ME AND MUSEUM

SANCHIPAT LEKHAN An ancient technique of writing Manuscript    Sachipat does not mean the leaf of a Sachi tree. In Assamese the leaf of a tree is referred to as Pat from the ancestral past and it became synonymous to the use of barks which appears as much as thin like a leaf. As morapat is referred to the bark extracted from Mora plant in Assamese the writing material prepared from the bark of sacred Sashi tree is call ed Sachipat. The tree of age more than 50 years of growth is preferred appropriate for the extraction of Sachipat. The cut-off portion of Sachi tree is filled up with fresh cow dung so that it could be filled up within a period of 5-6 months. Traditionally, the Satra has to maintain sanctity and purity for collecting Sachi pat. The persons assigned for the collection of Sachipat has to undergo certain cultural practices according to the Vaishnav tradition. In the early morning, before visiting the site of collection, the collector has to take ceremonial...

THE MORANS A field note by: N.Shakmacha Singh, Srikant, Kumud Saikia, Jitu Goswami Moran Largely concentrated in the Tinsuk a district of Assam, the Morans inhabiting in this region (traditionally called the Samarpith area) identify themselves as the people who devote their life with the domestication of elephant. According to a native of Ubon village, "elephant has been our cultural property and we have been living together with elephant since time immemorial". It is also said that their ancestors came to the region with elephants and during the days of monarchy, the Morans were the only people who fulfill the demand of elephants to the King. Well trained in the catching of wild elephants, they are also the true friend of this beautiful animal. In the olden days it is said that the life of a Moran family is incomplete without elephant. Inherited from their ancestral past, the Morans have the knowledge to read the mind of an elephant. Their traditional house has a reser...

shakmacha's blog in www.igrms.com

An Earthen container   Longpi Kajui village, Ukhrul District, Manipur Tribe: Tangkhul If you know about this beautiful work of the Tangkhul pottery, please leave your comment.

Tribal Museum and Research Centre, Imphal, Manipur- a private museum established in the year 1987 brought out a very popular programme entitled “Know Your Manipur” in the year 1997. Know Your Manipur' as a programme of study tour, adventure, self-discovery began with a three day tour to Willong Khullen village inhabited by one of the important tribal group of Manipur called Maram. Thirty three members from different academic disciplines participated in the tour. The team carried out visual and textual documentation on ethno-cultural aspects of the tribe and soon after one month, the museum conducted onward tour to Lunghar village inhabited by Tangkhul tribe of Manipur under the second phase of the same series. The visual and textual materials collected during the tour were systematically compiled and the findings were published and a book was released in the September 1997. The book titled Know Your Manipur edited by Salam Rajesh under the Museum Publication was indeed a remarkabl...

- By Shrikant Gupta Gharat is a traditional mill used for grinding cereals and grains for day-to-day domestic consumption. This typical form of mill is found in the mountainous and rugged terrain of Himalayan region especially in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Natural sources of water available in these undulating hilly terrain that are flowing turbulently through out the years are used for operating the mills. The simple devices used in running the mill are locally manufactured by the folk and rural people who are inhabiting in this region. Installation of these kinds of traditional mills are mostly found to the site where perienial source of water is available. These running streams carrying large volume of water is managed to pass through a canal locally constructed at an elevated point from where water can be dropped with desirable amount of force. From this elevated point, a long wooden canal is mounted in an inclined position ...

"Knowing Culture and Traditional Wisdom: a Unique Mantra for human survival" "Let us assume for an instance when this modern and technological world gets unfortunately swip up by an uncertain natural forces, those which are not commandable to the legacies of human control. Imagine the situation when our communication systems, transport systems and many other modern gadgets get suddenly droped out by the so called disasters, and people who fortunately escape are bound to struggle for life in different environmental and topographical conditions- I think, the time would be a worst experience if we do not recall the way of life led by our ancestors; their culture, knowledge and wisdom which they had passed on to us from several generations. I think, every ethnic groups of different human population has their own cultural value system, which they thrive upon to live with. It seems that our moral responsibility is to know our traditional values with a great sen...