Meitei Sankirtana

Meitei Sankirtan (Meitei: Meitei Nat Sankirtan), also known as Meitei Sankirtana (Meitei: Meitei Nat Sankirtana) or Manipuri Sankirtan (Meitei: Nat Sonkirton) or Manipuri Sankirtana (Meitei: Nat Sonkirton), is a Meitei cultural form of performing art involving ritual singing, drumming and dancing performed in the temples and domestic spaces in Manipur in India.

Quotes

• Bhagyachandra also went on to establish the Nata Sankirtana (also called Nupa Pala), a very crucial form of worship in Manipur. It is an intricate combination of rhythmic movents, music and rituals and is something that permeates every aspect of Manipuri life and culture, till date. It synthesized several elements of the pre-Vaishnava, indigenous Meitei culture, beliefs and rituals.
  • Sampath V. (2022). Bravehearts of Bharat : vignettes from indian history. Penguin Random House India

• The Sankirtana, ‘establishes and reinforces relationships between the individual and the community through life-cycle ceremonies. It can also be regarded as a vibrant practice promoting an organic relationship with people. Sankirtana works in harmony with the natural world, whose presence is acknowledged through its many rituals … the blending of the native pre-Hindu religious elements and cultural traditions with the great tradition of Hinduism led to the birth of a state deeply rooted in a unique form of Hindu Vaishnavism. This was aptly described as the ‘Meiteisation of Hinduism’. Thus, it seemed like a new civilizational renaissance were heralded in Manipur under Bhagyachandra. Old values were transmuted; old materials reorganized to yield new meanings. A new society thus emerged from the old, but without a break in continuity of tradition, rituals and customs.
  • Sampath V. (2022). Bravehearts of Bharat : vignettes from indian history. Penguin Random House India