Religion of manipur

The people of Manipur follow several faiths and religions which can be traced down to its unique historical past. Manipur preserved an ancient indigenous religion rich in mythology and colorful in ritual, known today as the Sanamahi. Sanamahi worshiped is concentrated around Sidaba Mapu, the one God. The Manipuri copper plates dates Saka year 721 issued by King Khomtekcha, ruler of Manipur from 763 AD to 773 AD, mention worship of Sanamahi. Early Manipuris were the devotees of a Supreme diety “Lainingthou Soralel” following the footprint of their Godly ancestors. That particular kind of ancestor worship and animism, with the central focus of worship on Umang Lai – that is, local governing deities worshiped in sacred groves.

Some of the local gods (Lais) they worship are Atiya Sidaba, Pakhangba, Sanamahi, Leimaren, Oknarel, Panganba, Thangjing, Marjing, Wangbaren, Koubru. The religious life of the people, even when they adopted mainstream Hinduism, retained many characteristics inherited from their prehistoric ancestors. The essentials of this religion remain recognizable to the present day. Hinduism has a long tradition in Manipur, however Vaisnavism penetrated Manipur during the reign of King Kyamba and King Khagemba in the 15^th century. Towards the end of the 17^th century and at the advent of the 18^th century, a great force to Gaudiya Vaishnavism came and spread in Manipur. Over the last couple of decades there has been a revival of Sanamahi religion and this is evident in the significant growth of the ‘other’ religion category in the 2001 census. Around 10% of the population identified themselves under this category. Sanamahi religion is the original religion of the Meitei people living in Manipur.

Due to the changing demographic profile of the state, Sanamahi will now be included in the next Government of India population census in 2011. Other religions prevalent in the region are:

Christianity

Christianity in the hill tracts of north-eastern region spread as a result of the British religious policy in the area. At present almost all of the hill tribal population in Christian. All groups of Nagas and Kukis of Manipur have adopted Christianity. The Bible is available in Tangkhul, Thadou, Lushai and Meitei dialects. Christianity is the second largest religion in the state accounting for 35% of the population.

Islam

Most of the Muslims in Manipur are descendants of Bengali immigrants and are commonly referred to as Pangans. Muslims form about 8% of the population.

The tribes of Manipur believe in the Supreme God, spirits of ancestors and the evil spirits in and around the villages. The Naga group call the supreme God as the ‘Rangung’ and the Kuki-Chin groups as ‘Pathoian’. They believe that a good person after death goes to heaven but the bad ones are punished by God to get their rebirth in the lower position of life. Some of the Naga groups are ‘animist’ which 9religion0 spread sometimes before 1927. Christianity was first introduced in Manipur in 1894 at Ukhrul by Rev. Pettigrew, since then, Christianity has more attracted the tribal people of Manipur than ‘animism’. The American Baptist Mission, The North East India General Mission, the Presbyterian Church, the Roman Catholic Mission, the Seventh Day Adventist, Independent Church of India are spreading Christianity among the tribals of Manipur. A copperplate inscription of the 8th century AD was discovered in 1935, in which it is mentioned the names of God Shiva, Ganesha, Vishwakarma and Hari as well as Goddess Devi. It is unknown when Vaishnavism entered into Manipur. Perhaps it spread in Manipur in 15th century and earned it’s popularity during the time of Garib Niwaz (whose earlier name was Pamheiba). In the early part of 18th century, when Ramanandi Vaishnavism was introduced through Shantidas Adhikari (Goswami). In the late 18th century, Maharaja Bhagyachandra and his subjects began to worship Radhakrishna. ‘Gauriya’ Vaishnavism of Nabadwip (Bengal) spread in the valley of Manipur which came by way of Sylhet (Bangladesh) and this got much popularity during the time of Maharaja Jai Singh which was introduced through Ramnarayan Shiromani. Grandfather of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Bishnupriya Manipuri (Mayang) got their name from God ‘Vishnu’ (i.e. lovers of Vishnu is called Bishnupriya) and in the line of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s faith. Tha Maiba (i.e. Meithei Preist) and the Maibi (Meithei Priestess) now form an integral part of the Meithei Brahmins and the Vaishnavas of Manipuri Hindus.

Manipur & It's Religious Beliefs