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Learn About Places Manipur > Imphal West


Imphal West

Imphal West Manipur

District Imphal West :: The Imphal West District falls in the Category of Manipur valley region. It is a tiny plain at the centre of Manipur surrounded by Plains of other districts. Imphal City, the State Capital is the nodal functional centre of this District. It is surrounded by Senapati District on the north, on the east by Imphal East and Thoubal districts, on the south by Thoubal and Bishnupur Districts, and on the west by Senapati and Bishnupur Districts.
                                                                            
TOURISM ::  There are two tourist home in the district, one is at Kaina and another at Jiribam. In the district, the natural beauty of Poirou Pat rounded with the small hillock is beyond description. Shree-Shree Govindajee Temple, a beautiful golden temple located in the palace compound is still shining here. The two war Cemeteries that maintained by British war grave commission might be attractive to the tourists. In addition to this there is a temple at Kaina a holy place of the Hindu. Besides, Hanuman Temple at Mahabali is a pre-historical place in the State. Manipur is famous for it's scenic beauty, enchanting landscape, salubrious climate and rich cultural heritage which has a great potential for development of tourism.

Climate :: The district enjoys confortable temperature throughout the year; not very hot in summer and not very cold in winter. Over all the climatic condition of the district is salubriouces and monsoon tropical. The whole district is under the influence of the monsoons characterised by hot and humid rainy seasons during the summer, and cool and dry seasons during the winter. Temperature ranges from minimum of 0o C to maximum of 36oC. the average annual rainfall based on the meteorological data published for the years 1991-99 is 1259.5 mm. The district gets rainfall from the South-West monsoon.

Flora and Fauna :: The district is endowed with a rich variety of vegetation. The prevailing climatic conditions are favourable for growing a wide range of herbs, shrubs, and also flowering and non-flowering trees. In addition, a variety of medicinal plants are also grown in the district. Few important varieties of non-fruit bearing trees, fruit bearing trees, etc of worth mentioning are Bamboos, Pepals, Kaubila, Eucalyptus, Amla, Parkai roxburgil (Yongchak), Arundo donax (yendhou), Carica papaya (papaya), Citrus grandia (Pamelo), Mangifera indica (Mango), Prunus domestics (plum), Prumus persica (peach), Pyrus selerotine (pear), Psidium guavaya (guava), Famarin dus indica (Tamarind). The abundant existence of wild animals in the district is only of past story. Due to the heavy pressure on land and cleaning of forest land in the valley, the existenceof varieties of animals, birds, fauna are on fast decreasing trend. Fox, deer, wild pig, jungle cat, monkeys and leopards were the important animals once habited in the district. Of which, monkeys are said to be the only animal available in the district (in the premises of Hanuman Thakur mandir at Mahabali). A large variety of birds are found in the district. The common birds available in the district are sparrow, swallow, owl, myna, pigeon, nightingale, king fisher, wood pecker, heren, kite, etc.

Soil :: The valley area of imphal West district is fertile land and is mainly made up of alluvial soil of recent origin. The valley was once full of swamps and marshy lands, the important ones being Lamphelpat, Takyelpat, Sangaipat, Kakwapat, Poiroupat (pat means lake). The soil are mainly made up of shallow black, brown and alluvial soils which have been technically classified as Udalfs-Ochrepts and Orchrepts-Aquepts-Fluvents.

Rivers :: Main rivers draining Imphal west plain are Imphal river, Nambul river and their tributaries. The Nambul river is made up of a number of small streams on its upper course. The course of the river is short and its outlet falls on Loktak Lake. This river passes through Imphal Municipality area dividing its area into almost two equal halves. This river serves as the main dischargeing drainage of Imphal Bazar area and its surroundings. During rainy season, swift flowing of water directed to it from its tributaries can't be contained in it. As a result, breaking of its river bunds causing waterlogging in the low lying area is of regular feature.

Industry :: When compare with other districts on Manipur, Imphal West district is progressed in industries Handloom and handicrafts and other traditional cottage and small scale industries, however constitute the bulk of the industrial units. Important products which are manufactured both for local needs and export are bed sheet, pillow cover, shawl, scarf, mosquito net, curtain, phanek (loincloth for women), chadar, etc. of various designs and colours. Blacksmithy, Jewellery, cane and bamboo works, etc. are other important cottage industries. In the small scale sector, there are industries like carpentry and wooden furniture, saw mill, rice and flour mill, iron and steel works, repairing of cycles and automobiles, tailoring and embroidery, tyre retreating and vulcanising, etc. Among the large and medium industries are spinning Mill at Loitang Khunou and the Industrial Estate at Takyel for assemble of low cost bi-cycles and TV sets etc.

