Coffin of 'pre-Hinduism' era found
- November 24th 2020 - Malom Tuliyaima -

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Coffin of 'pre-Hinduism' era found at Malom Tuliyaima :: Pix - TSE

TSE News - 29th November 2020 edition

A coffin suspected to be of the era before the arrival of Hinduism in Manipur has been unearthed from Malom Tuliyaima. The coffin was unearthed during excavation for preparation of foundation of a house on November 24 .

It was found containing remains of human bones, objects made of iron, a wooden knife, a wooden box, believed to be Kwarubaak (box for keeping paan), and an object believed to be remains of a hookah. The coffin is being kept at the Manipur University's History Department.

Dr Hidam Ajit, Ancient History, guest faculty of the History Department said even though the exact age of the coffin is not known as study has not started yet, the coffin is believed to be from the period before Hinduism arrived in Manipur.

"The wooden coffin was found filled with mud and has no nails on it and the surrounding villagers have no knowledge of such coffins. This has led us to believe that the coffin is very old," he said.

In ancient Manipur, the dead were not cremated with fire. The dead were "cremated with air" and left in open spaces. After one year, as secondary burial people follow a practice called 'Mang Kaiba' which involves people collecting remains of the bones and ornaments for burial in a pot, he said.

There was also the practice of 'Lukha Thaaba' where the head/part of the head is buried in a pot. The contents of the coffin found at Malom needs to be investigated and studied upon before arriving at a conclusion, he said.

Ajit said the remains of the human bones found inside the coffin need to be studied and know which parts (bones) are missing. The contents will also be compared with other ancient remains found at burial sites of Andro, Sekta and Khangabok.

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* This news was published at The Sangai Express on 29th November
This was posted on 30th November 2020