Meitei Hindus or Manipuri Hindus are adherents of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

and are native to

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 ...

kingdom and the

South East Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

regions. Meitei Hindus speak

Meitei language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

(

Manipuri language Meitei (; ) also known as Manipuri ), is a Tibeto-Burman language of northeast India. It is the official language and the lingua franca of Manipur and an additional official language in four districts of Assam. It is one of the scheduled ...

), which belongs to the

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

language family and adhere to the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

section of their religion,

History

Though there were earlier

Brahmin 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 ...

settlements in

Medieval Manipur The history of the Indian state of Manipur is reflected by archaeological research, mythology and written history. Historically, Manipur was an independent sovereign kingdom ruled by Meitei dynasty but at different point of time it was invaded ...

, the entire

Meitei ethnicity The Meitei people, also known as Meetei 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." are a Ti ...

remains to be ethno-religious to

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 ...

until the great historical event of the Puya Mei Thaba took place during the reign of

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 ...

, the then Emperor of

Manipur Kingdom The Manipur Kingdom, also known as Meckley, was an ancient kingdom at the India–Burma frontier. Historically, Manipur was an independent kingdom ruled by a Ningthouja dynasty, Meitei dynasty. But it was also invaded and ruled over ...

, 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 (

) 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