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Bhagyachandra Contribution to Manipur Culture
Rajarshi
Bhagyachandra Contribution to Manipur Culture
N.
Tombi Singh (Ex-MP)
Manipur culture has wide
connotations and a long dynamic history. The root of the
culture is ancient. From the ancient root Manipur culture
has grown over ages into a rich and unique identity now
known as Manipuri culture. The glory of Manipuri civilization
today is like a multi-faceted multi-coloured magical dome,
difficult to comprehend and to grasp within the domain of
description and historical accounting. Manipur's recorded
history covers as accepted by present historians about two
thousand years. The statement is based on the authority
of available written historical documents and royal chronicle
Cheitharol Kumbaba the most prominent source of Manipuri
history. The royal chronicle starts with the reign of Nongda
Leiren Pakhangba of Ningthouja clan. Many historians, however,
agreed that manipuri culture and civilization didn't begin
during the reign of Nongda Lairen Pakhangba. There had been
the other clans ruling different parts of Manipur region.
All this clan had their own histories depicting their ups
and drowns in the co-existence among the clan dominated
principalities which like the Greek city states enjoyed
sovereign status in their own domains inspite of their smallness
in size and population. Manipur's geographical situation
is such that from the very beginning it was a world by itself
and the thinking and outlook of the people were characterized
by presence of the environment pressure for self-sufficiency
in every respect of life. Within Manipur itself different
clans developed within their own domains built up as self-sufficient
and self-protecting sovereign state.
The periods covered by the small sovereign
principalities must have been quite long. Manipur legend
and semi-historical accounts speak volume on the subject.
There were disputes among themselves. The need for cultivation
of diplomacy was there and its principality exists on the
strength of its own defence and warring capabilities. Inspite
of this fact there was a powerful bond of unity and commonness
among the principalities which is due course were heading
for a common culture and civilization, allowing intermingling
and exchange and subsequently mutual absorption of cultures.
One principalities becoming more prominent than its neighbor
at some point of time and some other coming up into a greater
power terrorizing its neighbors at some other time were
not a strange episodes in the history of the region. The
movement of history however pointed to the ultimate assimilation
of the manipur civilization as we would like to call it
today.
Picking up the Rajarshi Bhagyachandra chapter
of Manipuri history would be only a snap shot of a bird
in flight. Bhagyachandra's impact was felt only in the later
half of the eighteen-century. Any study of the growth of
the Manipuri cultural growth that Manipur has seen over
the ages. There should be no doubt of the fact that the
whole process was a continuous organic growth. The royal
chronology has impressed the historians that among the principalities
the domain ruled by the Ningthoujas began to enjoy better
advantage in the process of assimilation and unification
from the time of Nongda Lairen Pakhangba. The result was
that the royal chronology has a list of Ningthouja kings
right from the Pakhangba to the recent point where monarchy
ended in Manipur. We see the process of integration, harmonization
and assimilation working through thousands of years, ultimately
to reach the present stage. Historians are of the opinion
that such continuity is a rare case anywhere even in the
world context. It is in this background that the Bhagyachandra
chapter of the cultural history of Manipur being discussed.
Manipur's contact with its eastern and western
neighbours began long before the regime of Rajarshi Bhagyachandra
. King Kiyamba in this time initiated to an extent the worship
of Vishnu and along with it the practice of Hindu rituals
and forms of worship. The story of this getting the Vishnu
Chakra as gift from the king of Pongand the way Chakra was
installed in the present Vishnu temple at Bishnupur about
five hundred years ago is well known. His successors gradually
increased contact with the western Hindu influence. The
most important turning point was the presence of Brahmins
in and around the royal circles during the reign of King
Charairongba. King Garibniwaj, the son, introduced visible
Hindu influence in the valley. The installation of the Ramji
Prabhu Mandir, the Ningthem Pukhri and construction of the
Hanuman Mandir were his achievements in this field. Garibniwaj
exercised his royal influence and power to give an impact
to the introduction of the Hindu influence in Manipur, so
goes the historical account.
