Nongpok Ningthou
Manipuri · deity · mythic prehistoric · Recorded classification
Nongpok Ningthou ('King of the East') is the Meitei guardian god of the eastern direction, enthroned on the Nongmaiching (Langmai) hills east of the Imphal valley. He is best known as the divine lover and consort of the warrior-goddess Panthoibi: the two left their homes to seek one another and united on Nongmaiching, a romance preserved in the Panthoibi Khonggul and Langkol Chingkoipa and re-enacted at the heart of the Lai Haraoba festival. In later Hindu syncretism his hill-shrine was assimilated to Shiva, but the deity himself is indigenous to the pre-Hindu Meitei pantheon.
Domains
- eastern direction
Powers
- Reign as sovereign guardian of the eastern direction
Epithets
- Nongpok Ningthou King of the EastNongpok Ningthou, Wikipedia (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: PanthoibiConsort and true love of the goddess Panthoibi; the pair united on the Nongmaiching hills.Panthoibi Khonggul; Langkol Chingkoipa: the union of Nongpok Ningthou and Panthoibi (secondary)
Sources
- existence: T. C. Hodson, The Meitheis (1908) (secondary); Panthoibi Khonggul (ancient Meitei text) (primary)