Meitei Hindus or Manipuri Hindus are adherents of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and are native to

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 Myanm ...

kingdom and the

South East Asian Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

regions. Meitei Hindus speak

Meitei language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...

(

Manipuri language Meitei (), also known as Manipuri (, ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of north-eastern India. It is spoken by around 1.8 million people, predominantly in the state of Manipur, but also by smaller communities in the rest of the country and in pa ...

), which belongs to the

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

language family and adhere to the Vaishnava section of their religion,

History

Though there were earlier

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

settlements in Medieval Manipur, the entire

Meitei ethnicity 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 ...

remains to be ethno-religious to Sanamahism until the great historical event of the Puya Mei Thaba took place during the reign of

Pamheiba Gharib Nawaz (born Pamheiba, 1690–1751) was a Meetei king of Manipur, ruling from c. 1709 until his death. He introduced Hinduism as the state religion of his kingdom (1717) and changed the name of the kingdom to the Sanskrit ''Manipur'' (1 ...

, the then Emperor of

Manipur Kingdom The Manipur Kingdom was an ancient independent kingdom at the India–Burma frontier that was in subsidiary alliance with British India from 1824, and became a princely state in 1891. It bordered Assam Province in the west and Briti ...

, after which the entire kingdom was declared Hindu .

Present scenario

In the past few decades, Meitei Hindu population is declining as the population of people following and practising the indigenous Meitei paganism ( Sanamahism) is growing every year, which is inversely proportional to the Hindu population inside the

. In 2021, Hindus account for 41% and the Sanamahists account for 8% out of the total population of Manipur according to 2011 census report. Sanamahists have approximately 2,40,000 officially registered followers.

Sources

* https://www.imphaltimes.com/editorial/item/8582-redefining-manipuri-hindu * https://themanipurpage.tripod.com/culture/culrel.html#B.%20VAISNAVISM%20IN%20MANIPUR * http://themanipurpage.tripod.com/culture/culrel.html * https://books.google.com/books?id=-CzSQKVmveUC&pg=PA14 * https://www.imphaltimes.com/it-articles/item/11978-conversion-into-hinduism-and-burning-of-meitei-puyas

References

{{Religion in India topics Manipur Meitei culture Pages with unreviewed translations

History

Present scenario

See also

Sources

References