This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page.(March 2012)
Padma ShriAshangbam Minaketan Singh is regarded as the founder of Modern Manipuri literature. He was born as the only child to Ashangbam Jivan Singh and Medhabati Devi on 2 May 1906. His grandfather Ashang Kut, also known as Ashangbam Phura Hongba, served as an Officer in The Maharaja of Manipur's army. In March 1891 he played a part in the assassination of British officials and was thereby sentenced for transportation on charge of murder. He was sentenced twenty five years of life imprisonment at Kalapani Jail, which is located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
Minaketan was born at Wangkhei Ashangbam Leikai now known as Wangkhei Angom Leikai in Ashangbam family but was brought up in the family of royal descendants of Maharaja Nara Singh by Sanajaobi Devi, the grand daughter of Maharaja Nara Singh at Moirangkhom Sougaijam Leirak. He graduated from the University of Calcutta in 1930 and by that time he had mastered English, Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit and the Old Meitei languages with utmost fluency. He belonged to the generation which had grown up and saw the difficult times of Manipur in the socio-economic condition under the monarchic system of government shaped by the colonial rule of British Empire. But at the same time, the early part of the 20th century was a glorious year, a transcendental period what we call the renaissance period of Meitei literature. Minaketan worked as Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, Manipur, Lecturer of Manipur College (1962–82), Principal, Thoubal College (1982–83);
His works
Minaketan engaged with every field of literature: poetry, prose, essays, translations, mythology, biography, autobiography, and criticism. His published works numbered more than 25 books on these different branches of literature. Some of his works are Basanta Sheireng (Poetry), 1928; Asheibagi Nityaipod (Poetry), 1976; Asheibagi Sheirol, 1977; Tonu Laijinglembi (Play); Bharatki Lonsingi Marakta (Essay); Meitei Upanyas (Criticism). Ashangbam Minaketan Singh is a name to reckon with among the pioneer poets of Meitei literature. He had associated himself with many State advisory committees. In short, Minaketan himself was an institution, a school of variety of thoughts. One inimitable quality which keeps Minaketan apart from other poets, which makes him occupy a special place in the annals of Manipur literature, is his invention of new words purely from Old Meitei languages spoken in the old days. In Minaketan's poetry, people come across obscure and recondite words or references which are too difficult to understand at the first reading. The vast learning and the vast knowledge he had acquired is expressed in such a twisted manner that it becomes difficult to follow what the poet really intends to say. About Minaketan's style and choice of words, poet Shree Biren has this observation[clarification needed] – It is a fact that any reader will find himself a kind of push which violently thrown out at the very threshold. To know the true Minaketan a reader must face this kind of repulsion and must try to open the door and if one had succeeded to open the door of his treasure house then he will surely enjoy the beauty in the writings and words of Minaketan. Minaketan had the power of impressing the imagination by lines of spleen-dour and magnificence suggesting some half-expressed thoughts, some dimly shadowed emotions. In the twilight years of his life he had seen the mother in every woman even in his own daughter. In his poem 'Sanarik Pareng' he penned 'My loving daughter/ you are my mother/ My mother in you darling'. The sense of vastness and immensity is suggested in several lines of his poem 'Bidai Ashirbad'. The mystery of life is exquisitely and yet mystically suggested:
(Love makes the universe love binds the universe/ love gives soul to the world) The body and the soul are united for him with love to the whole of universe.
In his last poem 'Yachang Sheirol Khameen Tengtha' there is an expression of a communion with god with his love of motherland.
Awards
During his lifetime he was honoured and decorated with many titles and awards Sahitya Ratna from Manipuri Sahitya Parishat(1971), Sahitya Academy Award in Asheibagi Nityaipod (Poetry) (1977), Soviet Land Nehru Award (1977), Kavi Samrat from Thangal Marup, Hailakandi, Cachar (1980), The Most Eminent Citizen of Manipur (1985), Padma Shri (1985), Shubharna Jayanti Sanman Award(1986), Jamini Sunder Guha Gold Medal (1988), Thoibi Award (1988), Lalit Memorial Gold Medal (1990) and many more prestigious awards.
