The "market woman" of Manipur is a living legend, an inimitable figure of Imphal City. She sits, typically, in Sana Keithel, the Golden Market, and the second largest women's market in Asia. What is this force in Manipur, the "market women"? Is she a pety trader/ vendor as classified by the municipal authorities? Could she have started two wars against the might of the British if she were merely a petty trader?
Lai Haraoba
The Picture below is of a dance called the maibi dance during a Pre-Hindu era festival of Manipur called Lai Haraoba. The exact translation of this would Merriment of the Gods, or rather God's festival. Note that the Pre Hindu era cultures and Hinduism mixes perfectly well. One attribute to the perfectionsm of Manipuris. We tend to take the best of both worlds. Without embracing the ugly casteism and class discrimination of the Hindu religion, we have only taken the beauty of the Shradha and Love of hindusim and have perfected it without any Unreasonable baggages. I shall write more about the Pre-Hindu era celebrations after I learnt everythin about it. I will need a little research.