Garibniwaj's grandson Bhagyachandra himself
became a devout Vaisnav fully dedicated to the practice
and propagation of the message of the Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran.
He was one of the most powerful rulers Manipur ever had.
He was a good administrator and diplomat with extraordinary
abilities to befriend neighbours and also to establish formals
relation with the outsides countries and powers. His father
Shyamjai Khurailakpa was said to be devout Vaisnav and firm
believer in the Hanuman deity. Bhagyachandra appears to
have inherited the Vaisnav outlook from his forefathers.
During his campaigns to come to the throne he had acted
with the full conviction that he was only an instrument
in the hands of a powerful God. Hia conviction became crystallized
and unshakable during his political asylum in Assam. He
had a vision of Shri Govinda during the asylum and the deity
he saw in that vision was a living God to him. On his return
from the Assam with the help of Assam King to his land to
regain his throne after routing the Burmese intruders, he
made it a point that Shree Govindaji be installed and given
the status of ruler of the kingdom reducing himself to the
position of an instrument or a viceroy to the Supreme Deity.
The blending of religion, culture and power
politics was not the exclusive trait of Rajarshi Bhagyachandra.
From the very beginning of Manipuri history there has been
no water tight compartments between religion and culture.
Even before the arrival of Hindu influence in Manipur the
Manipuri tradition worship had its cultural tones. At any
stage of the growth Manipuri culture as such at it is difficult
to draw a sharp line between religion and culture. The Manipuri
dances and music flourished as organic parts of the socio
religious growth in Manipur. When Rajarshi Bhagyachandra
promoted the growth of the cultural aspects of Manipur he
did it with a religious programme wich suited the Manipuri
genius.
King Garibniwaj was unpopular even during the
his regime for his attempt at massive destruction of the
traditional Puyas which was interpreted in a way as a move
to discourage and to annihilate Manipuri traditional worship
and the cultural activities associated with it. Although
the people could not rise in the revolt against the king
for his move was too prominent to be ignored. Rajarshi Bhagyachandra
took a cue from what happened during his grandfather's time
and maintained a balance in his socio religious approach.
He not only installed the idol Shri Govindaji and later
on that of Rasheshwori for regular worship within his royal
premises but also initiated a programme on religious music
and dances. In doing so he did not alienate the feeling
of his subjects. The concept of the Sankirtan and RaasLila
dances took routes in his mind. He made full use of his
royal patronage in the promotion of the Raas Lila dances
and his accompanying Sankirtan. His contact with the Bengal
Chaitanya School and its components must have been frequent
and deep. The fact that he at the fag end of his life decided
to seek his final spiritual race at a suitable holy place
on the bank of Ganga and his ultimate choice of Murshidabad
for his eternal rest near the cremation ground of shri Norotom
Thakur is sufficient to prove the validity of the above
contention.
With an element of divine inspiration throughout his political
religious and cultural campaigns, the Rajarshi took the
whole population with him at the process of the cultural
integration was almost complete in his times. The assimilation
of the clan cultures into one beautiful blend which later
on came to be known as Manipuri cultural tradition was born
under his regime. Intallation of Shee Govindaji was followed
by installation of so many others deities at different places
in Manipur valley. Shri Bijoy Govindaji, Gopinathji, Nityaananda,
Shri Gouranga Pravu, Shri Advaita, Shri Banshi Bandal, Shri
Madan Mohan and several other deities were curve out of
the same trunk of the hallowed jackfruit tree of Kaina.
This deity were installed at different places. All these
deities are now more or less leading temples of Hindu in
Mnaipur. Rajarshi consolidated the foundation of Hindu Santana
dharma with such impact that with the passage of time the
foundation becomes stronger and stronger. On the said foundation
layer upon layer of the growth of the Manipuri vaisnavic
tradition continues upto this day.