Death and legacy
Ashangbam Minaketan Singh lived a fruitful long 89 years even having to see and play with his youngest grandson, encompassing the whole of the 20th century. He died of a cardiac arrest in 1995 leaving behind his family and above all his legacy in Manipuri literature. He was the representative of the Meitei Literature in the whole of 20th century. On his death it was reported that "The Colossus of Manipur has Fallen."
Birth Centenary
Ashangbam Minaketan State Level Celebration Committee, Imphal observed the 100th birth anniversary of the poet throughout the year 2006, beginning from 2 May 2006, the birthday of the poet. The celebration committee comprising people of literary figure of Manipur included representatives from Manipuri Sahitya Parishad, Naharol Sahitya Premee Samiti, Cultural Forum Manipur, Writers' Forum and Manipuri Literary Society.
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which were originally composed in Sanskrit and later translated into many other Indian languages, and the Five Great Epics of Tamil literature and Sangam literature are some of the oldest surviving epic poems ever written.
Meitei, also known as Manipuri, is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur as well as one of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic. Native to the Meitei people, it is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in parts of neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. It was used as a court language in the historic Manipur Kingdom.
The Meitei script, also known as the Meetei script, is an abugida used for the Meitei language, the official language of Manipur state and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is one of the official scripts of the Indian Republic. It is also popularly known as the Kanglei script and the Kok Sam Lai script. Its earliest known evidence of existence dates back to the 6th century AD coins, engraving the Meitei letters, as verified by the various publications of the National Sahitya Akademi. It was used until the 18th century, when it was replaced by the Bengali alphabet. A few manuscripts survive. In the 20th century, the script has experienced a resurgence, and is again being used. Starting from 2021, Meitei script was officially used by the Government of Manipur, along with the Bengali-Assamese script, to write the Meitei language, as per "The Manipur Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2021".
Meitei literature, also known as Manipuri literature, is literature written in the Meitei language of Manipur. An ancient institution of learning, the Luwang Nonghumsang, later known as the Pandit Loishang, collected sources of indigenous Meitei knowledge and philosophy until the 18th century. Writing by Meiteis is assumed to go back to the Kingdom of Kangleipak in the early 12th century. The Meitei script is a Brahmic abugida. It is known only from the Puya manuscripts discovered in the first half of the 20th century. Manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries were written using the Bengali alphabet. The existence of the Meitei script in the 15th-century hinges on the authenticity of an inscription dated to the reign of Senbi Kiyamba. The first printed Manipuri book, Manipurer Itihas, appeared in 1890 from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. Though the kings of Manipur had established contact with the British from the middle of the eighteenth century onward the real impact of the contact came much later. Johnstone Middle English School, based on the western system of education, was started in 1885 at Imphal, and in 1891 Manipur lost its independence to the British. British domination facilitated the introduction of new systems in the civil, political and educational spheres, which hastened the process of modernization in Manipur, exposed as it was to new ideas and influences.
Khwairakpam Chaoba Singh l was a poet, essayist, prose-writer and novelist. He was born in 1895 in Uripok Sorbon Thingen leikai, Imphal.He was influenced by Sanskrit tradition and is regarded as one of the best known writers of modern Meitei literature.He founded the Manipuri Sahitya Sammelini of Meitei literature along with Dr. Lamabam Kamal Singh, Hijam Irabot and Hijam Anganghal.
Elam Endira Devi, is an Indian classical dancer and teacher, known for her expertise and scholarship in the classical dance form of Manipuri, especially in the genres of Lai Haraoba and Raas. The Government of India honored her, in 2014, with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for her services to the field of art and culture.
Waikhom Gojen Meitei is an Indian poet and educationist from Manipur. The Government of India honored him in 2014 by bestowing upon him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the fields of education and literature.
