Bishnupriya Manipuri Online

By RKHL Sinha, New Delhi My all early days memories dates back to early fifties, and here is one which I still cherish and it is somewhere deep inside my consciousness, and it will remain ever. The Bishnupriya Manipuri’s society, and not to mention my birthplace Mohanpur , was brimming with activities. There was a sense of unity, dedication, devotion, and it was visible, amongst all villagers. These virtues were driving everyone from an individual, to individual house, to neighbourhood houses, to the whole village and later extending it to the neighbouring villages. And the same enthusiasm can be said about the Bishnupriya Manipuri community as a whole. This driving force, I believe, was preparing the framework of the coming generation. The bonding amongst the villagers could be seen in the agricultural field. In those days agriculture was the primary source of livelihood of the Bishnupriya Manipuri community. During the agricultural season neighbours extending helping hands to their ...

RKHL Sinha, New Delhi We, Bishnupriya Manipuri community people are Vaisnavities , our heart is soft, and it is so soft that the religious lyrics of Lord Sri Krishna and Sri Chaitanya Mohaprabhu bring tears in our eyes. That is what we witness in the plays of Raslila, Bhagavad Gita , in the recitation of the Ramayana and in the Mahabharata as well as in other religious functions of the community. Every community has their own rule and conducts, so we have. The unique sitting arrangement and the components that are involved in any social gathering as well as in the other cultural gathering are as follows: Kirtanmapu: He is person wearing a pagri is authorised to allot respective sit for Brahmins , Rajkumar, Kshatriyas, women folks, Sainyasis and Sadhus. One of the sit is permanently reserved for the Goddiswar , the respected Brahmin empowered by the community. The special sit is followed by a Gaddi covered with white bed sheet and pillow. Nobody is allowed to occupy the Gad...

RKHL Sinha, New Delhi I remember, in the early 1950’s the social structure of Bishnupriya Manipuri community was full of agony and frustration. People were fighting tooth and nail for livelihood; and the so called education which works as the fulcrum to uplift the stairs of social reforms, was no where peeping into the doors of the community. As a result the means of survival was fully depended on the physical power given by every member of the family irrespective of gender in the paddy field. Agriculture was the only source of livelihood and earning. It is worth to mention, in those times the impact of religion was quite visible in the way people used to conduct themselves “ untouchability ” (to say) to food, drink and shelter. It is due to the so called “untouchability” that people of the community were not able to encash the fruit of education. The level of communication with other communities was limited and closely guarded. There was a lack of cross pollination of ideas that usu...

RKHL Sinha, New Delhi People living in the area of Mohanpur, which is my home town, knows there is a canal flowing at its periphery. It is a small canal called sorahan in the Bishnupriya Manipuri language, originating from the paddy field. The canal fetch water only in the rainy season and it dried up totally in the winter season. The width of canal would be approx 12 ft and 7 ft depth with horny bushes on its both sides. The canal held a special place in the social life of the neighboring Bishnupriya Manipuri villages, its banks are used for cremating bodies. Besides this, the fish-happy villagers used it for catching fish. And my story relates to this canal and the school of fish in it. The story goes back to the year 1962, it was a hot day and I was standing under the shadow of a big mango tree. Suddenly I noticed frantic movements of the coterie taking place on the bank of the canal. With the fire of curiosity under my belly I proceeded towards the canal. While getting there I fou...