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The Myth of Origin of the Meiteis of Manipur:Re-Thinking the Pre-Vaishnava Narratives


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1 Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-67, India
     

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Vaishnavism in Manipur is more than two centuries old. However, there is persistence of many pre-Vaishnava elements in their contemporary religious life, the most evident being the deep reverence and worship of some of their most important traditional deities at every Meitei Hindu household. The paper, therefore, is an attempt to re-explore the pre-Vaishnava narratives of the myth of origin of the Meiteis of Manipur, as it not only explains the origin of all these deities but more importantly justifies the extreme importance given to those deities. In other words, the paper tries to re-visit their myth of origin in order to understand the essence of these deities, who still occupyparticular sacred spaces not only at their houses or in their system of beliefs and practices but also in the hearts of the Meitei Hindus even after more than more centuries of Vaishnava dominance.

Keywords

Myth of Origin, Pre-Vaishnava Narratives, Meitei Hindus, Meitei Hindu Household, Traditional Deities.
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  • The Myth of Origin of the Meiteis of Manipur:Re-Thinking the Pre-Vaishnava Narratives

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Authors

Oinam Ronnie Chanu
Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-67, India

Abstract


Vaishnavism in Manipur is more than two centuries old. However, there is persistence of many pre-Vaishnava elements in their contemporary religious life, the most evident being the deep reverence and worship of some of their most important traditional deities at every Meitei Hindu household. The paper, therefore, is an attempt to re-explore the pre-Vaishnava narratives of the myth of origin of the Meiteis of Manipur, as it not only explains the origin of all these deities but more importantly justifies the extreme importance given to those deities. In other words, the paper tries to re-visit their myth of origin in order to understand the essence of these deities, who still occupyparticular sacred spaces not only at their houses or in their system of beliefs and practices but also in the hearts of the Meitei Hindus even after more than more centuries of Vaishnava dominance.

Keywords


Myth of Origin, Pre-Vaishnava Narratives, Meitei Hindus, Meitei Hindu Household, Traditional Deities.

References