A Glimpse of the Hindunisation Manipuri Festival

Abstract

The Manipuri (Meitei) are an ethnic group native to the state of Manipur. It is located  in North-eastern India. The Manipuri settled mainly in Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram with a notable presence in neighbouring Myanmar and Bangladesh. Hinduism has been followed in Manipur for  more than a couple of century and half.  In the middle of 18^th century,  the reign of Maharaja Garibaniwasj(1709-1748 AD). Hinduism was declared as the state religion firmly established  by the successor Kings. Garibaniwaj embarked on a repressive process of Hindunisation directly challenging traditional native religious beliefs and practices. His reign was in the cultural sphere of Manipuri. During this time  Hindu rituals reach to the veins of  Manipuri society and become part of it. The rich culture of the region that was flourished since the Meitei civilization became into existence begun to settle in to new culture. With this conversion to Hinduism the different Hindu culture and traditions were assimilated in to the Manipuri Culture. In this paper I try to analyse some of the major practices of  Hindunisation Manipuri festivals in the society.