Manipuri
Manipuri
A classical dance from Manipur rooted in Vaishnavite devotion — fluid, circular, and deliberately gentle, built around the Raas Leela of Radha and Krishna and unlike any other Indian classical form in its aesthetic.
AT A GLANCE
Origin
Manipur
Root Language
Meitei / Sanskrit
Century
Ancient — formalized 18th century under King Jai Singh
Manipuri dance is very contained and controlled in its repertoire and there is no exaggeration of movements and facial expressions.
Dr. Sohini Ray
What Is
Manipuri
Manipuri is a confluence of four living traditions — Lai Haraoba (an ancient pre-Hindu ritual tradition of the Meitei people), Nata Sankirtana (group devotional performance with drumming and singing), the Raas Leela (the sacred dance-drama of Radha and Krishna), and Huyen Langlon (the martial arts tradition of Manipur). What is today called Manipuri classical dance draws primarily from the Raas Leela tradition, formalized in the 18th century under King Bhagyachandra, who composed the first Raas Leela script after a divine vision and established the Govindaji Temple in Imphal as its sacred performance site. The inaugural performance took place in 1779.
What sets Manipuri apart from every other classical form is its aesthetic register. Dancers do not wear ankle bells — the footwork is soft, unhurried, and barely audible. The movements are circular and continuous, one dissolving into the next like the waves. Even the feet, usually the percussive engine of Indian dance, move gently. The form's aesthetic is one of grace bordering on weightlessness. Padma Shri awardee Darshana Jhaveri famously compared it to bamboo trees lilting in the breeze. The face expresses bhakti — devotion — almost exclusively. Where other classical forms move between emotional states, Manipuri stays in a single world: the world of Krishna's divine love.
The form was brought to national attention in 1919 when Rabindranath Tagore encountered a performance and was so struck that he invited Guru Budhimantra Singh to teach at Santiniketan — making Manipuri one of the few classical forms to enter the Indian mainstream through a poet rather than an institution.
The Raas Leela has five forms: Maharas (performed on the full moon night of Kartik), Basantaras (spring), Kunjaras, Nityaras, and Dibaras. The Maharas is the most sacred and most elaborate — an overnight performance depicting the gopis' grief at Krishna's disappearance, and his return to dance with each one simultaneously.
Key forms
Raas Leela — the devotional performance depicting Krishna and Radha, the form's sacred centrepiece
Meitei Sankirtana — group performance with cymbals and drums
Thang-Ta — the martial arts tradition connected to Manipuri movement
Pung Cholom — drumming and dance performed by male dancers
Lai Haraoba — the ancient pre-Vaishnavite ritual dance of the Meitei people; still performed, distinct from the classical tradition
CONNECTED ON THIS SITE
SOURCE READING
Nayana Jhaveri — Guru Bipin Singh (1979) — the primary biographical source on the form's most important modern figure
Saryu Doshi — Dances of Manipur (1989)
P. Lilabati Devi & Rajkumari Jiteshwori — Manipuri Raas Leela: The Remarkable Manipuri Classical Dance
Darshana Jhaveri — interviews, various
India Art Review — Manipuri Maestros: Darshana Jhaveri and Guru Bipin Singh
Manipuri Nartanalaya
UNESCO Intangible Heritage — Nata Sankirtana
KEY VOCABULARY
Potloi — the elaborate barrel-shaped skirt worn by female characters in Raas Leela; stiffened at the bottom, it creates the form's iconic silhouette
Pung — the barrel drum, the primary percussion instrument of Manipuri music
Kartal — hand cymbals used in Sankirtana performances
Jagoi — the Meitei word for dance; also used to refer to Manipuri dance broadly
Lasya — the feminine, graceful quality that defines the Raas Leela aesthetic
Bhakti — devotional love; the emotional state that Manipuri performance seeks above all others
THE TRADITION TODAY
Manipuri is performed today across India and internationally, carried largely by the legacy of Guru Bipin Singh and the Jhaveri Sisters — the four Gujarati women who dedicated their lives to bringing the form from Manipur's temples to the concert stage. Manipuri Nartanalaya, founded in 1972 with branches in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Imphal, remains the primary institution outside Manipur. The Jawaharlal Nehru Manipuri Dance Academy in Imphal, established in 1954, continues to train performers within the state. The Nata Sankirtana tradition was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2013.
