Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba

Half-divine son of Salailen (Meitei sky-father) by Queen Leima Thamoilembi of Moirang under the Mongán-pattern medieval-literary divine-paternity tradition preserved in the Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya. The foster-father Thangwai Koding Ahanba was the mortal Moirang king. The puya's narrative — Salailen appearing in Thamoilembi's dream to identify the child as His own, the protruding-tail mark of divinity, the love of Sunulembi, the gradual fading of the divine-dictate from parental memory — is one of the rarest conjugal-love narratives of the Manipuri literary tradition. Per the Yuhlung 2017 academic argument, this figure is identified with Nongda Lairen Pakhangba, the legendary first king of the Ningthouja dynasty (33-154 CE per Cheitharol Kumbaba), making him the founder-ancestor of the dynasty that would rule Manipur for nearly two millennia. The chronological discrepancy between the puya's 337-387 CE dating and the royal-chronicle 33-154 CE dating remains unresolved in the scholarly literature; the registry encodes both readings as variants.

Parentage

• Salailen

Domains

• serpent divinity of moirang

Powers

• Coils into the sacred paphal patterns
• Transforms into a dragon-serpent

Epithets

• Pakhangba

Sources

• Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya (Meitei-language literary work, first half of 18th century, recording earlier Moirang-period traditions in Meitei Mayek script); Cheitharol Kumbaba (royal chronicle of Manipur, 33 CE onward); Moirang Ningthourol Lambuba; Yuhlung 2017 academic synthesis
• Chothe Thangwai Pakhangba puya, opening narrative — divine-paternity claim from Salailen via Queen Thamoilembi's dream