the lai-sang, and placed before the god's seat. The lāngterei leaves were placed in the pot carried by the chief, and were kept in the lai-sang till the next harauba. (The threads are roads to facilitate the god's passage from the water to the pots.) During the lai-harauba all concerned in it must use clean fire, which is made by drawing a band of cane quickly backwards and forwards across a piece of dry wood, the hot dust being caught on a piece of tinder. Dancing before the god is a great feature of every harauba (Plate XII.), and there is always a processional dance, the performers circling round chanting the praises of the god and recounting the benefits he has conferred on mankind. The male and female performers, especially the clowns and the maibis, frequently indulge in an exchange of filthy abuse, which provokes much mirth, and is said to please the god. In Imphal, the capital town, the leaves or fruits into which the spirit of the god has been enticed are carried round by two old men, dressed in white, attended by umbrella bearers (Plate XII.), and by married women and girls carrying the Lai's utensils, and with the maibi dancing in front. Some gods are tricky and perverse, refusing to be conveyed quietly to their houses, and, taking possession of the bearers of their litters, they drive them hither and thither in a series of mad rushes. (Plate X. shows the bearers of such a litter, decorated with plumes of peacock's tail feathers, in which is carried the emblem of Khumlangba.) At the harauba of certain gods, who are supposed to have been spouses of the amorous goddess Panthoibi, a curious farce is enacted, which I have described fully elsewhere, in an account of Khumlangba's lai-harauba,[1] so I will not repeat it here.
Panthoibi is a very popular goddess in Manipur. In fact she is by far the best known of all the female divinities. The pundits tell me that she originated from the spot near the State Police ground in Imphal where three big inscribed stones now stand. Unfortunately the inscriptions are so
- ↑ See Note 11.
