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.
Sanamahism or Meiteism or Lainingthouism, is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Kangleipak in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion and is named after God Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of the Meitei faith. Sanamahi is the eldest son of the supreme god Yaibirel Sidaba and the supreme goddess Leimarel Sidabi. Traditionally every Meitei household, irrespective of the religion, worships Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi. The importance of Sanamahi in the religion is also emphasized in the name itself which means Liquid Gold. Sanamahism does not have a religious head but has a body, Maru Loishang that oversees the main religious activities and govern all affairs pertaining to the religion including conducts of priest and priestess. The Maru Loishang also acts a court for religious disputes. There are three main departments under the Pandit Loishang, namely, the Amaiba Loishang, the Pena Asheiba Loishang and the Amaibi Loishang. These departments have existed since the reign of King Meidingu Hongnemyoi Khunjao Naothingkhong of Manipur in 662 AD.
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.
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.
The Sekta Archaeological Living Museum is a museum in Sekta village in the Indian state of Manipur. It is a protected archaeological site which is one of the six mounds identified in the area. It is known for its secondary burial finds. This site was excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India in association with the State Archaeology Department of Manipur. The Department of History of the Manipur University was also associated with the excavations carried out in 1991.
Soibam Rebika Devi is an Indian translator who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Meitei.
Nongshaba, also spelled as Nongsaba, is a Lion God in Meitei religion (Sanamahism) and mythology. He is also regarded as a king of the gods. He is credited with producing light in the primordial universe and is regarded as the maker of the sun. He is worshipped by the people of both the Ningthouja clans as well as the Moirang clans. God Nongshaba was worshipped by the people of Moirang clan as a lineage deity and regarded as the father of God Thangching (Thangjing). He is the greatest of the Umang Lais in Ancient Kangleipak but he made his only son Thangching (Thangjing) the chief deity of Moirang.
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.
The Manipur State Museum is an institution displaying a collection of artistic, cultural, historical and scientific artefacts and relics in Imphal, Manipur, India. It has galleries housing materials of natural history, ethnology and archeology.
The Konthoujam Lairembi Stone Inscription or Konthoujam Lairemma Stone Inscription is a Meitei language stone inscription found in a sacred site dedicated to Goddess Konthoujam Tampha Lairembi of Sanamahism in Konthoujam village of Manipur.
Konthoujam Tampha Lairembi or Chingphuron Konthousu is a goddess in Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism) of ancient Kangleipak. She was formerly a mortal being belonging to the Haorok Konthou clan. She is a consort of the sky god Salailen. Her only child is Khoriphaba.
Yumjao Leima or Yumjao Lairembi or Yumjao Lairemma is the mother goddess of house, household, royalty, rule and power in Meitei mythology and religion. She is designated as the all time ruling Queen Mother. Legend says she assumes a human form in white clothes and blesses kings. She is one of the divine incarnations of Leimarel Sidabi.
Pureiromba is a God in Meitei mythology and religion. He is the giver of rain and agricultural prosperity. He is one of the major Umang Lai deities. He is the Ancestor God of the Angom clan of the Meitei ethnicity.
Panam Ningthou is a God in Meitei mythology and religion. He is the protector of crops, especially paddy from hailstorm and thunder. According to legends, He ignited fire for the first time by rubbing flints. He is one of the Umang Lai deities.
Meitei mythology or Manipuri mythology is a collection of myths, belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. It is associated with traditional Meitei religion (Sanamahism). Meitei myths are a part of Meitei culture and explain various natural phenomena, how the human civilization developed, and the reasons of many things happening. Most of the Meitei legends are found in the Meitei language texts.
Thangching or Thangjing is a primordial deity in Meitei mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak. He is the ruling deity of the Moirang dynasty of Ancient Moirang. He rules supreme on the banks of the landlocked sea, Loktak lake. He is one of the four cardinal Umang Lais. The guardianship of the south western direction is alluded to Thangjing and the other directions to Koubru, Marjing and Wangbren.
Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, was the first Meitei monarch of the Ningthouja dynasty, who ascended the throne of the Kangla of Kangleipak realm) in 33 AD, after the withdrawal of the mainstream powers of the Khabas. Before the reign of king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the clans, or salais were already in existence.
The ancient legend of Ura Naha Khongjomba and Pidonnu 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 love and the adventures of Ura Naha Khongjomba, a forgotten prince, for the beautiful Pidonnu. Khongjomba was the biological son of King Laijing Ningthou Punsiba of Moirang and Lady Tonu Laijinglembi, but he was born in the house of his foster father Kadeng Thangjahanba, the second husband of Tonu Laijinglembi. Pidonnu was the daughter of a nobleman of Moirang.
The Nongmaiching Ching, also known as the Selloi Langmai Ching, is a mountain in Imphal Valley, Manipur. It has an altitude of around 5,133 feet (1,565 m). It is a holy pilgrimage site for the Meitei people. In Meitei mythology and religion (Sanamahism), it is a sacred mountain and the abode of God Nongpok Ningthou and Goddess Panthoibi. In Meitei folklore, the Nongmaiching is described as the hill that produces "the seven days of a week".
Meidingu Hongnemyoi Khunjao Naothingkhong was a Meetei ruler of Ningthouja dynasty of Ancient Manipur. He was the successor of Ura Konthouba and the predecessor of Khongtekcha. He ran away from the Kangla at the age of about 10 or 12 years and went to live along the Shelloi Langmais in the Nongmaiching Hill in the eastern Manipur. He was mad in love with Pitang-nga, a Langmai girl and married her. They lived in her parents' house. This is the first reference to the matrilocal residence in the history of Manipuri ethnicity. According to ancient sources, he has six wives from different clan principalities of Ancient Manipur. In fact, he has nine total wives, out of which three are childless. So, in general cases, it is regarded as he has six wives. He married Princess Ewanglon Namun Chaobee after engagement. Luwang Ningthou Punshiba of Luwang dynasty gave training of state craft and the art of governance to Naothingkhong when he was a prince. Besides, the great-grandson of Luwang Ningthou Punshiba married Naothingkhong's daughter.
