The culture of Meitei civilization evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Ancient Kangleipak, continuing most notably into Medieval Kangleipak, while influencing the neighboring states and kingdoms, till present times.
Dogs are mentioned as friends or companions of human beings, in many ancient Meitei tales and texts. In many cases, when dogs died, they were given respect by performing elaborate death ceremonies, equal to that of human beings.[6]
Being wise is appreciated in Meitei sociaty, but cunning is treated with suspicion. If a person is very cunning, they may be pejoratively be called foxy.[7] Foxes appear in a number of Meitei folktales, including The Clever Fox (ꯂꯝꯍꯨꯢ ꯂꯧꯁꯤꯡ, Lamhui Loushing),[8]The Fox and the Jackal (ꯂꯝꯍꯨꯢ ꯑꯃꯁꯨꯡ ꯀꯩꯁꯥꯜ, Lamhui amashung Keishal),[9] and The Fox's Trick (ꯂꯝꯍꯨꯢ ꯒꯤ ꯇꯥꯠ, Lamhui gi Tat).[10]
The architectural works of the Meitei ethnicity is best known through its Meitei temples as well as ancient buildings including palaces, court halls, offices, entrance gates and so on.
“Dance and music play a vital role in the life span of Manipuri people. The most flourishing branch of Manipuri culture is dance. The Manipuri synonym of dance is jagoi and in this dance, body movements create either circle or ellipse. Rasa dance is the finest product of Manipuri culture. Maharaj Bhagyachandra innovated it and it was first performed in Manipur in 1779 in the fullmoon of Kartik.”
The "Lai Haraoba" festival is an ancient ritualistic music and dance festival, often performed in order to please the Umang Lais and the Lam Lais, whose pantheons are found scattered in the plains of Manipur still today.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
Jagoi, originally spelled as Chatkoi, is the traditional form of dancing, performed by the devotees to please the deities.
Here is a list of the "Chatkoi"s ("Jagoi"s) :
InMeitei mythology and Meitei folkloreofManipur, deforestation is mentioned as one of the reasons to make mother nature (most probably goddess Leimarel Sidabi) weep and mourn for the death of her precious children. In an ancient Meitei language narrative poem named the "Hijan Hirao" (Old Manipuri: "Hichan Hilao"), it is mentioned that King Hongnem Luwang Ningthou Punsiba of Luwang dynasty once ordered his men for the cutting down of woods in the forest for crafting out a beautiful royal Hiyang Hiren. His servants spotted on a gigantic tree growing on the slope of a mountain and by the side of a river. They performed traditional customary rites and rituals before chopping off the woods on the next day. In the middle of the night, Mother nature started weeping in the fear of losing her child, the tree.[20][21][22] Her agony is described as follows:
At dead of night
The mother who begot the tree
And the mother of all giant trees, The queen of the hill-range
And the mistress of the gorges
Took the tall and graceful tree
To her bosom and wailed:
"O my son, tall and big,
While yet an infant, a sapling
Didn't I tell you To be an ordinary tree?
The king's men have found you out And bought your life with gold and silver. * *
At daybreak, hacked at the trunk
You will be found lying prostrate. No longer will you respond
To your mother's call Nor a likeness of you
Shall be found, when I survey The whole hillside.
^Manipuri dance form, along with the Armenian Hov Arek, are referred to as the "National Dances" (of India and Armenia respectively) during the Armenia-India joint issue of postage stamps.[1][2][3]
^"Manipuri, The - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Bangladesh: Banglapedia. Retrieved 2023-12-10. ... Dance and music play a vital role in the life span of Manipuri people. The most flourishing branch of Manipuri culture is dance. The Manipuri synonym of dance is jagoi and in this dance, body movements create either circle or ellipse. Rasa dance is the finest product of Manipuri culture. Maharaj Bhagyachandra innovated it and it was first performed in Manipur in 1779 in the fullmoon of Kartik. ...