Khangembam Mangi Singh, popularly known as Guru Pena Mangi, was an Indian musician, known for his expertise on the Manipuri traditional musical instrument Pena. The Government of India honored him in 2011, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Khumanthem Ningol Nameirakpam Ongbi Ibemni Devi was an Indian singer of traditional music, known for her expertise in the Khongjom Praba genre of Manipuri music. The Government of India honoured Ibemni Devi in 2012, with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri.
Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi was an Indian classical dancer and musician, known for her expertise in the Manipuri Dance forms of Lai Haraoba and Raas. In 2010, the Government of India awarded Haobam Ongbi Ngangbi Devi the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Elangbam Nilakanta Singh (1927-2000) was an Indian poet and critic, considered by many as one of the pioneers of modern Meitei literature. A recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1987, Nilakanta Singh was honored by the Government of India, in 2000, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Kshetrimayum Ongbi Thouranisabi Devi is an Indian classical dancer and author, specialising in the Indian classical dance form of Manipuri. She was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Ningthoukhongjam Khelchandra Singh was an Indian writer, lexicographer and historian, known as the author of Manipuri to Manipuri and English, the first modern general dictionary in Meitei language, which was published in 1964. He was a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of Padma Shri in 1987.
Rajkumar Jhalajit Singh was an Indian writer, historian, Gandhian and academic. He was known for his book, "A Short History of Manipur", which was banned from publishing or selling by his own family members, because the book misleads the readers that the Manipuris are the descendants of Arjuna of the Mahabharata.
Yumlembam Gambhini Devi is an Indian singer of Nata Sankirtana and dancer of Manipuri Raas. She is a member of faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) and a recipient of the 1988 Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. The Government of India awarded her the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2005, for her contributions to Manipuri dance and music.
The Khamba Thoibi Sheireng, also spelled as the Khamba Thoibi Seireng, is a 1940 Meitei language classical epic poem based on the ancient love story of Khuman prince Khamba and Moirang princess Thoibi of Moirang kingdom of Ancient Kangleipak. It is the magnum opus of Hijam Anganghal, the "Bard of Samurou". It is regarded as the national epic of the Manipuris. It is regarded as the greatest of all the epic poems in Meitei literature, with 39,000 verses, thereby being the third longest Indian epic poem, next to the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
Nongpok Ningthou, also known as Sovereign of the East or King of the East, is a deity in Meitei mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak. He is the ruling guardian deity of the eastern direction. Legend says Nongpok Ningthou and Panthoibi got united in the Nongmaiching mountains. Later, they were worshipped as the civilization giving deities in Meitei religion.
Lourembam Bino Devi is a practitioner and a popularizer of the appliqué art of Manipur called Leeba in the Meitei language. The Leeba art is used in creating Monmai which is a decorative circular appliqué art piece used in covering both ends of the traditional Manipuri bolster pillow. In the olden days, Leeba was practiced at "Phiribi Loishang", which is a house for maintaining clothes worn by the deities and royals. The apparels used by the royals, including shoes, were mostly designed using the Leeba technique. Bino Devi has devoted her life to practice this art form and to revive it by trying to transmit her skills to younger generation of interested women. She has been providing this training in collaboration with the Heritage Foundation of Mankind, a Non-Governmantal Organization located in Imphal. She has also conducted several workshops at Imphal and at various other places in India.
The social movement of Meitei language to achieve the officially recognised status of the "Classical language of India" is advocated by various literary, political, social associations and organisations as well as notable individual personalities of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Northeast India.
The ancient legend of Khuyol Haoba and Yaithing Konu is one of the epic cycles of incarnations of Meitei mythology and folklore, that is originated from Moirang kingdom of Ancient Kangleipak. It concerns the fateful love of Khuyol Haoba, an orphan man, for the beautiful Yaithing Konu. Khuyol Haoba was the son of late Khundouremba, a court official of Moirang. Yaithing Konu was the daughter of Luwang Huiningsumba, an influential nobleman of Moirang.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
