Numit Kappa

"Numit Kappa is the first long narrative verse which is addressed to the Sun God According to them, the poem was recited before King Taothingmang (possibly 264-364 AD) to the accompaniment of a penaa"

"The Meetei ancestors lived on the hills till the valley dried up. Late Oinam Bhogeswor cites the names of Manipuri autochthones as mentioned in Numit Kappa viz., Chakpa, Shelloi-Langmai, Maring tribe (supposed to be the oldest hill tribe) and Thongnang (possibly the Boros)."

"Other genres include allegories such as Numit Kappa (Shooting the sun) which is reproduced with interlinear translation in Hodson (1908),..."

"The Lois continued to be worshippers of nature and natural forces, eg, sun and moon (as were the Meiteis during their pre-Vaishnav days), as revealed by the Numit Kappa, a legendary Loi book in the genre of the Epics."

"There are books like the Numit Kаррa, narrating some old Manipuri legends, and there is a rich literature of chronicles as well as works on the movements of the tribes, in Manipur, which are all preserved in the Old Manipuri language."

"In the myth of Numit Kappa (Shooting Down A Sun), it is re-emphasized that the kingship is the divine right of the kings and their descendants. The mythical story narrates the revolt of an ordinary person who could not change the power relation of the state. The act of Ningthou Pongba Tara (Ten Great Men) in the story is what the political culture of the society aims to inject in..."

"Ballet (dance drama) is an essential part of their culture-the most famous being Numit Kappa, depicting the story of two siblings. The rather longish song associated with this ballet is probably the best example of a single song illustrating the entire gamut of rich and ancient culture."

"Ballet or dance drama is also present in Meitei culture. The famous ballet Numit speaks of the story of two suns. It is a wonderful ballet which can match any ballet of the world having rhythm, expression and lyric."

"In earlier literary works like Poireiton Khunthok, Panthoibi Khongul, Numit Kappa, Nungsamei Puya, Naothingthong Phambal Kaba, etc., the presence of loan words has not been noted, but with the introduction of Vaishnavism, the flow of loan words, mainly from Sanskrit and Hindi, increased to a considerable extent with the passage of time."

"As described above Meiteis do have beautiful songs depicting their highly philosophical thinking. The song associated with their ballet Numit Kappa is probably the best example of a song representing entire Meitei culture proving rich heritage of Meitei Civilisation since ages."

"In the early 1920s Grierson, having examined Hodsons version of Numit Kappa in old Manipuri as well as some of Damants papers, suggested to Pettigrew that he investigate, in cooperation with some Meetei scholars, the archaic Manipuri language and script, since no other Tibeto-Burman language was known to have a literary corpus."

"Numit Kappa, as dealt with before, is an allegory and legend, portraying the exploitation of the people by the powerful and the great and the-courage of the people to rise against them. Two brothers were reigning over their kingdom as the star and the sun respectively, one in the day, another in the night, dazzling the kingdom with bright light giving no respite to their subjects. One of the subjects shot down the star, no longer able to carry the burden to work throughout the day and the night. The sun, in fear, hid himself for a long time plunging the world in darkness. At last the Gods sent Panthoibi, the goddess, who intervened and the sun came out and shone brightly. Apart from its literary qualities it has socio-economic and politico-religious significance."