Spadework for Marjing tourist circuit begins
Source: The Sangai Express / Newmai News Network
Imphal, April 27 2016:
The State Government has started laying the groundwork for an integrated mega tourist circuit inside the complex of Ibudhou Marjing shrine at Heingang on the outskirts of Imphal city.
On Wednesday, Heingang MLA N Biren Singh led a team to inspect the site where a 160 ft high statue of a polo player will be installed to mark the birthplace of polo game.
The statue is part of the proposed tourist circuit.
It will be installed on the top of a nearby hillock.
Ibudhou Marjing was a master horseman who is believed to have invented the game of polo earlier known as "Sagol Kangjei" .
The endangered Manipuri pony is the original polo pony of the modern game.
According to "Kangjeiroi", an ancient treatise on polo, the game was introduced to the ancient Manipuris during the reign of king Kangba, centuries before the birth of Christ.
It also gives an account of the first recorded polo match organised between the royal friends of king Nongda Lairen Pakhangba in 33 A.D.Legend also has it that during the reign of king Charairongba in 1697 AD, a team of 10 led by the king himself played a game against another team consisting of 100 players, with the smaller team winning the game.
The genesis of the game and its origin in Manipur is also accepted by the Guinness Book of Records, which in its 1991 publication records the State as the birth place of polo.
The MLA also inspected the approach road of the tourist site.
He said the Ministry concerned has given the Forest Clearance for development of the site and hence the preparatory work had begun.
"The Government has already sanctioned Rs 12 crore for the purpose.
I hope the tourist destination will attract foreign tourists," the Congress MLA said.