लाई हारोबा

The tradition & historical record

Lai Haraoba (Meitei: ꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ, Old Manipuri: ꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯂꯥꯎꯄ, lit. 'Merrymaking/Pleasing of the deities'), also known as Umang Lai Haraoba, is a classical, ritualistic, theatrical dance and music festival, annually celebrated by the Meitei people (Sanamahists), to please the Umang Lai deities of the traditional Meitei religion (Sanamahism), predominantly in the Indian state of Manipur. It is a Meitei intangible cultural heritage. Outside Manipur, Lai Haraoba is also celebrated in places where the Meitei diaspora live, such as Assam, Tripura, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Lai Haraoba (under the name "Meitei Lai Haraoba") is recognised as one of the state holidays by the government of Tripura. The government of Manipur puts effort in making Lai Haraoba to be recognised by the UNESCO as well as the Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), the highest academy of performing arts in India, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Lai Haraoba, along with the fusion of three other performing art forms, Huiyen Lallong, Meitei Nata Sankirtana and Raaslila, gave rise to the Sangeet Natak Akademi-recognised Indian classical dance form, popularly known as the "Manipuri dance". ¹

Elangbam Nilakanta Singh translates Lai Haraoba as the “merry making of the gods and goddesses,” and many others use this meaning. Saroj Nalini Parratt and John Parratt translate it as “pleasing of the gods,” based on J. Shakespeare’s (1913) translation, but they make it plural because the festival honors more than one god. Practitioners of the ritual say that the name comes from the "lai hoi laoba," the cry of ‘hoi’, in the Meitei creation myth, which marks the moment the universe is revealed. This idea is given by Ng. Kulachandra, the former head of the Manipur Pandit Loishang. ¹

Lai Haraoba (Meitei: ꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ) is a ritualistic festival of the Meiteis observed since ancient times. It is a ritual enactment of the creation myth. It mirrors the entire culture of Manipur and depicts the close affinities between the hill and plain people. It is a combination of religious recitations, traditional music and dance, traditional social values and ancient cultural aspects. The rituals within the festival are the same except in some items or hymns, such as ikouba, ikourol, and yakairol at the beginning and mikon thagonba, ngaprum tanba at the end of the festival. In the performances, the evolution story with the amorous love-affairs of Nongpok Ninghthou and Panthoibi is depicted and played equally in all kinds of lai haraoba. According to folklore, the gods held the first Lai Haraoba on the Koubru Hill so that their descendants would imitate them by performing the same rites. ¹

Lai Haraoba takes place at local shrines dedicated to the Umang Lai deities, which are important to the traditional Meitei religion. The festival doesn't have fixed dates but happens between February and May or June. Each shrine chooses its own dates for the festival. The festival can last from three days to over a month, depending on the shrine. The dates and length of the festival can be different for each shrine. ¹

The Lai Haraoba is also called the Umang Lai Haraoba, named after the Umang Lai deities, honored during the festival. These deities are seen as protectors of the areas where the shrines are located. The festival takes place at these shrines, and the whole community helps with the preparations. The Umang Lai group includes over 300 deities, such as ancestors, legendary forefathers, and other important gods in the traditional Meitei religion (Sanamahism). ¹

The rituals of Lai Haraoba honor a male and a female deity, called Lainingthou and Lairembi/Lairemma. The rituals focus on creation. The Meitei people believe that the supreme god created the cosmos. He is called Tengbanba Mapu or Taibangpanba Mapu or Atiya Sidaba. Some creation stories start with these gods, while others go back to Atingkok and Amamba. Amamba is the dark place where life begins. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Lai Haraoba”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Lai Haraoba is Classical Meitei holy, ritualistic, sacred theatrical dance & music festival, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 1 external register, which can be verified through the citation. ²