Kounu is a goddess in

Meitei mythology Meitei mythology or Manipuri mythology ( mni, Meitei Mi Lai Tingi Wari) is a collection of myths, belonging to the religious and cultural traditions of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. It is associated with tradi ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

of ancient Kangleipak ( ancient Manipur). She is a consort of the god

Koupalu Koupalu (also, Koubaru or Koubru) is a primordial deity in Meitei mythology and religion. He is the Guardian of the North West direction. Legend says he is the founder of civilization in Ancient Manipur, starting from the Mount Koubru, a pea ...

. She is the guardian of the northern direction. Kounu has two homes. Her main home is on Mount Kounu. Her other home is in

Mount Koubru Mount Koubru (''Meeteilol'':ꯀꯧꯕ꯭ꯔꯨ) also known as Mount Koupalu is one of the highest mountains in Manipur, India and the abode of the god '' Lainingthou Koubru'' and the goddess '' Kounu'' in Manipuri mythology. Sapormeina town lies ...

, which is where her husband

(

Koubru Koupalu (also, Koubaru or Koubru) is a primordial deity in Meitei mythology and religion. He is the Guardian of the North West direction. Legend says he is the founder of civilization in Ancient Manipur, starting from the Mount Koubru, a pea ...

) lives. She is worshipped with

as the deities of the ''Khullakpa'' (village chief). Kounu and

ruled ancient Manipur for a very long time after the reign of King Ningthou Puthiba. She dwells in the snows of the far north and she is also known as Kongthem.

Description

Kounu is one of the deities who change

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

and

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmos ...

. Her husband

and her son

Loyalakpa Loyalakpa ( mni, ꯂꯣꯌꯥꯂꯥꯛꯄ), also spelt as Loyarakpa ( mni, ꯂꯣꯌꯥꯔꯥꯛꯄ), is a God in Meitei mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak (Antique Manipur). He is best known for wrestling ( mni, Mukna Kangjei) wit ...

are also weather deities.

Meitei people The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." is ...

believe that if the annual rainfall is good, then it is caused by goddess Kounu. When goddess Kounu changes the climate, there will be hardly any flood. Crop yields are good in Kounu's activities.

Mythology

Love and marriage proposal

Kounu met

for the first time when she was searching for cotton plants in the western slopes of

. The two fell in love at first sight. Kounu asked Koupalu to bring her all kinds of fruit for the marriage proposal. She said she would not agree to marry him if he failed to do so. So, on a Saturday, Koupalu had a meeting with all the gods and goddesses of hills and plains. They all prepared for fruits of all sorts. They planned to proceed to the marriage proposal on the next day, Sunday. On the next day's before sunrise, goddesses brought the fruits to Kounu's place. Male gods also came with

to the place. The gods found two fruits missing, heikru (

Indian gooseberry ''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical a ...

, ''

Phyllanthus emblica ''Phyllanthus emblica'', also known as emblic, emblic myrobalan, myrobalan, Indian gooseberry, Malacca tree, or amla, from the Sanskrit आमलकी (āmalakī), is a deciduous tree of the family Phyllanthaceae. Its native range is tropical a ...

'') and Heining. Then, Kounu rejected the marriage proposal. At this, Koupalu told her that she would have a daughter because she had gotten pregnant the last time they had met. Then the other male gods got angry because of Kounu's excessively reserved marriage proposal conditions while she was already conceived. They put a curse on Kounu's baby, saying she would be born on a stone slab on the baby's next incarnation. The goddesses were about to curse the baby to be turned into flower during birth, but they didn't as Kounu had been punished enough. Feeling embarrassed, Kounu also cursed that all the gifts to be turned into stones on the very sunrise. Soon, as the sun rose up, all the gifts turned into stones.

Birth of Leisna - Cursed baby's very birth

Kounu gave birth to a daughter named "Leisna" (''Laisna, Leisana, Laisana''). When her daughter grew up, she asked Kounu about her father and Kounu told her. Leisna asked to go to her father's place to meet him. Kounu let her go. On her way, Leisna met

Pakhangba Pakhangba ( mni, , omp, ) is a primordial deity, often represented in the form of a dragon, in Meitei mythology and religion. He is depicted in the heraldry of Manipur kingdom, which originated in ''paphal'' ( mni, ), the mythical illu ...

. They became lovers. Later, they married. Since Leisna was a mortal, she died when her time of death came.

