worshipping of Umang lai was again revived.
At the same time many Hindu Religious festivals were introduced to the land. The festivals were happily accepted by the people and they became a part of the people’s lives.
How Manipur was named:
With the introduction of Hinduism this land had seen many changes. On the advice of Shantidas this land was named Manipur. Then King Pamheiba also got a new Hindu name i.e. Garibniwaz. The Queen’s name changed to Gomti.
During this time the traditional festivals of the Meiteis got mixed with Hindu festivals thereby losing its original form.
After Maharaj Garibniwaj a strong wave of Vaishnavism arose during the reign of Maharaj Bhagyachandra. By then Hinduism had rooted deeply in the soil of Manipur. Statue of Shri Govind was erected and Ras Leela played. The belief became so strong during the time of Chandrakirti and Churachand Maharaj that speaking without Sanskrit or Bengali words was considered a sign of uncivilized nature. A form of social division called Amang – Aseng (somewhat similar tountouchability) began to flourished. People who did not follow Hindu religion were considered as inferior people.
Mixed Culture: A racial unconscious
Even though Hinduism became the main religion of Manipur the traditional religious beliefs and customs were not totally lost. The religion followed by the Meiteis is a combination of both Meitei and Hindu religion. It is in a synchronous
While making houses the Meiteis still follow the traditional manner and practices. Whenever it comes to selection of proper site the Meitei tradition is followed while laying of foundation and consecration are done in Hindu style by consulting Brahmins.
Inside the houses Sanamahi and Leimarel are worship, outside the houses the Meiteis worship the Tulasi (Sacred basil) planted in their courtyards. Images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses like Saraswati (Goddess of learning), Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth), Durga ( Goddess of war/valour), Vishwakarma ( God of skill) are worship from tome to time. Shiv – ratri, Govardhan Puja are being performed. Along with these the Meiteis also offer vegetables or fruits to Sanamahi everyday or from time to time. Whenever misfortune befall on any person ancestor worship is carried out. There is no Hindu influence here. The Meiteis also carries out worship of Emoinu who is the Goddess of wealth as Goddess Laxmi is worshipped by Hindus..
The Manipuri Ras Leela is a world renowned classical dance form of India. The main theme is based on the story of Krishna (Hindu God) and Radha. But the art form, costumes and inner concept all belong to this land.
Rath Jatra is a part of Hindu religion. This is done in Manipur also. In Manipur a big Rath (Chariot) is drawn from the palace and this is called Konung Kang Chingba. Besides these many smaller raths are drawn in different localities. The tradition followed in Manipur is different from other places. The palace rath should be drawn first before the rathas of the localities. During night a song and dance ritual called Choitep Chongba is performed and khichdi is prepared as prasad. Choitep Chongba is actually singing the songs of Geet Gobind, Das Avtar of the Poet Jaydeva which is accompanied by dancing. Men, Women, Old and young all can take part in this dance which is usually performed in the Mandap (a big space in front of the temple).
So, now in this present times, meitei have divide into two types are according to the religion they follow which is
a. Goura
B. Meitei Marup
Goura follows the rituals and tradition which is mixture of both hinduism and sanamahism while Meitei Marup only follows Sanamahism.
So if we look at above it seems that Manipuri society is still evolving between racial unconscious as well as personal unconscious....They r really to be proud of as how they have evolved n made everything as part of their culture..a true representation of unity in diversity....
