Hinduism in Manipur

Hinduism is one of the religions practiced in the state of Manipur, India. Hinduism is concentrated in the valley districts of Manipur located in the regions neighbouring Assam state. Hinduism is practiced mostly among the Meitei people, Nepali people, and Bengali people. Whilst the proportion of Manipur's population that practices Hinduism is roughly 41%, in the Manipur valley region Hindus constitute as much as 67-74% of the population.

History

The state Manipur was known as Kangleipak (Meitei: ꯀꯪꯂꯩꯄꯥꯛ) before adoption of Hindu religion. Manipura (lang-sa:मणिपूर) is mentioned in Mahabharata's third parva (Vana Parva). Arjuna travelled the length and breadth of India during his term of exile. His wanderings took him to ancient Manipura, an almost mystic kingdom renowned for its natural beauty. The location of Manipura is highly debated. It is considered as the location of Manipura mentioned in this passage of Mahabharata. Chitrāngadā (Sanskrit: चित्रांगदा, citrāṅgadā), in the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, is the Princess of Manipura, the Daughter of king Chitravahana and one of Arjuna's consorts. She had a son named Babhruvahana with him.

A copper plate excavated from Phayeng dating back to AD 763 (reign of King Khongtekcha) was found to contain inscriptions about the Hindu deities in Sanskrit words. During the 13th century, King Meidingu Khumomba constructed a Lord Hanuman temple. suited much according Mahabharat mythology.Also the term Manipur for Kangleipak was in used only after the rule of King Pamheiba there are many hard facts and historical evidence of Pamheiba of burning ancient written records of Kangleipak which were found recently and verified by National archive of India in 1989. In 1704, King Charairongba accepted Vaishnavism and changed his name to Pitambar Singh.Template:Reliable However, the first Hindu temples were constructed much earlier. The Vishnu temple at Lamangdong was constructed in AD 1474 (during the reign of King Kiyamba), by Brahmins from the Shan State. As per the legends, the temple was constructed to house the Vishnu emblem given to King Kiyamba by King Khekhomba of Shan. Phurailatpam Shubhi Narayan was the first Brahmin priest of this temple.

Impact of Gaudiya Vaishnavism

The Bisnupriya Manipuri were initiated to the religion of Chaitanya during the middle of 18th century AD. But even before that time, they followed some other form of Vaishnavism as is known from the Khumal Purana. It seems that early form of Vaishnavism followed by Bishnupriya Manipuri had some relation with the Vaishnavism of Sri Sankardeva; and the religio-cultural affinities between the Assamese and the Bishnupriya Manipuries are due to that religious impact. Thus we may say that Manipuri were traditionally Vaisnavites but, there is a fact of conversion during the 18th century was only from Sankara school of thought to Chaitanya school of thought.

Historical Legend

Shree Govindajee Temple in Imphal

According to mythological lore related to Bhagya Chandra, the King of Manipur who ruled in 1759, the Hindu god Krishna appeared to him in a dream and directed him to carve images of His from a particular jackfruit tree in Kaina.

In 1765 Chandra was defeated by King Alaungpaya of Konbaung Burma (now Myanmar), and as a result he escaped to Cachar in Assam and took asylum with King Swagadeva Rajeshwer Singh of Tekhau. However, Chandra's uncle, who had plotted with the Burmese king to oust him from Manipur, complained to Rajeshwer Singh that Chandra was an "impostor". The Assamese king became suspicious and ordered that Chandra should fight a rogue elephant to prove his bravery and innocence.

As King Chandra was a highly religious person, dedicated to the worship of Krishna, he appealed for help. Acceding to Chandra's prayers, Krishna appeared to him in a vision the night before the fight with the elephant. He told the king to face the elephant in front of a jackfruit tree in which he would be present, holding a rosary of Tulsi. Krishna commanded that after the fight he should carve images of His out of that particular jackfruit tree, and to deify and worship them in temples built for the purpose.

The next day when the encounter took place in front of the jackfruit tree in Kaina, the wild elephant, instead of attacking Bhagya Chandra, bowed before him with reverence. After this, the king of Assam decided to help Bhagya Chandra. With his help, Chandra led an army to Manipur and won back his kingdom.

Once back home, Chandra forgot about his promise to Krishna. One day Krishna appeared in the garb of a boy before a woman at Kaina, and asked her to give Him food. He told her about the commitment made to Him by King Chandra. The boy then disappeared. When this incident was conveyed to the King, he realized his lapse and immediately came to Kaina to find the jackfruit tree to make the images of Krishna. However, with the first strike of an axe the tree started bleeding, forcing him to stop cutting. He appeased the tree by offering worship, following which he uprooted the tree without trouble and had it carried away to make the images. In another version it is said that in 1778, after the tree was cut it was moved along the Iril River but after a short distance of travel the tree got bogged down in water; this place is known as "Urup". Even with the help of elephants it could not be pulled out of water. Then the king himself started helping people in pulling it when it surfaced out of water. Then an aarti was performed in reverence of Govindajee; this place is known as "Arapti".

The Puranas as to account of the pre-historic forms of Vaishnavism or Bhagavatism in the area of present state, the modern history of Vaishnava practices in Manipur started with a king of the Shan kingdom of Pong gifting a murti of Vishnu chakra (the symbolic disc of Vishnu or Krishna) to Kyamaba, king of Manipur, so since the 1470s the kings of Manipur started worshiping Vishnu. Many brahmana priests from the west, main areas of India, came to Manipur and settled there. The account of the arrival of the members of brahmanas is found in the records of the book Bamon Khunthoklon. King Kyamba (1467–1523) built a Vishnu mandir in Vishnupur, a notable architectural monument. In 1704 King Charai Rongba was initiated into Vaishnava tradition and since then Vaishnavism became the state religion. This consolidated the cultural contact with India even further. King Gareeb Nivaz was ruling from 1709 to 1748 and he was initiated into Vaishnavism of Chaitanya tradition, by followers of Narottama Dasa Thakura, who worshiped Krishna as the supreme deity, Svayam bhagavan. He practiced this religion for nearly twenty years. Preachers and pilgrims used to arrive in large numbers and cultural contact with Assam was maintained. It is believed that the wave of devotion that turned the entire kingdom Krishna conscious took place during the reign of Gareeb Nivaz's grandson Bhagyachandra.

The Manipuri Vaishnavas do not worship Krishna alone, but Radha-Krishna. With the spread of Vaishnavism the worship of Krishna and Radha became the dominant form in the Manipur region.

Tradition

Hinduism is popular mostly among Meiteis, Nepalis, Bengalis. Krishna is popular deity among Meitei people. Durga is popular goddess among Bengali people. Shiva is popular deity among Nepali people. Vishnu is popular deity among Bishnupriya Manipuri people.

Demographics

According to census of 2011,six districts of Manipur which are Bishnupur (97.76%), Thoubal (73.21%), Imphal East District (60.27%), Jiribam (48%), Kakching and Imphal West District (89.68%) have Hindu majority. Kangpokpi district (15%) and Senapati district (17.29%) have Hindu population between 15-20%. Other Christian dominated districts have small Hindu populations (3-6%).

Hindu communities in Manipur

• 
  Meitei Hindus

• Bishnupriya Manipuri people