Music of Manipur

Music in Manipur

Manipur, one of the ‘seven sisters’ of the north eastern states of India, has a variety of folk music. People residing in both valley and hill are very much fond of music and songs. The Manipuri folk music consist of the countryside love songs called Khullong Ishei, the musical Lai Haraoba Ishei that comprise of lyrics with indirect references to the titillating mysticism and of course Pena Ishei that is escorted by a pena. Pena is an instrument made of a bamboo stick and the coconut or the gourd shell. Gradually, pena has become a kind of national symbol for the Manipuri people.

Khullong Ishei : It is a type of song that is generally sung by Meities when they head for their fields to work or for fishing. The song has no set pattern of sentences and words. Moreover, the sole theme of the song is love. The words and stanzas are adjusted by the singer on his own to the melodic tune.

Lai Haraoba Ishei : The real meaning of the song is concealed by the by some innocent sounding words, but one can easily point out that these songs are completely packed with erotic mysticism. The benchmark of the songs is their tunes, which are sung at Lai-Haraoba on some ceremonial occasions.

Pena Ishei : Khamba-Thoibi, the love story, is the theme of the song. The song is complemented with the soft tunes coming out of Pena, an instrument made of a bamboo stick and the coconut or the gourds dry shell.

Besides these songs, there is this holy Thabal Chongba, the vintage nat music played at several particular functions, the devotional women’s songs of Napi Pala, Gaur Padas which is sung to praise Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then Dhob, the song is accompanied by a large cymbal called Jhal. Manohar Sai is yet another genre of the songs entirely devoted to the 19th century man with the same name. A song entirely accompanied by the clapping is known as Khubaishei.