Manipur Magic with Musical Instruments

Manipur, situated in the North-eastern part of India is a renowned for music and dance. The tribes residing in the state are of Kuki origin, but their life style depicts the Naga tribes. The tribes of Manipur, reverberates the deep-seated culture and tradition submerged with the colorful music. Besides, depending on agricultural productivity, the market is the mainly known for its cottage industries, which manufactures a wide range of musical instruments.

The Thoda Kuki Tribe dominating the greater part of Manipur viz: Imphal, Churachandpur belt, Sekmai, Senapati and other districts of Manipur are the master in instrumental music rather than vocal. The orchestras complementing with dance is the way of a happy life. Both man and women perform a number of jigging group dance like Sheltoldel, Boncho and Lholhit.

The Thodas are imperative to making a range of musical instruments. The harmonized note produced by the quality tool has made a mark in the modern orchestra too. Some hand-crafted musical instrument are-

Dapi: a Burmese wood chime.
Diemgdong: a Xylophone consisting of six wooden slats and laid across two cords fastened at one end.
Khoung: a drum made from hollow section of tree trunk and covered in both side with hide membranes.
Khuli: a bamboo flute.
Gu-da: an instrument similar to bengal ektara.
Pheiphot: comprises of ten simple bamboo tubes of measured length.
Gu-Shem: a bamboo mouth organ.