Nongshaba is a lion god 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 ...

and

Meitei mythology Meitei mythology (or Manipuri mythology) () 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 traditional Meitei religion of Sanam ...

. He is also regarded as a king of the gods. He is credited with producing light in the primordial universe and is regarded as the maker of the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

. He is worshipped by the people of both the Ningthouja clans as well as the Moirang clans. Nongshaba was worshipped by the people of Moirang clan as a lineage deity and regarded as the father of the god

Thangching Thangching or Thangjing is a primordial deity in Sanamahism, the indigenous religion of Manipur. He is the ruling deity of the Moirang dynasty. He rules supreme on the banks of the landlocked sea, Loktak lake. He is one of the four cardinal ...

. He is the greatest of the but he made his only son Thangching the chief deity of Moirang.

History

The cult of Nongshaba was brought from Moirang by Mungyaang Ngairaangba and Yumnaam Tonba, who presented the deity to King

Khagemba King Khagemba (Conqueror of the Chinese; 1597–1654), was a monarch from the Kingdom of Kangleipak. He also introduced a new form of polo and new apparel styles. Under his regime he focused on a new form of Manipur and built many markets ...

() (r. 1597-1652 AD). The position Nongshaba's cult was buoyed by his recognition as an ''Umang Lai'' and installation as King of the gods, and the construction of a five storied-temple in his honour. Other Umang Lais became lesser deities. During the King's reign, a Meitei family, the ''Leithangbam'', was given responsibility for the cult of Nongshaba. The ''Phura'', a group of

priestesses A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

s dedicated to Nongshaba was also established. During the reign of King Paikhomba () (r. 1666–1697 CE), there was a spiritual and symbolical marriage ceremony of princess Yaosombi () and Nongshaba, with the offering of an elephant to the deity. From the time of Khagemba until the accession of King Charairongba in 1687, the cult of Nongshaba was more popular than that of

Lainingthou Sanamahi Lainingthou Sanamahee (Meetei: ꯂꯥꯏꯅꯤꯡꯊꯧ ꯁꯥꯅꯥꯃꯍꯤ) is the Supreme Guardian God of mankind and the supreme deity of the household in Meetei religion and mythology. He originated from the ancient kingdom of Kangleipak ...

. The cult of Nongshaba did not survive for long. During the early 18th century, Hindu priests from Sylhet arrived in Kangleipak to spread

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

. They were led by

Shantidas Adhikari Shantidas Gosai or Shantidas Goswami, also known as Shantidas Adhikari, was a Hindu preacher from Sylhet, Bengal. He composed the ''Vijay Panchali'' (also spelt ''Bijoy Panchali'' in Bengali), in which he projected the land of Manipur in northe ...

and his associate Gopal Das, who succeeded in converting King

Pamheiba Gharib Niwaz (also known as Pamheiba, 1690–1751, , ) was the ruler of the Manipur Kingdom, ruling from c. 1709 until his death in 1751. He introduced Hinduism as the state religion of his kingdom (1717) and changed the name of the kingdom fr ...

(r. 1709–1754 CE) from

to Vaishnavism in 1710. Pamheimba changed his name to Gharib Nawaz and made Hinduism the official religion of Manipur. In 1723, Gharib Nawaz had most of the shrines of Umang Lai destroyed, and Hindu

Brahmins Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

took over their temples. On 17 October 1732, he ordered the destruction of the temples.

Mythology

, Kangla Sha is a divine representation of Nongshaba. According to the '' Nongshaba Laihui'', Nongshaba is the second son of the Universal Lord, and is also known as Tholbu Chinglen Nongdai Ningthou. According to the text, Nongshaba is neither assigned much duty did he take a big role in the

creation of the universe Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used in ref ...

. Unlike his younger brother Pakhangba, Nongshaba did not stand in the way of his elder brother Lainingthou Sanamahi. Unlike his younger brother Pakhangba, Nongshaba does not have any human descendants, and unlike his elder brother Lainingthou Sanamahi, he does not have any manifestation in human form.'. The ''Nongshaba Laihui'' further describes Nongshaba as: The same text describes all the Umang Lai deities, including Sanamahi, as the attendants of Nongshaba. The second

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian ''stanza'', ; ) is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme and metrical schemes, but they are not required to have either. ...

of the Meitei poem ''Anoirol'', sung in the

Lai Haraoba Lai Haraoba (, ), also known as Umang Lai Haraoba, is a classical,———— ritualistic, theatrical dance and music festival, annually celebrated by the Meitei people, to please the Umang Lai deities of the traditional Meitei religion (San ...

, mentions many

sky deities The sky often has important religious significance. Many polytheistic religions have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' ...

including Nongshaba, the

god of the sky The sky often has important religious significance. Many polytheistic religions have deities associated with the sky. The daytime sky deities are typically distinct from the nighttime ones. Stith Thompson's ''Motif-Index of Folk-Literature'' ...

Moirang Moirang () is a town in the Indian state of Manipur, best known for the tentatively listed UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Keibul Lamjao Conservation Area (KLCA), covering Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), the world's only floating nation ...

Worship

Devotees worship Nonghsaba by offering white clothes, fruits, flowers, and fish, preferably '' sareng''.< In early times, Nongshaba was venerated, along with Pakhangba, in the Naoshumshang, the shrine of ancestral figures. Worshippers prayed to Nongshaba prayed for the longevity of the Meitei kings. The Phura is a class of priestesses who manage the cult of Nongshaba.

Representations in Meitei dress

The '' ningkham samjin'' costume worn by dancers represents Nongshaba. The samjin is an elaborate, tall, pointed headdress decorated with needlework with tassels and the ningkham is a triangular wrapper with an appliquéd border worn around the waist. The shape of the samjin is said represent Nongshaba's horned head, and his ears are represented by fan like frills on each side. The ningkham represents the tail of Nongshaba. Nongshaba's patterend body is represented by the wearing of the khamen chatpa loincloth and his beard by a long strip of a decorative fabric hanging loosely on the chest.

In Bangladesh

Meitei kings constructed many temples dedicated to

Meitei deities Sanamahism is the indigenous religion of the Meitei people. It originated in the Kingdom of Kangleipak, and is still practiced in modern Manipur, India, distinct from both the Indosphere and the Sinosphere. Sanamahism is a polytheistic religion ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, among which a shrine dedicated to Nongshaba was a notable one. In the Manipuri Rajbari in Lama Bazar of Bangladesh, there is a temple of Nongshaba, alongside temples of Pakhangba and Goddess Yumjao Leima. The Temple's facade faces south, and its ground plan is square, covering an area of 10m².

Namesakes

On the 15th of December 2015 in

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

, a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

ly magazine named ''Nongsaba'' was launched under the motto "Journalism for change". The publication focuses on the socio-political, economy, education, unemployment, art and culture, science, sports, beauty, health, entertainment, etc.

References

{{Sanamahi1 Creator gods Horned gods Light gods Meitei dragons Meitei deities Mythological kings Kings of the gods