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In this clip we're going to talk about the history of Manipur and Manipuri dance. Manipur
is a state in North East India. It's one of the seven sister states of that area. It's
on the border of Myanmar. Dance has always been a very important part in the religious
ceremonies of Manipur. Even before Hinduism was introduced, the traditional rituals and
ceremonies of the original religion of Manipur, utilized dance as part of its ceremonies.
In the seasonal ceremony of Lairahoba which is the spring time ritual. Manipuri dance
was used to please the Gods and as part of the complete ceremony. Also the High priestesses
of Manipur called Maibis utilized this dance as their ceremony. And also as a vehicle to
enter the trance states. Now, later Hinduism was introduced by the monarchy in Manipur.
And they developed and codified a classical court dance under the Raas Lila tradition
which tells us stories of the Lord Krishna. Now Krishna was one of the favorite Hindu
gods that was adopted in Manipur. Many Manipuri people worshiped Krishna specifically out
of the Hindu Pantheon of Gods. Now this king, he had a vision, a dream that he saw Radha
and Krishna dancing together. And he wanted to recreate this vision in a performance.
So he got all the dancers and all the dance teachers from Manipur. And got them together.
And together they helped develop and codify a specific technique. Which is the technique
that were going to be focusing on in these upcoming clips of classical Manipuri dance.