Cultural Heritage of Manipur

Inter - state exhibition on

'Cultural Heritage of Manipur'

from Manipur State Museum Collection at Indian Museum Exhibition Hall, Calcutta.

September 2-15,2000

Manipur is land of legends and myths - of gods and goddesses, heroes and kings. These form the background to the State's rich repository of cultural and material heritage, for which Manipur is known popularly to the outside world.
	The recorded history of Manipur commences from 33 A.D. onwards. But much earlier to it there has been instances of human activity, and the associated myths and legends. Its two thousand years of history and civilisation finds much substance in the available cultural properties that form the bulk of Manipur State Museum's collections
Manipur's cultural background is highly interesting for study. From the period before Christ up to the advent of Hinduism around l8th century A.D., the people here followed ancestor worship and animism, with the central focus of worship on Umang Lai - that is, local governing deities worshipped in sacred groves. This form of worship is the root to the preservation of much of the people's ancient ways of life and culture - seen today in the famous Lai Haraoba festival held each calender year.
	The late l7th Century and the early l8th Century A.D. saw a turn in Manipur's cultural history with the establishment of the Hindu religion and philosophy. The Kings patronised the new religion, and it paved the way for a dual system of worship and way of life - the pre and the post Hindu influences. Till today, the people follow the dual system of worship, and beliefs. This assimilation saw interesting development in the cultural properties.
The Lai haraoba gave root to the famous raslila, the Manipuri classical dance. The dance form was conceived by Rajashri Bhagyachandra Maharaja in 1779 A.D. It opened a new chapter in Manipur's cultural history. There was invention of ingeniously developed dress and costume, ornamentation, scriptures, illustrated manuscripts, temple paintings, mural and wall paintings depicting stories from Hindu mythology yet maintaining a clear and strong essence of indegenous concepts.
	The Manipur kings also patronised art as such. In the l8th and the 19th century A.D., there was much development in art, as seen in the magnificent textile designs and patterns especially used by the royalty and those which were offered to the Umang Lais. In fact traditional dress such as the Laiphi, Kamap Lamthang Khuthat, Innaphi with Phijin borders, Pumthit Phanek, etc. are examples of the exquisite craftsmanship of those times.
The present exhibition by Manipur State Museum highlights the cultural properties of both pre and the post-Hindu era and in between the undeniable influences of Buddhism in the State in certain period of history. It is interesting to note that in recent excavations, much artefacts that are clearly Buddhist in character and texture, were discovered. This led to the belief that in certain period of time, Buddhism found an inroad in Manipur though dates are yet to be ascertained, it is calculated to around circa l7th-l8th Century A.D. In explaining the cultural heritage of Manipur, it would not be complete, without a reference to the rich and colourful cultural properties of the more than thirty ethnic tribes in the State. Their assorted dress and costume, ornaments, musical instruments, folklore, folk dance and song are added cultural properties of the State. These add colour and vigour to Manipur's rich repository of cultural heritage.