The People :: The people of the district are mostly Manipuris excepting small numbers of non-manipuris living in the District. Manipuri (Meiteilon) is the main language. There are different kinds of cultural institutions for Manipuri dances viz. Jawaharlal Nehru Dance Accademy, Manipuri Jagoi Marup, etc., one Art College one State Museum, one State Central Library, one State Archives, and some Organised Martial Arts Intitutions.All villages of the district are electrified. Intalled capacity (State owned) is 6.88 MW, Electricity Generated (State owned) is 0.40 MWH. There are 5(five) numbers of Diesel Power House in the District upto the year 1999-2000.

Shopping :: Imphal Khuwai Bazar is the most important market for this district. Some important markets in the greater Imphal area are Naoremthong Bazar, tera Bazar, Kwakeithel Bazar, and singjamei Bazar. It has 2 Municipalities viz. Imphal (part) and Nambol (part), 8 Notified Area Committees viz. Lamsang, Lilong (Imphal West), Lilong (Thoubal part), Mayang Imphal, Samurou (part), Sekmai Bazar, Thongkhong Laxmi Bazar and Wangoi and 2 Census Town viz. Bijoy Govinda and Lamjaotongba.

How to reach

By Air :: Indian Airlines connect Imphal, the capital of Manipur, with major cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Silchar. NEPC Airlines has daily flights to Imphal from Guwahati, and Indian Airlines 6 days in a week from Kolkata to Imphal.

By Train :: Dimapur town of Nagaland, 215 kms from Imphal, is the nearest railhead. Another railhead is Jiribam, a small town in Manipur 225 kms from Imphal.

By Road :: Imphal is connected by road with Guwahati (Assam) through National Highway No. 39 and Silchar (Assam) through National Highway No. 53.

Entry Formalities :: All foreigners intending to visit Manipur can avail of permits from Indian Missions abroad, FRRO offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi, the Immigration Office in Madras and the Home Commissioner, Government of Manipur, Imphal. Areas that can be visited include Imphal City, Loktak Lake, INA Memorial (Moirang) , Sendra, Waithou Lake, Keibul Lamjao National Park, and the Khongjom War Memorial.Domestic tourists intending to visit Manipur by road via Dimapur / Kohima require Inner Line Permits to pass through Nagaland. These are issued by the Liaison officers of the Government of Nagaland at New Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong and the Sub-divisional Officer (Civil), Dimapur. The Deputy Commissioner, Imphal West can also issue permits to tourists travelling by road from Imphal to Kohima and Dimapur in Nagaland.

Places of Interest

Shree Shree Govindajee Temple :: A historic Vaishnavite center, adjoining the Royal palace of Manipur's former Maharajas, the Govindajee temple is a simple yet beautiful structure. Twin domes, a pave courtyard, and a large raise congregation hall form a perfect backdrop for priest who descend the steps, to accept offerings from devotees in the courtyard. The shrines of Krishna and Balaram and Jagannath flank the two sides of the presiding deity.

Temple of Shri Krishna :: The temple of Shri Krishna at Brahmapur Guru Aribam Leikai,Imphal is attributed to Maharaj garibniwaza(1709-48 A.D) and is beleived to have been built in 1722 A.D.The style of the temple is typical Bengal hut type architecture common in Bengal during the 18th century.It is indicativeof the influence from Bengal The area protected is 124.2sqm
   
Thangal General :: The temple is attribured to Kangabam Chitananda Singh popular as Thangal General in Manipur history .He is son of Kangabam Kshtri Singh of Wangkhei angom Leikai.Thangal General was a prominent figure in the court of Maharaj Kulachandra(1890-91A.D) and he was hanged to death by the  British for raising arms up against the crown,as follow up action after Manipurs defeat in the historic Anglo-Manipur war of 1891. The protected area is 650 sq.m.
   
Sacred Jackfruit tree site,Kaina :: Kaina is located in Thoubal district and is around 35Kms to the east of Imphal on the Imphal-Yairipok road.During the reign of Bhagyachandra Maharaj(1763-98A.D) the sacred idol of Shree Shree Govindaji was sculptured from the parts of a jackfruit tree cut from Kaina in complying to a dream in which the King saw the image of the lord,being sacred for the ardent vaishnavites,Kaina therefore assumed importance as the place where the image of the lord originated and consequently became an important religious and historical place for Meitei Hindus.The total area covered under the act is 22X18.40sqm.
   
