Pakhangba

Pakhangba

Pakhangba (Pākhaṅgbā) is the primordial serpent-dragon god of the Meitei people of Manipur. The Meitei indigenous religion (Sanamahi / Meitei Lairol) preserves a cosmology that long predates the 18th-century conversion of the Manipuri royalty to Vaiṣṇava Hinduism.

Cosmic role

In Meitei cosmology:

• Atingkok Mapu is the formless supreme
• Pakhangba is his manifest form as the world-dragon
• The universe is coiled in Pakhangba's body
• His two-headed form (one eating its tail) represents the cosmic cycle

Political emblem

Pakhangba is the royal emblem of the Meitei monarchs — the Ningthoujas, who ruled Manipur from the early historical period until 1891 CE (British annexation). His coiled form appears on the flag of the independent Kingdom of Manipur and remains the emblem of Meitei ethnic identity.

Lai Haraoba

The Lai Haraoba ("pleasing the gods") festival is the central ritual of Sanamahi Meitei religion. Over 3–12 days, the creation of the cosmos is re-enacted through ritual dance performed by Maibi (priestess) and Maiba (priest). Pakhangba's role in the cosmogony is enacted through serpent-form dances.

The Meitei Sanamahi religion has been undergoing revival since the 1930s, with growing numbers of Meiteis formally reverting from Vaiṣṇava Hinduism (imposed by King Pamheiba 1717) to indigenous Meitei Lairol worship.