Irai Leima is a goddess in

Sanamahism Sanamahism , also known as Meiteism , or Lainingthouism is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Manipur, in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion and is named after Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of ...

, the indigenous religion of

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

. She is the goddess and the divine female personification of water and aquatic life. She is the consort of

Irai Ningthou Irai Ningthou is a God in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. He is the God and the divine male personification of water and the consort of Irai Leima. He mainly dwells in the rivers and lakes. Worship If someone becomes ill afte ...

(literally, ''king of water''). Both are regarded as the divine spirits of water bodies. She is also considered to be in charge of diseases.

Mythology

Irai Leima is the daughter of King Heibok Ningthou and the princess of Heibok Ching. Her father was an expert in witchcraft and black magic. Irai Leima is known for her exceptional beauty. One day, she was fishing in the Liwa river. King Kwakpa (Kokpa) of Khuman dynasty saw her and fell in love with her. He proposed her. She replied that her parents' wish will be her wish. So, King Kwakpa consulted his subjects. They presented Heibok Ningthou with many presents. King Kwakpa planned to marry Irai Leima if her father agreed or to bring her by force if her father rejected. Seeing the arrogance of Kwakpa, Heibok Ningthou turned all the gifts into stone. At this, followers of Kwakpa fled the place. Kwakpa returned home disappointed. One day, King Kwakpa became intoxicated after drinking juice from the roots of a Tera plant (''

Bombax malabaricum ''Bombax'' is a genus of mainly tropical trees in the mallow family. They are native to western Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and the subtropical regions of East Asia and northern Australia. It is distinguished from the genu ...

''). He wanted to meet Irai Leima. So, he went to her place riding on a Hiyang boat. Seeing his approach, she fled to Pakhra Ching mountain. Kwakpa chased her. Seeing all these, Heibok Ningthou turned the Hiyang boat into stone and the oar into a tree. Getting angry, Kwakpa ran towards Heibok Ningthou to kill him. Then, Heibok Ningthou turned Khuman Kwakpa into a stone. Irai Leima saw all this and was afraid of her father. She left her father and ran away. She passed the Pakhra Ching, crossed the Liwa river and entered the house of Sarangthem Luwangba. She hid herself inside the granary of the house. When Sarangthem Luwangba and his good lady Thoidingjam Chanu Amurei left the house for field, Irai Leima came out from her hiding place. In the meantime, she completed all the household chores. When the couple returned home, she hid herself again. The couple got surprised at this but it happened everyday. So, one day, the man returned home earlier than usual. He found out the truth. But when he came near Irai Leima, she had disappeared below the granary. He looked under the granary but he saw nothing. He was amazed at this. So, he discussed the issue with all his clan members. They searched everywhere but didn't find her anymore. Irai Leima appeared in the dream of Sarangthem Luwangba and told him that she was merged into his clan and became his daughter. The matter was reported to King Senbi Kiyaamba of

Ningthouja dynasty The Ningthouja dynasty, also known as Mangang dynasty, comprises the descendants of the kings of Manipur. Ningthouja literally means progeny of King (''Ningthou'' means king and ''cha'' or ''macha'' means progeny in which ''ja'' is a corrupted ...

. The king sent

maiba A Maiba or an Amaiba (literally, "priest") is a male religious leader authorised to perform the sacred rites and rituals of Sanamahism (Sanamahism, Meitei religion), especially as a mediatory agent between human beings and one or more deities. T ...

s and

maibi Maibi are the priestesses of Manipur Kingdom commonly known for performing religious rites. They are considered as shamans as well as midwives. They possess various skills of religious activities and ancient medicinal knowledge. The male counter ...

s to examine the case. The examiners said that the mysterious lady was a goddess and she should be worshipped. King Kiyaamba also told Luwangba to do so. From that year onwards, Irai Leima was worshipped as a goddess. The day on which Luwangba first saw Irai Leima was the first Monday of the Meitei lunar month of ''Lamta (Lamda)''. And the day on which the

s and

s came was the first Tuesday of ''Lamta (Lamda)''. Still today, from the time of King Senbi Kiyaamba (1467-1508 AD), the Sarangthem family members annually hold a grand feast (''Chaklen Katpa'') in honor of the goddess. Later, Irai Leima came to be known as Hiyangthang Lairembi.

Worship

When a person gets ill after bathing in a spring, pool, stream, people believed that the water spirits (Irai Leima and

) had caught the person. To get well again, people worship the two deities. For this, the

s perform the rites and rituals. The offerings include 2 eggs and 7 bamboo vessels filled up with rice paste. The

Thadou people Thadou people, also called Thadou Kukis, are the Thadou language-speaking Kuki people inhabiting Northeast India, Myanmar, Burma, and Bangladesh. "Thadou" is also the name of a particular clan among the Thadou Kukis. Other clans of Thadou Kukis ...

also highly respect the deities. They offer many wild sacrifices. The sacrifices maybe a white

fowl Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl ( Galliformes) and the waterfowl ( Anseriformes). Anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives; toget ...

, a

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

, a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

or a he-

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

Identification with other deities

Irai Leima is considered one of the divine manifestations of

Leimarel Sidabi Leimarel Sidabi or Leimalel Sitapi is a goddess in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. She is the highest female divinity in the Meitei pantheon. She is the goddess of earth, of nature and the household. She is revered as the mothe ...

, the supreme mother earth goddess. She is also described as a form of goddess Imoinu. Irai Leima is also known as Hiyangthang Lairembi. During the reign of King Garib Niwaj (alias ''Pamheiba''), goddess Hiyangthang Lairembi was converted to Hindu goddess Kamakhya (a form of

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

). The 3rd day of

Durga Puja Durga Puja (ISO 15919, ISO: , ), also known as Durgotsava or Shaaradotsava, is an annual festival originating in the Indian subcontinent which pays homage to the Hinduism, Hindu goddess Durga, and is also celebrated because of Durga's victo ...

is observed as the "Bor Numit" (literally, Boon Day).

In popular culture

Phou-oibi, the rice goddess '' Phou-oibi, the Rice Goddess '' is a 2013 Meitei language ballad opera, based on the story of goddess Phouoibi, adapted from Meitei mythology and folklore, performed by the Laihui Ensemble from Manipur, India, as a part of the ''"Tapestry of ...

is a 2009 ballad opera performed by the

Laihui Ensemble The Laihui Ensemble is a centre for research on traditional and indigenous performing arts, based on Imphal, Manipur. It was established in 1985. The association is performing different art shows at different venues across different nations in t ...

. It is based on the story of the goddess and her sister

Phouoibi Phouoibi or Phouleima is the goddess and the female personification of the agriculture, crops, fertility, grains, harvest, paddy, rice and wealth in Meitei mythology and religion of Ancient Kangleipak (early Manipur). She is the lover of A ...

. *

Phouoibi Shayon ''Phouoibi Shayon'' ('), also simply known as Phouoibi, is a 2017 Indian Meitei language mythological film, about goddess Phouoibi and other celestial fairies who came down to earth to prosper the human civilization. The film is directed by O ...

is a 2017 Manipuri mythology movie based on the story of the goddess and her sister

References

{{Sanamahi1 Meitei goddesses