PHOTOS: In Manipur’s Ima Keithel, women mean business
Updated On Jun 14, 2017 09:34 AM IST
Imphal's Ima Keithel is a marketplace run solely by women with a nearly 500 year old history. Here's a look inside this landmark market and the role of women in shaping Manipur's cultural landscape.
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Updated on Jun 14, 2017 09:34 AM IST
In the heart of Imphal over 3000 vendors gather at daybreak bringing to life the Ima Keithel, a nearly 500 year old market run exclusively by women. Also known as the Mother’s Market this one of a kind marketplace is an icon of women’s empowerment and their role in Manipur’s history. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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Ima Keithel is believed to have emerged as women’s response to the Lallup Kaba, a practice of forced labour and military service on adult males under Meitei monarchs. Their absence led to women taking their roles beyond homes and farmlands adapting as traders and artisans. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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Also known locally as Khwairamband Bazaar this market is also a recreational and meeting point for the discussion of social and economic issues among women. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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The market caters to daily necessities, local agricultural produce, a credit service and handicrafts from Imphal valley and the surrounding hills. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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Vendors offload fresh produce daily, setting up stalls for fish. Traditionally an open air market Ima Keithel now exists as a complex of three buildings. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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The market has played an important role in rallying women historically with vendors organising against the British in 1905 during the Nupi Lan or the women’s uprising in Manipur. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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The marketplace operates on its unwritten rules, solidarity and has its own unions. Women fill roles ranging from suppliers and middlemen to sellers and buyers. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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The vendors dress in Phaneks, sarong like garments, scarfs called Innaphis and have their foreheads marked with sandalwood. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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As result of the 2016 Imphal earthquake vendors with space allotted in one of the buildings have now set shop in its perimeter. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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Not limited to perishable items, products such as intricate jewellery and handicrafts with a focus on tourists also find place in this Mother’s Market. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
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Updated on Jun 14, 2017 09:34 AM IST