Manipuri art and culture

By road from Dimapur (Nagalnd), by air from Calcutta or Guwahati, by train via Silchar (Cachar, Assam) all three routes prepared to drink deeply of Manipuri art and culture.

Handicrafts
It is a `women’s bazaar.’
The town’s main shopping centre is the Khwairainband Bazar. Here one finds the best of Manipur handicrafts in a great feast of colors-bags, shawls, bedcovers, toys and other souvenirs. But what is surprising is, not that there should be such a profusion of artistic knick-knacks, but the realization that this marketplace is completely dominated by women: in fact, it is a `women’s bazaar.’ It is these women who weave, sew and create these delightful objects.

The great Manipuri Dance
While are in Imphal, spend an evening in one of its theaters and you will be spellbound by the Manipuri dance.

Places of interest
Forty –five km from Imphal is the historical village of Moitang. It formed the setting of manipur’s famous love lore, which of Khamba and Thoibi, and which, in turn, gave rise to the Khamba- Thoibidance. Here, in the temple of the forest God, Thangjing, you can still see the royal robes of the 12 th century Moirang kings. A more recent landmark is the INA memorial.