ME AND MUSEUM

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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 first sought the ab...

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 shaft through which the upper body Makhum is mounted. The teeth of both the segments are pre...

THE MORANS AND THEIR TRADITIONAL HOUSE - N.Shakmacha Singh The Morans are mostly found in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam. Larger concentration of this population exists in the eastern extremity of the Tinisukia district, and those inhibiting in this region are traditionally known as Morans of the Samarpith. We often find that Moran-Matak as a single nomenclature is simultaneously used and sometimes they are also called the Mayamaria or Moamaria. This creates a some kind of confusion to the people who visit them. It seems sometimes that Moran and Mottok are synonymous to one another. This juxtaposition, however, is confusing, but provides some interesting aspects of their socio-cultural and historical blending of their ancestral past. Prior to 1251 A.D., the region between the Brahmaputra and the Burhi Dihing in Dibrugarh district, was called Matak country and was ruled by Bor Senapati. (Sipra Sen 1999:154). Matak is a politically organised, greater community formed by s...

Under the guidance of four traditional painters of the Royal Guild (Karigar Loishang), eight young contemporary artists took part in a workshop jointly organized by IGRMS and Manipur State Museum in the year 2000 at Imphal. These paintings depict some of the interesting episode of the legendary epic of Moirang Kingdom - the Khamba and Thoibi. The myth of Moirang is unveiled from the tragic end of an adoring pair of he-pegion and she-pegion. An unknown hunter in his own delight had killed the birds. This unfaithful incident had alienated the union of the two souls in this living world. It was under the willful act of the Almighty that the two souls took rebirth successively up to their ninth humanly reincarnations. The seventh rebirth has stamped a spectacular event of prowess, treachery and conflict of human sentiment into this Kingdom. Khamba- the poor orphan born in a poor family and his only sister Khamnu gave all her utmost care to grow a faithful brother who always strives for t...

Rabha way of celebration by drinking CHOKO- a locally brewed rice beer. (Rampur Village, Assam, India)

Saling- a memorial of the ancestral past