Lainingthou Sanamahi, the household and ancestral deity, and Leimarel Sidabi, the earth goddess, together with the umang lai, the guardian deities of the sacred groves, are central to Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of the Meitei people of Manipur in northeastern India. Sanamahism coexisted with Hinduism after the eighteenth century royal conversion to Vaishnavism, and in recent decades it has seen an organised revival, with Meitei organisations restoring temple worship of Sanamahi and campaigning for its recognition as the community's own faith distinct from Hindu practice.
Facts
Structure
Structure of the PantheonA supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers 1 Divine HeadshipA ruling pair holds sovereignty together 1 Succession Between Divine GenerationsOne divine generation; no succession between generations is recorded 1 Attestation
Era of AttestationDocumented in the Meitei chronicle and puya manuscript tradition; the public observance was revived by the Sanamahi movement from the 1930s 1 Veneration TodayActively venerated in a living tradition 1 Cult
Principal Cult CentreNo single centre. The umang lai groves of each locality are the places of observance, and the Lai Haraoba festival is held at them 1 Organisation
Membership of the PantheonEvery place, clan and lineage adds its own 1 How Mortals Enter the PantheonAncestors and founders become objects of cult 1 Sources
Primary SourceThe puya manuscripts in the Meitei Mayek script, with the oral liturgy of the Lai Haraoba and published ethnography 1 Connections
Associated With
This source names India directly: "people of Manipur in northeastern India."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
This source names Vaishnavism directly: "eighteenth century royal conversion to Vaishnavism, and in recent decades it has seen an organised revival, with Meitei organisations restoring temple worship of Sanamahi and campaigning for its..."
Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)
Sources
1. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the Source Meitei mythology (Wikipedia)
In Group: Tribal Pantheons of India and the Eastern Himalaya, Introduction, sentence 1Quote, In Group: Tribal Pantheons of India and the Eastern Himalaya, Introduction, sentence 1
Meitei mythology (or Manipuri mythology) (Meitei: Meitei Mi Lai Tingi Wari) is a collection of myths belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group native to the Indian state of Manipur.
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