Sekta Kei Mound :: The site is located in village Sekta and is around 18Kms north east of Imphal on the bank of the Iril river and around 4Kms north of Lamlai on the Imphal-Uhkrul road.There are reportedly 6 well demarked burial areas in village Sekta.however only one burial mound was located,excavated and protected by the State Archaeology.The total area under protection is 0.35 acre.The excavation at the Sekta burial site revealed important informations of the burial customs of the Sekta people and their social and economic life.This has helped archaelogist and historians to reasses the historical process of the people of Manipur

Manipur State Museum :: Museum, an important institution for preservation of relics of human civilization and glorious past of any society, is the mirror through which to see the materials and cultural heritage of the society and civilization. The Manipur State Museum was inaugurated by the late Prime Minister of India, Smt. Indira Gandhi on 23rd September, 1969. During 32nd years, this Museum has become a full fledged multipurpose museum comprising of various Galleries like - Ethnology, Archeology, Natural History, Painting, Jallan, Children's Gallery and an open air gallery for housing the 78 ft long boat called Hiyang Hiren (Royal boat). Apart from the normal functions of Museum, the Manipur State Museum took up various activities like Museum awareness programmes, Conservation of Biological specimens, cultural appreciation course, Science fairs, thematic exhibition, mobile exhibition etc. Now a days, Manipur State Museum has taken up numerous sponsor programmes through National and International Museums. It is open from 10 am to 4.30 pm and closed on Monday and public holidays.

Special Attraction :: Samban-Lei Sekpil the tallest Topiary in the World Green and awesomely tall, a shrub growing 61 feet (18.59 m.), it is amazing. When Moirangthem Okendra Kumbi of Manipur returned home after getting his degree of B.Sc. Agri. (Hons.) from Meerut University, in 1983, he found a small plant on a mustard oil tin planted by his sister. The plant was a kind of shrub Manipuris use to grow as fencing to their gardens, so they called it Samban-Lei (Samban means fencing and Lei means flower), its Hindi name is Nilakantha (Sky flower) and Botanical Name is Duranta repens Linn. He started an experiment with the plant to grow it upright and cutting its branches in round forming the shape of umbrellas and discs. Experts told him it wouldn't grow past 20 feet, but he never gave up. While it was growing, Moirangthem would display it at local exhibitions. Once it became too big to move, however, he decided to plant it permanently. In 1991, the then governor of Manipur saw it and recommended him for a position in the State Horticulture Department as Assistant Horticultural Officer. This topiary duranta is given the name "Samban-Lei Sekpil" by its owner Moirangthem as the Samban-Lei is forming the shape of a Sekpil. The word Sekpil is derived from ancient Manipuri word for a decorative bamboo post with rounded structured cloths forming canopy in many stages. These sekpil at present also called as "Shattra" is generally used in worship and festivals of Manipuris. He climb the supporting ladder at least two times in a day to check the shape of his record plant, till now he had spent more than Rupees sixteen lakhs on maintenance. His untired efford earned a place in the Indian Records of Topiary Art, the Limca Book of Records, and the Guinness Book of World Records.

Imphal West District at a glance
Area :: 558 sq kms
Latitude :: 24.30o N to 25.00o N
Longitude :: 93.45o E to 94.15o E
Altitude :: 790 m above MSL
Population :: 4,39,532 (Census 2001)
Male :: 2,18,947
Female :: 2,20,585
District Head quarter :: Imphal
Subdivisions :: 3
CD/TD Blocks :: 2
Towns :: 10
Inhabited villages :: 117
Zilla Parishads     1
Sex Ratio :: 1007 (per thousand male)
Density  :: 847 per sq. km.
Literacy rate :: 80.61
Male  :: 89.1
Female  :: 72.24
Climate :: Moderate
Annual Rainfall :: 108.5 cm to 143.4 cm
Temperature :: 20.4o C (average)
Workers Statistics (1991 Census)
Total main worker :: 122,714
Female worker :: 46,266
Male worker :: 76,448
Total Marginal worker :: 7,882
Total Non-worker :: 250,205
Total Agricultural worker :: 51,278

Unique Handloom &  Handicrafts                     
Manipuri enjoys a district place amongst the Handloom zones in India. Handloom industry is the largest cottage industry in the State. This industry has been flourishing since time immemorial. One of the special features of the industry is that women are the only weavers. According to the National handloom Census Reports 1988 there are about 2.71 lakh looms in Manipur.Handloom and Handicraft goods are the important cottage and home industries taken up by the people. Among the womenfolk, handloom cloth weaving is the traditional occupation of the district. Their productions of clothes are mainly household clothes for everyday use and traditional ceremonial dress etc. They feel proud to wear clothes which they themselves have made. In some place, such as Wangkhei, Chingmeirong and Khurai areas where handloom weaver co-operative societies are concentrated. Handloom products like, Wangkhei Phi, Lashing Phi and Phanek and its different designs made  by these weavers are in great demand both in the home and outside markets as well. This occupation provides employment to almost women in the district. This can certainly be developed in the district by upgrading the skills of artisans introducing of improved looms and provision of cheap yarns. Cane and Bamboo works, Carpentry, Black smithy and Jewellery etc. are the important household industries among the male people in the district. The artisans in these trades are widely spread over the district. This enables them to supplement their meager income from agriculture