Khamba Thoibi
Ancient Meitei epic of Manipur
Khamba Thoibi (also, Khamba and Thoibi) is a classical Meitei language epic saga, about the romantic adventures of Khuman prince Khamba and his lover Moirang princess Thoibi. The term may also refer to the classical ballet (Khamba Thoibi Jagoi dance-drama) as well as ballad (musical narratives of the Moirang Kangleirol), dedicated to the two personalities.
Among the numerous literary adaptations of this ancient epic in medieval and modern times, one titled the Khamba Thoibi Sheireng (1940) turned on to be the magnum opus of its creator, Hijam Anganghal, having 39,000 lines, holding the third place among the longest Indian epic poems, just after the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. It was accepted as the national epic of Manipur, which was then a nation, until merging into the Indian Union in 1949. Due to its everlasting legacy, it was and is still the national epic of the Manipuris in their hearts.
Quotes
edit- H. Anganghal Singh's Khamba Thoibi Sheireng (Poem on Khamba Thoibi, 1940) is a national epic of the Manipuris based on the story of Khamba and Thoibi of Moirang. The poet composes the whole epic in the Pena Saisak style of folk ballads sung by minstrels or bards popular in Manipur.
- I was delighted to see Khamba Thoibi at Manipur when you produced it as perhaps the first full scale ballet in the Manipuri form of dancing. The whole conception and execution wns excellent and some of the dancers were obviously highly talented and extremely well trained.
I personally think that the Manipuri style is the most graceful form of Indian dancing and I wish you every success in your attempt to develop and popularise it.- By Shri Humayun Kabir (on 1st January 1960), the then Union Minister for Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, Government of India Khamba Thoibi And Poems On Manipur by Raina, Vimala. (1963). p. (ii)
- Considering its growth, Khamba and Thoibi is a popular or folk-epic. The epic of this kind may be regarded as the final product of a long series of accretions and syntheses brought to approximate unity by the intervention of conscious art. By general agreement poems like the Greek Iliad and Odyssey, the Germanic Nibelungenlled, the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and the Finish Kallevala are classed as folk-epics.
- Khamba Thoibi, which forms a part of Moirang Saiyol, is a folk epic of Manipur that has been told and sung over the ages and is known to every person in the land. If all the stories of Moirang Saiyol are taken together, it will form an even bigger epic.
- Khamba Thoibi is a Manipuri tale of delicate charm. This ballet of unusual charm has been composed by Vimala Raina. The most appealing aspect of the show was the care and patience with which the music, dances, costumes and settings had been brought together to create authenticity. Every scene was realistic that one felt transported to the magic land of Manipur in the medieval days of the King of Moirang. The market scene and the water-sports on the lake were quaint and beautiful.
- (Times of India, Delhi on 6th and 7th November 1961) Khamba Thoibi And Poems On Manipur by Raina, Vimala. (1963). p. (ii)
- It is one of the finest stories in literature produced by the Sino-Tibetan people in India. In the third decade of this century a great poet of Manipur, Hijam Anganghal Singh (1892-1943) composed his Khamba and Thoibi Seireng-his magnum opus in eight volumes, 39000 lines, celebrating the immortal love of the two lovers.
- Chief amongst them is the singing of the history of Khamba Thoibi to the accompaniment of the stirring tunes of the instrument called Pena. The story of the love of Khamba Thoibi is sung by a single artiste where the bow of his instrument becomes a prop for enactment.
- Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith is inclined to agree-- The Manipuri Dance managed and directed by Mrs Vimala Raina staged a beautiful performance of Khamba Thoibi.
It is a Dance Drama based on a story of royal life in the 11th century. He believes Khamba Thoibi would win acclaim in any America theatre.
- A gem of a literature which may be compared to any great epic rediscovers the glory of ancient moirang, the cradle of Manipuri civilisation. It is truly an epic, dignified and elaborate with epic breadth of vision, richness of details, directness of ideas and a faithful portrayal of national life and manners.
- The narrative of Khamba-Thoibi of Moirang is a musical genre singing the epic love story of the legendary hero and heroine, Khamba and Thoibi of Moirang principality, a celebrated place for the ancient civilisation in Manipur.
- I shall never forget the beautiful dancing in your ballet. The story was so lively and the whole thing moved along with grace and drama. We wish this kind of ballet could come to the United States. It has colour and vitality and good appeal to Western audiences. Your ballets were easy to understand as well as charmingly done.
- I think the entire work should be published and that will at once raise the prestige and dignity of Manipuri literature; and an abstract of the poem in English with translations of typical passages, and a critical study of it, will be desideratum in Indian literature bringing home to the rest of India and to the world what important things, important from the point of view of voicing the aspirations, the ideals and the social and cultural milieu of a whole people are being done in this distant corner of India. The position of our Poet is comparable to that of Rabindranath Tagore in Bengali and Modern Indo-Aryan literature.
- Anganghal's masterpiece "Khamba Thoibi Seireng" celebrated the immortal love of Khamba and Thoibi of ancient times and civilisation, faithfully portraying the national life and manners, the hopes and aspirations of the people, their struggles, sufferings and joys with epic breath of vision, richness of details and directness of ideas. It was a significant contribution to Indian literature from a Tibeto-Burman language to the vast corpus of modern Indian epics.
- When I think of the extent and comprehensive character of Khamba and Thoibi Seireng. I am reminded of the Shah-nama, the National epic of Persia and the Kalevale, the national epic of Finland on the one hand, and of artistic epics like the Latin Acneld of virgil and the English Sigurd the Volsung by Willam Morris on the other. I am convinced this single work will considerably raise the value of Manipuri among the languages of India and the World.
