ME AND MUSEUM

  Man used to record the repeated phenomenon of the sun, moon and stars to know the time. The behavior and locations of these heavenly bodies based on their daily, monthly or yearly cycles has been the earliest marker to tell about time in many of the civilizations. Even in the contemporary society, the effects of these astronomical signs and their relations are widely used to predict the future. Manipur, once a princely state had experienced the glorious past of using their own time keeping devices. The people of this land had the knowledge of as many as 27 stars that had been named according to their locations and behavior and used as the important element in knowing the time. There is a belief that the people of this land had known the use of time in an appropriate manner since Nongta Lairen Pakhangba - the ruling deity and the first king of the Meitei Kingdom. It is also said that his predecessor  God Pakhangba Leinung Lonja Ariba  and goddess  Leima Leioi Nurabi...

  Heavy and massive in structure, this kind of traditional wooden grinders were used widely in the rural and tribal areas of Manipur. It was an important household item exclusively meant for grinding paddy for domestic consumption. Even after the introduction of electric mills highly equipped with sophesticated mechanical devices, still there are some villages in Manipur where  Oo-Chakri  of this kind are used for grinding paddy. Prepared from two separate logs of either  Heinou  (Mango) or  Theibong  (Jackfruit) tree, it looks similar in sizes. However, these logs are structured according to its mechanical functions. The upper part of the grinder is called  Makhum  and the lower one is named as  Mahak . Meitei term for grinder is  Chakri  and it is synonymous to the word- obstructions. The term  Chakri  is given to denote the obstructions and frictions created between the two logs.  Mahak  possess a central...