News: A Meitei organisation has slammed Kuki civil society groups for warning the Meitei community against embarking on their annual pilgrimage to the Thangjing Hill.
About Thangjing Hill
- Geography: It is located somewhere in the middle of buffer zone created between Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts in Manipur.
- The north–south-running mountain range on which it sits is also called Thangjing range or Thangjing Hills. The range forms part of the western border of the Imphal Valley.
- Status: It falls within the Churachandpur-Protected Forest which was notified in 1966 under Section 29 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
- Historical importance: It has been declared as a protected site, under Section 4 of the Manipur Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1976.
- Cultural & religious significance: It is associated with the Ibudhou Thangjing temple, believed to be the original abode of deity Thangjing by Meitei. The Kuki residents refer to the hill range as ‘Thangting’.
- So, it is considered sacred to both.
- Dispute: Contests over the right to pray and worship on the hill range have only escalated since the ethnic conflict of 2023.