Adoption of Thoudu Nungthel Leima - Cursed baby's next incarnation

Kounu and

lived together. Once

Leimarel Sidabi ) , deity_of = Goddess of earth, nature and household , member_of = Imung Lais , image = Relief art depicting Salailen (Salailel), the Supreme God, creating Leimalen (Leimalel), the first female being in the universe, according ...

decided to incarnate herself as the daughter of the two. So, Leimarel incarnated herself into a baby infant girl. On the very day, Kounu and Koupalu were walking on a hilly region. Koubru got very thirsty. He found Kounu's pitcher empty. Unable to bear his thirst, he went down the riverside to drink water. Surprisingly, he found a newly born girl lying on a stone slab of the river bed. Koupalu shouted three times if there was anyone for the baby girl. No one responded. So, Koupalu and Kounu brought the girl to their abode. The two adopted the girl as their own daughter. They gave her three names. The baby was named "Ipok Leima" ("Eepok Leima") because she was found in the stream. The baby was also named

Thoudu Nungthel Leima Nungthel Leima is a goddess in Meitei mythology and religion. She is an adopted daughter of God Koupalu (Koubru) and Goddess Kounu.Session, North East India History Association (1995). Proceedings of North East India History Association. The A ...

because she was found lying on the stone slab. The baby was given her final name as "Taipang Nganpi" ("Taibang Nganbi") because she was beautiful as well as bright.

Kounu and Loyalakpa

Once Kounu was asked by her son

about the true origin of

. Loyalakpa was suspicious if Thoudu Nungthel Leima was really his real sister or not. Koupalu had already warned Kounu not to reveal the secret of Thoudu Nungthel Leima to their son. So, at first, Kounu lied to him. But at Loyalakpa's grudge, she decided to tell him the truth. But since both Kounu and Loyalakpa were at Koupalu's abode, she dared not to speak anything about it. She feared Koupalu might heard of it. With permission from Koupalu, Kounu, and her son Loyalakpa went to her abode. It was the safe place to reveal the truth. Kounu narrated Loyalakpa how she and Koupalu found Thoudu Nungthel Leima lying on a stone slab in the river. She revealed that Thoudu Nungthel Leima was actually their adopted daughter and not real by birth. Later, Kounu's son

and Kounu's adopted daughter

married.

Cults and shrines

Kounu and her husband

are worshipped in many cults and shrines of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

. Some are located in Mayang Langjing, Awang Khunnou, Senjam, Chirang, Loitang Khunnou, Tingri, Koutruk, Awang Potsangbam, Sairem Khul, Kameng, Sarouthel, Lairel Sajik, Lairel Kaabi, Heibongpokpi, Nongchup Sanjenbam, Tauthong, Haorang Keithel, Haorang Saabal, Kwak Siphai, Narelkonjin, Thamnapokpi, Awang Sekmai, Leimram, Phumlou Keiroi, Phumlou Siphai, Potsangbam Thouriphi, Samushang, Keinou Thongthak, Khonghampat, Akham, Morok Ingkhol, Lambaal Khul, Phayeng, Haujongban, Awang Keingam, Khurkhul and Leikinthabi. According to

Meitei culture Meitei may refer to: *Meitei people, of Manipur, India **Meitei language **Meitei script **Meitei architecture *Denechandra Meitei (born 1994), Indian footballer *Loken Meitei (born 1997), Indian footballer *Ningombam Bupenda Meitei (born 1987), Ind ...

, Kounu and

are the protectors of said places. In the village of Senjan Chirang in Manipur, there is a pantheon of the goddess as " Ebendhou Kounu Lairembi Lai Haraofam".Shrine website
/ref>

References

{{Religion topics Abundance deities Abundance goddesses Agricultural deities Agricultural goddesses Arts deities Arts goddesses Asian deities Asian goddesses Beauty deities Beauty goddesses Crafts deities Crafts goddesses Creator deities Creator goddesses Fertility deities Fertility goddesses Fortune deities Fortune goddesses Guardians of the directions Harvest deities Harvest goddesses Health deities Health goddesses Justice deities Justice goddesses Knowledge deities Knowledge goddesses Leima Love and lust deities Love and lust goddesses Magic deities Magic goddesses Maintenance deities Maintenance goddesses Marriage deities Marriage goddesses Meitei gods and goddesses Mountain deities Mountain goddesses Names of God in Sanamahism Nature deities Nature goddesses Peace deities Peace goddesses Rain deities Savior deities Savior goddesses Sky and weather deities Sky and weather goddesses Time and fate deities Time and fate goddesses Trickster deities Trickster goddesses Tutelary deities Tutelary goddesses Wind deities Wind goddesses Wisdom deities Wisdom goddesses