Konung Kang set to go hi-tech with brakes
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 08 2011:
The historic Konung Kang of Shri Shri Govindaji temple is set to go hi-tech as a decision for equipping it with brake control and steering to ensure its smooth "journey" during the Rath Yatra festival has been adopted.
Incidentally the gigantic iron wheels of the over sixty-year old Konung Kang were presented by the Japanese troops while retreating from the theatre of World War II .
A widely held belief and accepted whole heartedly is that unless the Konung Kang sets off from Shri Shri Govindaji temple in the heart of Imphal , no other Kangs of the State cab be pulled by devotees during Kang festival.
This age-old convention is still in practice.
The Shri Shri Govindaji Temple board during a recent meeting decided to equip the 61-feet tall Konung Kang with brake control and steering to ensure that it moves safely among the the multitude of devotees within the palace compound.
Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh is the president of the board, while two legislatures, Deputy Commissioners of Imphal East and Imphal West districts, chairperson of Imphal Municipal Council (IMC) and prominent Hindu priests and scholars are among its 13 member body.
The decision was adopted taking into account a tragic incident in the early 70s when a young boy died after he was rolled over by the Konung Kang.
"Following the decision, the board has approached an Imphal-based firm to work out the mechanical gadgets for equipping the Konung Kang with brakes and a steering.
As and when the board fund improves its fund, the work would be executed very soon," the board's in-charge executive officer N Ibohal Singh, said.
The safety of the devotees is very important.
To ensure that no accident takes place the police, on the board's request, keep the devotees at a safe distance from the wheels of the Konung Kang ," he said.
"We are told that the four iron wheels of Konung Kang were presented to the then Govindaji temple authorities by Japanese soldiers in the aftermath of World War II.
Hence they replaced the wooden wheels that were fixed earlier," he said.
Iskcon Manipur has already introduced a sophisticated Kang equipped with brake control and steering.