Lainingthou Sanamahi

Lainingthou Sanamahi is the central deity of household Sanamahism — the supreme guardian god of the home and of mankind. Per the Manipuri puranas (Parratt) he is the eldest son of the supreme creator Atiya/Atingkok Guru Sidaba (recorded in this registry as Salailen) and the earth-mother Leimarel Sidabi, and elder brother of Pakhangba. The defining myth is the brothers' contest for their father's throne: Sanamahi loses (Pakhangba coils around the throne instead of racing the cosmos, or alone recognizes the father disguised as a dead cow), and is compensated with sovereignty over every human household. He is worshipped, with Leimarel, in the sacred south-western corner of the Meitei house. In the puranic cosmology he is further credited as the demiurge who fashioned the world, living beings and humankind in the image of the supreme father. His name is popularly read 'liquid gold,' after the molten-gold pool (Isaiphu) of his birth.

Parentage

• father: SalailenSon of the supreme creator Atingkok / Atiya Guru Sidaba (recorded here as Salailen).Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980) (secondary)
• mother: Leimarel SidabiSon (or foster-son, in a variant) of the earth-mother Leimarel Sidabi.Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980) (secondary)

Domains

• household and hearth
• guardianship of mankind
• creation

Powers

• Guard the household and all mankind

Epithets

• Lainingthou Sanamahi Meitei · Lainingthou Sanamahi · cultLord-god Sanamahi (the molten-gold one)Lainingthou Sanamahi, Simple English Wikipedia (secondary)

Relations

• father: SalailenSon of the supreme creator Atingkok / Atiya Guru Sidaba (recorded here as Salailen).Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980) (secondary)
• mother: Leimarel SidabiSon (or foster-son, in a variant) of the earth-mother Leimarel Sidabi.Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980) (secondary)
• sibling: PakhangbaElder brother of Pakhangba; the two contest the throne, the central Sanamahi–Pakhangba rivalry.Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980): elder brother of Pakhangba (secondary)

Sources

• existence: S. N. Arambam Parratt, The Religion of Manipur (1980) (secondary); T. C. Hodson, The Meitheis (1908) (secondary)