Dikhou gi Torban da (In the Bank of Dikhou river)

(A tribute poem by Hijam Irabot in remembrance of Rajarshi Bhagyachadra/Chingthangkhomba)


Dikhou gi tupthupta                         wangma gi hidenda

                Numitna erujaba Ure!

Nongchup fige hongle                   chingya kori chelle

                Mit choiningdre ningthire fajare!

Ee gi ee ngakta chelle                     thak thak nikle

                Ngashisu koktribara adungeigi?

Dikhou gi ningshing echenda          taothari mang ama

                Ngashidi taibangni!!

Lin tongba firan na                         haina humna atiyada

                Pairammi torban asida!

Meitei ningthou yaifaba                Chingthangkhomba akanba

                Mayek lana eri thabak ta!

Fousi esei sakli                                 aadagi chingdon asidani

                “Moraal” – Dikhou turban da

Meitei thamaoi binada                    paalli pancham surda

                Manipur sana leibak ta!

Notes- 

Lin tongba firan: the ancient royal flag of Manipur

“Moraal”: a village situated near the bank of Dikhou river

Dikhou river in Assam 
source: internet

Ancient royal flag of Manipur
source: internet

Pyrrhic dance by Bhagyachandra
After suffering defeat at the hands of the Burmese in 1765, Maharaj Jai Singh, later Rajarshi Bhagyachandra, on his way to Cachar to seek political refuge, performed the traditional martial dance with a spear standing on a slab of stone perched precariously on the edge of a precipitous cliff of the Khebu hills in Tamenglong district, the Western part of Manipur, with a view to having a prescience of what Fate would lay in store for him. If he could complete the forceful ritual dance, so he thought in himself, without the stone sliding down, he would surely be able to recover his lost territory and wreak vengeance on the enemy.
Extracted from: History of Manipur in Paintings (1709 A.D.-1949 A.D.) by RKCS (All rights belong to the RKCS Museum of Arts and Crafts.)