The episode of Bhagyachandra encountering a rogue Elephant
during his political asylum in Sivsagar deserves special
mention. Although historical records in Assam do not mention
it, the story of Bhagyachandra without this incident would
be incomplete for the Manipuri point of view. Govindaji
appearing to Bhagyachandra in a dream vision on the eve
of the encounter with the elephant and the subsequent events
leading to the regaining of his throne and installation
of Govindaji, again followed by the inception of the Manipuri
dance and music heritage dominated by the Radha Krishna
prem bhakti cult and themes- these are important to Manipur.
The encounter with the rogue elephant can be dovetailed
to rational interpretation and queries. A divine force had
struck the heart of the Rajarshi somewhere sometimes to
transform him onto a devout vaisnav. The Sivsagar episode
is thus significant, relevant and stands to region.
The Rajarshi laid the foundation of Manipuri
raas style now a leading Indian classical dance form when
he organized the first ever Maharaas in his royal premises
with Shree Govindaji playing the role of Krishna and his
daughter Shija Lairoibi playing the role of Radha. The small
details of first ever Raaslila performances are not available.
The outlines are however, sufficient to enable the contemporary
historian of culture to come to certain abiding conclusions.
There was considerable influence of the Bengali kirtans
movement of the Shrimad Bhagavat Mahapuran, the tencanto
and five chapters known as Raas Panchadhyay; the composition
of the music and dances were restricted to the theme and
Shrimad Bhagavat's authority. The authorities in Manipuri
Raas tradition hold that the music was dominated by quotations
from the Raas Panchadhyay and some amount of Bengali Padavali
mingling was there. As for the costumes and musical instrument
used in the initial stage, there are different versions.
At this stage it would not be wise to hold rigid options
on the details. During the period covering more than two
hundred years there has been creative changes in the process
of development of the Raas tradition. It can be surmised
however that the Manipuri genius being always in inclined
to orthodoxy or jealous conservation, the founding principal
must have been meticulously and religiously safeguarded
by succeeding generation which allowed the dynamic growth
of the basic style.
Award about the customs and basic movements. The Rajarshi
took pains to design the costumes not only for aesthetic
and artistic attraction but also for the preservation of
the bhakti-prem predominance. The Poloi, the movement of
the hands, the feet and eyes, the rationale behind Maikhum,
Thabakyet and stiff Poloi point to these aspects. Over the
years modification most of them creative within the basic
limitations, took place. If the contemporary scene is set
against the initial stage now a subject matter of conjecture,
many was would like to cast a doubtful look to the past.
The importance of the foundation of any culture is as important
as the foundation of any structure. Whether Bhagyaachandra
was the inventor of a culture or not may be discussed in
some detail as mentained in the beginning of this essay,
the process of Manipuri cultural and tradition has been
a continues dynamic road which can be analysed into certain
turning points within the continuity. Rajarshi Bhagyachandra
does not invent a culture. Nevertheless he was considered
the setter of a trend namely the Baisnavic culture margin
out of the inherent Manipuri genius. Whatever external influence
Manipur received during his times he wonderfully baptized
that into the Manipuri genius. When the Raaslila tradition
took routes and then blossomed into maturity several years
after the Rajarshi , the Indian continent and world of culture
in a growth sense in the modern age recognized the Manipuri
classical dance form so spontaneously through the great
seers like Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, Sorojini Naidu and
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and others outside India. The manipuri
Raas style has however to go in separately hand in gloved
with Sankirtan now more explicitly the Nat Sankirtana.
The Manipuri Nat Sankritana is a complete self-sufficient
music traditionin the most most comprehensive sense of the
term. The Ras tradition and Nat Sankritana system going
hand in glove has tremendous implications. The Nat music
Raagas,raaginis, talas and rasas taken together give it
not only the appearance but also the actual status of a
classical music tradition . Bhagyachandra has to be given
the full credit of the laying of the foundation of such
a system. Nat Sankritana has the pung,the duhar cholom,
the costume over the above the Rasa sung in the system.
