Sanamahism

Sanamahism is a religion followed by the Meiteis, Pangals, Kabuis, Zeliangrongs and other ethnic groups in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, Assam, Tripura and in other countries including Bangladesh and Myanmar.[2][3][4] Although the religion is polytheistic, Sanamahism or Sanamahi Laining translates to the religion of Sanamahi, one of the most important deities. Sanamahi is the eldest son of the supreme god Yaibirel Sidaba (also known as Saalailel Sidaba) and the supreme goddess Leimarel Sidabi. Traditionally every Meitei household, irrespective of the religion, worships Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi. The importance of Sanamahi in the religion is also emphasized in the name itself which means Liquid Gold. Sanamahism does not have a religious head but has a body, Maru Loishang (also known as Pandit Loishang) that oversees the main religious activities and govern all affairs pertaining to the religion including conducts of priest and priestess.[5] The Maru Loishang also acts a court for religious disputes.[5] There are three main departments under the Pandit Loishang, namely, the Amaiba Loishang, the Pena Asheiba Loishang and the Amaibi Loishang.[6] These departments have existed since the reign of King Meidingu Hongnemyoi Khunjao Naothingkhong of Manipur in 662 AD.[6]

This article is about the Sanamahism religion. For consideration of ethnic, historic and cultural aspects of the Sanamahist identity, see Meetei.

Sanamahism (ꯁꯅꯥꯃꯍꯤꯖꯝ)
The Symbol of Sanamahism (Source:Wakoklon Heelel Thilen Salai Amailon Pukok Puya)
Total population
approx. 235,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
Manipur, India
Scriptures
Puyas written on religious beliefs in Meitei Mayek
Languages
Meitei language

The deities in Sanamhism can be classified into the main deities, ancestral deities called Apokpa, deities of Meitei clans (Yek Lai) or family (Saghei Lai) and regional deities called Lam Lai or Umang Lai. Worship of the Apokpa deities, the Yek Lais or the Saghei Lais are within a clan, families sharing the same surname. Regional deities are worshipped by the residents around the temple of the Umang Lais. The Umang Lais are often one of the main deities or an incarnation of the main deities. The worship of Umang Lais and the ritual that this entails, referred to as the Umang Lai Haraoba, is one of the main religious festivals in Sanamahism. There are similarities between the Umang Lais and the Nat deities of Myanmar.[7]

All the deities are denoted by the universal term Lai which means god in Manipuri. When referring to a male deity, the terms Lainingthou, Ebhudhou or Epa are used while the terms, Lairembi, Ebhendhou or Ema are used to refer to a female deity. Lairembi is mostly used for the Umang Lais.

Origin

The first mentions are found in the Cheitharol Kumbaba, the Court Chronicles of the kings of Kangleipak (old name of Manipur), starting from the king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, who ruled for more than a century, from 33–154 CE.

A recently built Sanamahi temple, Kangla Fort, Imphal East, Manipur.

Description

Sanamahism is a folk religion. It competes with and co-exists with either Vaishnavism – a tradition of Hinduism – among the Meitei people, Sunni Islam – among the Pangal people or Roman Catholic – among Meitei Christians. Opponents and rebel groups have sought to revive Sanamahism and related practices to emphasize the Manipuri heritage, along with seeking a ban on Bengali script and replacing it with the old Meitei script which was forcefully banned during the reign of King Garibniwaz.[8][9]

Etymology

Sanamahism is also known as Sanamahi Laining, for it originated from the ancient kingdom of Kangleipak.[10]

Revival

The collective effort of the revival of Sanamahism is often referred to as the Sanamahi movement. The earliest accounts can be traced back to the formation of the Apokpa Marup by Naorem Phullo (Laininghal Naoria) in 1930 at Cachar (present day Assam, India).[11] The movement spread to the Manipur Valley by 1934. Although the movement did not gain momentum due to the Japanese invasion in the Second world war, plans were initially made to intensify the movement under the leadership of Takhellambam Bokul (Sanamahi Bokul).[11] Phullo died in 1941.

Three years after the dead of Phullo in 1944, the movement finally started gaining momentum in Manipur. Resolutions were made to denounce Hinduism and to revive Sanamahism in Manipur. Mass campaign were held to popularize Sanamahi religion at various places in Manipur. On the 14th of May, 1945, the popular Meitei Marup was formed. This marked the beginning of the revival of Sanamahism and the Meitei Mayek, original script of the Manipuri Language among other things. The term Sanamahism and Meitei Marup are often used interchangeably. The Brahma Sabha strongly opposed the movement and formally outcast 38 members of the Meitei Marup.

By the 1970s and 1980s, the Sanamahi Movement attracted more number of activist. Massive drives were held reclaiming shrines of deiteis and adverting Hindu practices or worship to ancient old traditions of Sanamahism. Notable movement was the seize of the idols of Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi from Hindu Brahmins which are now presently installed in the temple at First Manipur Rifles Ground, Imphal. On the 16th of February, 1974, mass convert to Sanamahism was held. The event is coined, Nongkhang Parei Hanba, symbolic to reversing the forced mass baptism into Hinduism in 1729, referred to as Nongkhang Iruppa.

The 2011 census of India places the Sanamhi followers to be 8.19% of the total population of Manipur, India.

