Raseswari Pala of Manipur

Seram Neken *

A Nupi Pala at a Jhulon Celebration in Kwakeithel inAugust 20 2010

"Sankirtan" performance by women in rituals had not been allowed earlier, until the birth of Raseswari Pala in the year 1779. It is said that Rajkumari Bhimbabati, daughter of Manipur Vaisnav king Bheigyachandra requested her father to organize a women chorister for the service of Lord Govindaji, which the saintly king readily accepted.

Thus the all-women performers' chorus led by her began to perform Sankirtan for devotion to God. Only women of Karta Bheigyachandra's royal lineage were allowed to join this chorus. Besides being a beautiful traditional component of Manipuri culture, it also preserves the highly respected Manipuri women's status in the society."

During the reign of Manipur King Bheigyachandra (Chingthangkhomba) (1759-1797), the grandson of Garibniwaj, Vaishnav faith met its perfect architect and ardent propagator on the Manipur soil. The king put his all out efforts to produce a highly complex aesthetic tradition for Manipur by skillfully blending the rich ancient cultural components of the land with the alien Vaishnav faith. He installed the image of Lord Govindaji, composed the Raslila dance based on Shrimadbhagabat and dedicated the same to Lord Govindaji. The first women chorister of Sankirtan entitled "Raseswari Pala" was, thus, introduced as a ritualistic performance for the service of Lord Govindaji.

The origin of 'Raseswari Pala' is associated with a historic event in the royal family. Once there was a 'Raslila' to be organised on the occasion of installation of Lord Govindaji's idol in 1779, for which the image of Goddess Raseswari/ Radha was prepared. However, the image of the goddess could not be finalized in time for the purpose.

In the meantime, the inadequacy was resolved with Rajkumari Bimbabati, daughter of King Bheigyachandra, who came out and readily accepted to pose as the Goddess Raseswari. Her eight year old posture was amply suited to take the role of the goddess. Thus, the Raslila was successfully performed with Bimbabati posing as goddess Radha beside the Lord Govindaji.

From that occasion onwards, the royal daughter began to whole-heartedly sacrifice her life for the service of Lord Govindaji. She never thought of leading a family life. Rajkumari Bimbabati became an ardent devotee of Lord Govindaji. She requested the king to organize a chorister of women for devotion to Govindaji, which the king readily accepted.

Thus, the Raseswari Pala, the first women team of ritualistic singers for the god's service was born. Thereafter, this ritualistic performance began to be organised every year at the Lord's service with Rajkumari Bimbabati leading the chorus. It is also said that this solely-women performance had been staged in Shradha (death rituals) of the royal family for a long time.

For her devotion to the Lord's service, she became known as Sija Laioibi or Sija Laiongbi. Her devotion to God is still having its remnants on the richness of Manipuri tradition of Vaishnav faith in Manipur.

Raseswari Pala has today become an important part of Manipuri performing art. Only women of the so called 'Karta', Bheigyachandra's royal family lineage are the eligible participants of the chorus. The two royal family lineages namely 'Sija' and 'Leima' offspring still take part in this ritualistic performance. Raseswari Pala performance starts and ends with Nipa Pala (men's chorus) performances.

Traditionally, all the men involved in Nipa Pala and the drummers were to be from the royal lineage of Karta Bheigyachandra. During the performance, Idols of Lord Govindaji and Raseswari/ Radha are brought out at the centre of 'Mandav' for the 'Darshan' of devotees. The aesthetic part of the Pala is that all members of the group are women except the Pung Yeiba (drummers).

All participants are from the royal family offspring of Karta Bheigyachandra. The so called Arangpham (arrangers) are also women. The participants wear 'Phanek Mapal Naiba' and decorated with costly ornaments.

A thin cloth 'Inaphee' (Moirangphee/ Wangkheiphee) covers the body of the participant and no shirt is worn. At the start of the chorus ritual, a piece of cloth is gifted to each participant (Phee Thaba) as is done in all Sankirtan performances. Every year, on the 12th day of 'Poinu' lunar month of Meiteis, Raseswari Pala is performed at the Govindaji Temple as a tradition.

With the formation of another women chorister group called Jalakeli Pala during the reign of Maharaj Narshing, the importance of Raseswari Pala began to gradually disappear.

The later was disallowed to perform in the Lord's service for a long time. The performance, however, was continued for devotion to Lord Annuprabhu in Nabadwip and other pilgrimages. As late as 1972, the Govindaji Temple Board enlivened the tradition of Raseswari Pala for the devotional service of Lord Govindaji on the 12th day of Poinu lunar month of Meiteis.

In 1983, the so called Raseswari Pala Marup was registered as a cultural association of like minded women of royal offspring of Karta Bheigyachandra for the preservation of this beautiful tradition. This association has been organizing performances, cultural conferences and seminars on Manipuri culture at various parts of the country especially in pilgrimages like Bheigyachandra Samadhi in Murshidabad, Annuprabhu temple in Nabadwip, Radhanagar in Tripura, Sibsagar, Radhakunda etc.

Such programmes have also been regularly organised at Bijoygovinda temple (Sagolband), Nityainanda temple (RIMS Road, Imphal), Shri Madan Mohan (Uripok, Imphal), Gopinath Temple (Ningthoukhong), Abdeitya temple (Lamangdong) and others in Manipur. In fact, these pilgrimages of the country have inalienable relations to Manipuri history and culture.

The continuity of the Raseswari Pala tradition and regular organization of such a performance for preservation of our culture are the unavoidable responsibility of the present generation. The Raseswari Pala Marup has become a very important and active institution to preserve the age-old culture and tradition, besides uplifting the status of Manipuri women in the cultural aesthetics of this land.

(References: Shri Shri Govinda Raseswari Pala Annual, 2007, Volume - 4, Issue-I, October, 2007 & "Sija Laioibi Amasung Maharas" by Dr. Ch. Jamini Devi Second Edition February, 2006)