Sanamahi — the Meitei household-hearth god

Sanamahi

Tradition: Sanamahi / Meitei / Pre-Hindu

This entry honours the self-representation of Sanamahi tradition. India's sacred landscape includes hundreds of traditions beyond the Brahminical-Vedic canon. Each has its own cosmology, priesthood, ritual calendar, and relationship with the sacred landscape. Each deserves first-person recognition.

The Place

• Location: Imphal, Imphal West, Manipur (24.817°N, 93.9368°E)
• Tradition: Sanamahi, Meitei, Pre-Hindu
• Historical: Pre-historic Meitei; major 20th c. revival

Story & Worship

Sanamahi ("golden mother/lord") is the household protector of every Meitei family — present in every Meitei home in a specific sacred corner. He is son of the creator-couple Atingkok Maru Sidaba and Leimaren Sidabi, brother of Pakhangba. When the brothers competed for the kingship, Pakhangba became king while Sanamahi became the god of every household. To this day, a Meitei bride entering a new home performs Sanamahi-worship first. The Sanamahi Laining Hingat Lup movement (1930s onwards) reclaimed this indigenous faith from the Vaishnava reforms of Bheigyachandra (18th c.). Today ~20% of Manipuri Meiteis self-identify as Sanamahi-religion practitioners.

Mantra / Invocation

Oral Meitei invocations

Festival Calendar

• Sajibu Cheiraoba (Meitei New Year) (Chaitra (April), 1 day)

Sources

Drawn from scholarly ethnographies of Indian tribal and regional religions (Roy, Vidyarthi, Sinha, Fuchs, Sarkar, Sontheimer, Kinsley), colonial-era gazetteers, and contemporary community documentation.