Practices

Many Sanamahi practices are focused on food offerings to deities, combined with hymns, as well as oracular ritual in which priestesses become possessed by a god or goddess. An offering formula to call up the gods, uttered by a priestess over a body of water during the Lai Haraoba festival, goes:

Incarnate Lord, Lairen (Dragon) Deity Pakhangba, O golden one,
Goddess of the waters, Ruler of the rivers:
Golden Goddess (Laisana) fair and beautiful one:
For you, Lord and Lady, in order to call up your souls,
We have poured the rice on the finest of banana leaves,
And on it have placed the fertile egg and the langthrei buds.
We do not offer you the ordinary khayom (offering packet), we offer you your own khayoms,
And we have tied them with the seven bamboo strips.
Which (represent) the seven days of the week.
We offer you the khayoms as they are tied thus.
Lord and Lady, we beseech you,
Ascend from within the khayoms, riding along the hiris.[12]

Some esoteric practices are also a part of Sanamahism, such as the use of mantras for various purposes. The mystical text Sanamahi Naiyom provides several formulas, such as a mantra that is believed to stop rain: HUNG KRUNG HUNG-KRUNG TA (8x) AH (2x) CHAT HUK (2x) HING HING HUK SU SA HING HING LIK SAL LIT HING MA PAN.[13]

Religious festivals
Main article: Fairs and Festivals in Manipur

Deities
Main articles: Lists of deities in Sanamahism, Kanglei mythology, and Umang Lai

Main deities

There are five main deities in Sanamahism:

Besides the five main deities, there are innumerable gods and goddesses, playing significant roles in the ancient pantheon, as well as in mythology. Examples include Panthoibi, Lainingthou Nongpok Ningthou, Lainingthou Koubru, Ibudhou Marjing, Thongalel, Wangbren, Eputhou Thangjing, Kounu, Nongshaba, Nongthang Leima, and Irai Leima.

Umang Lai
Further information: Umang Lai

Besides, there are other deities associated with sacred groves called Umang Lai including Konthoujam Lairembi gi Khubam, Ima Tamphaton Petangaa and Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba groves.

Ancestral deities
Main article: Apokpa

There are also deities for each clan (Yek Salai) and family (Yumnak), called Apokpa.

Divine figures

Though Sanarembi is not a deity, she is a divine figure in the religious chanting of hymns in Lai Haraoba festival.

See also

References
  1. 2001 Census
  2. Gourchandra, M. (1982). Sanamahi Laihui.
  3. "The Revivalism of Sanamahism". e-pao.net. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. Nilabir, Sairem (2002). Laiyingthou Sanamahi Amasung Sanamahi Laining Hinggat Ihou.
  5. "Maru (Pandit Loisang)". Maru (Pandit Loisang). Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  6. "IGNCA's Workshop on Maibi Culture of Manipur | IGNCA". ignca.gov.in. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  7. "Myanmar Nat and Manipuri UmangLai Nat Festival". e-pao.net. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  8. Bertil Lintner (2015). Great Game East: India, China, and the Struggle for Asia's Most Volatile Frontier. Yale University Press. pp. 142–143. ISBN 978-0-300-19567-5.
  9. Otojit Kshetrimayum 2009, pp. 17–34.
  10. Otojit Kshetrimayum 2009.
  11. "RECLAIMING THE ANCIENT TRADITIONAL GODS AND REVIVING THE OLD TRADITION OF THE MEITEIS OF MANIPUR" (PDF). International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Modern Education. II (I): 22–26.
  12. Saroj Parratt (1997). The Pleasing of the Gods: Meitei Lai Haraoba. Vikas. p. 77. ISBN 8125904166.
  13. Soibam Birajit (2014). Meeyamgi Kholao: Sprout of Consciousness. ARECOM. p. 103.

Notes

    Sources
    • Otojit Kshetrimayum (2009), "Women and Shamanism in Manipur and Korea: A Comparative Study", Indian Anthropologist, 39 (1/2): 17–34, ISSN 0970-0927, JSTOR 41920088
    • Kshetrimayum, Otojit (2014), Ritual, Politics and Power in North East India: Contextualising the Lai Haraoba of Manipur, Ruby Press & Co., ISBN 978-93-82395-50-8
    • Hodson, T.C. (2015), The Meitheis, Ruby Press & Co., ISBN 978-93-82395-56-0
    • Saroj Nalini Parratt (1974), The Religion of Manipur: Beliefs, Rituals and Historical Development, Australian National University Press
    • Saroj N. Arambam Parratt; John Parratt (2001), "The Second 'Women's War' and the Emergence of Democratic Government in Manipur", Modern Asian Studies, 35 (4): 905–919, doi:10.1017/S0026749X0100405X, JSTOR 313195
    • Sohini Ray (2009), "Writing the Body: Cosmology, Orthography, and Fragments of Modernity in Northeastern India", Anthropological Quarterly, 82 (1): 129–154, doi:10.1353/anq.0.0047, JSTOR 25488260, S2CID 140755509
    • Singh, Dr. Saikhom Gopal (2015), The Meeteis of Manipur: A Study in Human Geography, Ruby Press & Co., ISBN 978-93-82395-21-8
    • Singh, Dr. Saikhom Gopal (2015), Population Geography of Manipur, Ruby Press & Co., ISBN 978-93-82395-25-6
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