Thougal Jagoi

The tradition & historical record

Jagoi (Meitei: ꯖꯒꯣꯏ; Old Manipuri: ꯆꯠꯀꯣꯏ, romanized: Chatkoi) refers to the arts of dance in Meitei culture. ¹

In the performances of traditional Meitei dances, dancers are strictly forbidden not to have any forms of eye contact with the audiences. If it is not followed properly, then it is considered as a sacrilege. ¹

"Chukpharon Jagoi" is a Sanamahist ritual dance form performed by the maibis (priestesses) to please the lords of the four directions, Thangjing, Marjing, Wangbren, and Koubru, in the religious festival of Lai Haraoba. During the performance, the maibi takes the two ekouphus (pots) from the laipubas, holding the Lainingthou ekouphu in the right hand and the Lairembi ekouphu in the left hand. The dance performance portrays the dance of goddess Nongthang Leima, who saves the universe from destruction. ¹

Laiching Jagoi (Meitei: ꯂꯥꯢꯆꯤꯡ ꯖꯒꯣꯢ) (literally, 'Dance of summoning the deity') is a dance form performed by the maibis (priestesses) with the langthrei (a special leaf of Blumea balsamifera) held between their fingers. This sequence involves a variety of expressive movements where the spirit of the deity is invited to enter each maibi's body. It is an invocatory dance where the maibis stand with their hands in a pose symbolizing women's union. In this dance form, the maibis, after invoking the deities from water, perform leitai nongdai jagoi. This dance form is performed in front of the shrine of the deities. ¹

Laihou Jagoi (Meitei: ꯂꯥꯢꯍꯧ ꯖꯒꯣꯢ) (literally,'dance of invitation' or "opening dance") is a dance form performed by the maibis (priestesses) to lead a way to a pond or river, in the religious festival of Lai Haraoba. During the performance of the dance, the tune of the pena, a traditional musical instrument, is also shrimmed up. With the maibis, the sword bearing youths in two rows, the maidens with the brass vessels, the Lai bearers, the isaiphu bearers, the chong (umbrella) bearers accompany the pibas (men) holding the two pots. ¹

Leisem Jagoi (Meitei: ꯂꯩꯁꯦꯝ ꯖꯒꯣꯢ) (literally, 'Dance of creation of the earth') is a dance form enacted by imitating the movements of nine gods and seven goddesses creating the earth, followed by Laibou Jagoi, depicting the creation of human body and various activities of man, like weaving of clothes. The sequence of the dance is performed by the Ningol Macha (girls). The six original forms of the dance are leishem, leitai, nongdai, leipekpa, leihouba and leipiba. It is one of the early dance forms of Ancient Manipur contributing to the rich Manipur's classical wealth of culture. ¹

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

Thougal Jagoi is Meitei traditional dance, 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