The pung and for that matter the cholom and music are attuned
to the different ragas,raaginis and talas. Today Nat sankirtana
has a vast and variegated subject with so many departments
for each of which the artist have to give lifelong devotion
for attainment of a semblance of mastery. No artist in any
department can claim comprehensive demand on the department.
Nata sankirtana as a whole is naturally too vast and complicated
as a subject for any student. He or she has to be specializing
in one or the other department of which his or her mastery
would be just touching the fringe of the subject after a
life long devotion. Humility and self-abnegation are spontaneous
expressions that come to the learners in the field of Nat
sankirtana. Bhgyachandra took pains to set the classical
dance such masterly, ability and vision that with passing
years the trend became stronger.
The five popular Ras categories namely Maha
Raas , Kunja Ras, Nitya Ras, Basanta Ras, and new form of
Diva Ras are off-shoots of the original Maha Ras initiated
by Bhgyachandra. Recognising the Ras should naturally imply
that the Manipuri Nata Sankirtana should also be trend as
a classical discipline. Recognition of Nata Sankirtana as
a traditional art is not enough. Ras leela in its full dress
is not a daily or too frequent occasion. The Nat Sankirtana
from which the Ras materials are gathered and on the basis
of which the Ras dances and music are composed is almost
a daily affair. The Manipur socio-religious cultural life
is unthinkable without Nat Sankirtana. The art form is thus
socially patronized with an element of social compulsion
encouraging and ensuring upcoming of performing artists
from generation to generation. Bhgyachandra's successors
followed him in this regard. Within the framework of the
tradition each king contributed to the enrichment of the
tradition. Manipuri Ras styles as well as Nat Sankirtana
have been subjected to creative renovations in the process
of the organic growth so far. Bhgachandra however, remains
the principal root of this growth. Himself acting as a viceroy
of Shri Govindaje, his crown prince, Senapati and other
leading figures in his administration were put in charge
of important deities under whose umbrella they in heir turn
functioned. For instance, his uncle Ananta Sai was given
the Bijoy Govinda temple, the Crown prince was given similarly
another temple, the senapati taking the responsibility of
the Ramji Prabhu mandir etc. commissioning of temple and
arrangements of regular daily and seasonal disciplines through
the temple contributed to the strengthening of the influence
of the temples upon the people on the one hand and quickening
of the growth of cultural tradition on the other. An important
aspect of the contribution of Bhagyachandra to the Manipur
culture is the way he inspired his people towards a sense
of belonging to the cultural heritage. Wherever a Manipuri
would be settled in or outside Manipur he would conduct
himself in conformity with the ideas ingrained in him as
a Manipuri. Some historians may not like to give the whole
credit to Bhagyachandra alone. But the fact remains that
the political inabilities, which followed the reign of Baghyachandra,
led devastations and mass exodus from the land of Manipur.
Inspite of these ups and down in the historical process
of Manipur-Manipuri culture continued unaffected by them
the present generation has not inherited historic building
made of iron and stone through which our cultural process
could be studied. But Manipuri men and women are the channel
through the Manipuri culture and civilizations have continued.
Credit should go where they belong. The history makers,
cultural trendsetters had done their jobs in the past to
keep the tradition going with vigor. Baghyachandra's position
among our history makers and cultural trendsetters is really
one of the most of the imminent.
The status of women in Manipuri society
and the role of women of the cultural growth received the
attention of Bhagyachandra. Ladies of the Royal household
came forward to join the cultural promotions. The upheaval
created by Bhagyachandra's daughter playing the role of
Radha in the first Rass Leela, her refusing to marry and
subsequent emergence of the Rasheshwori Pala exclusively
for the women of the Karta Royal household led to the dignity
of the Sankirtana and the women artists in the society.
Courtesy: Souvenir The Third Bhagyachandra
National Festival of Classical Dance, 1995.
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