A fascinating slice of folklore from the North-East will find depiction in the national capital from next week. A wooden sculpture from Manipur titled Poubi Lai, depicting a mythical reptile, is being put up at the National Museum in Delhi for public viewing.
The 42-day display will be on from July 21, giving Delhiites a chance to view the pioneering artwork that is only twelve years old but has earned a special place in the history of beliefs related to the ‘horned python’ that is integral to the age-old traditions of hilly Kangleipak region’s Meitei – an ethnic group who speak a Sino-Tibetan language. Conceived and chiselled by (late) wood-carver Karam Dineshwar Singh, who was one of the successors of the Karigar craftsmen associated with the royal family, the 21-foot-long artwork found expression in 2002 inspired by a dream he had of Poubi Lai – the mythical creature. Completed in six months, the sculpture had its inaugural exhibition the same year at Manipur State Museum in Imphal.
Later, the work became part of the permanent collection of Bhopal’s Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, which was a partner in organising a seminar-cum-exhibition at Manipur State Museum in 2002, when the Poubi Lai was first displayed in the open. Today, it is an ‘Object of National Importance’, having been registered under the ‘AA’ category of Museum Collections. “The coming of the sculpture to Delhi is thus a fascinating journey in itself,” notes National Museum’s director general Sanjiv Mittal. “By travelling from the North-East to central India to now further north, the work now gives a rare chance of viewing the myth-themed artwork in its full glory.”
The last time the National Museum hosted a major one-object exhibition was almost two years ago when the museum displayed for 18 days, in September-October 2013, an exquisite 10th-century stone sculpture of a Yogini. That also marked the return of the 4.5-foot tall artefact that was stolen from a worn out temple in a sleepy Uttar Pradesh village called Lokhari.
As for Poubi Lai, it has been the tangible result of what is believed to be the deity’s ‘instruction’ to its maker. The story goes that Singh, following the dream, left his home in search of the wood required to sculpt the structure of Poubi Lai. He eventually located one root of a big tree near the bank of Leimatak River – as forecast in his dream. The root, it is said, ‘looked exactly the same’ as the character the artist saw in his dream.
Art historians note that this sculpture was the first-of-its-kind that drew the attention of a large audience to console themselves with the live presentations of Poubi Lai about which they have only heard about in stories.
According to Meitei belief, godly king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba lived as a human being at night and could also transform himself into a divine snake called Paphal.
(Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist who contributes articles on visual arts for unboxedwriters.com)
