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Umang Lai Sacred Groves (Meitei), Manipur
Imphal valley (Imphal East/West, Thoubal, Kakching, Bishnupur), Manipur, India
India
Active (~365 groves)
Regional cluster
- Location
- Imphal valley (Imphal East/West, Thoubal, Kakching, Bishnupur), Manipur, India
- Coordinates
- ~24.8°N 93.9°E (region)
- Size
- ~365 Umanglai groves across the valley
- Age / Founded
- Ancient Meitei forest-deity tradition
- Status
- Active (~365 groves)
- Deity & Religion
- Meitei 'Umang Lai' forest deities (Sanamahi tradition)
- Community & Guardians
- Meitei people; ritual practitioners (Maiba/Maibi)
- Vernacular name
- Umang Lai / Umanglai
- Record type
- Regional cluster
Cultural practices & uses
Annual Lai Haraoba festival; pilgrimage; ethnomedicine; ritual
Plant species
Hurang Narayan grove: 55 species, 52 genera, 37 families; 35 ethnomedicinal trees; rare/endemic taxa
Biome & fauna
Indo-Burma subtropical forest
Threats & protection
Urban expansion threatens the Meitei-managed groves
Source
R.S. Devi et al. (#14); K.R. Devi et al. (#40); T.R. Singh et al. (#32)