Mathu Naba Meetei Nupi Sahnpujarramagica <FRESH × TUTORIAL>

Unlike Western witchcraft or shamanism, Meetei magical traditions are deeply domestic and ecological. The Mathu Naba Meetei Nupi Sahnpujarramagica is not a fantasy character. She is the grandmother who knows which herb stops a fever, the young bride who recites Lai Haraoba verses to protect her home, or the priestess (Maibi) who channels the Umang Lai (forest deities).

Her “magic” lies in three pillars:

A fictionalized Manipuri valley blending real Meetei everyday life (markets, festivals like Lai Haraoba, rice planting rhythms) with pockets of enchanted landscape: a lotus-beset pond that records time in ripples, an ancient banyan where counting-knots are tied into ropes, and a ruined matho (traditional house) that holds a locked chest. Mathu Naba Meetei Nupi Sahnpujarramagica

Long before Hinduism arrived in Manipur (c. 15th–18th centuries CE), the Meetei people practiced a form of nature worship led by priestesses called Maibis. These women performed Lai Haraoba (pleasing of the deities) – but some lineages were known for khuring nupa (left-hand or nocturnal rites), which involved invocations of wild spirits (lam-lai) and magical healing.

The Sahnpujarra appears to be one such forgotten sub-tradition. Oral songs collected by Manipuri scholar Dr. L. Kunjeswori mention: “Sahnpujarra cheksil lepakta – Mathu Naba nupi amagi

“Sahnpujarra cheksil lepakta – Mathu Naba nupi amagi khut ta”
(“In the copper-offering magic’s ritual ground – by the hand of a Mathu Naba woman.”)

Colonial interruption, modern urbanization, and religious shifts have veiled many of these “magical” practices. But the Meetei Nupi who remembers Mathu Naba reclaims: but for the land.”

The “Sahnpujarramagica” invites us to reframe magic not as superstition, but as focused intention, rooted in ecology, ancestor reverence, and rhythmic living – exactly what Meetei grandmothers preserved in their daily acts.

Today, Manipur has seen a revival of indigenous faiths (Sanamahism). While most modern Maibis focus on public Lai Haraoba, some secretive orders claim to preserve the Sahnpujarra tradition. They refuse to be filmed or recorded, but keywords like Mathu Naba Meetei Nupi Sahnpujarramagica occasionally appear on esoteric Meetei social media groups, signaling a hidden current.

A 2019 blog by a self-identified practitioner named “Mathu Naba Chanu” wrote:

“The copper dish never lies. We are the Meetei Nupi of the old magic – the Sahnpujarramagica. Not for fame, but for the land.”