Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 09 2008:
In a symbolic re-enactment of the destruction of the two Kanglashas erected in front of the western gate of Kangla by British forces in the aftermath of the battle of Khongjom in April 1891, a Kanglasha built earlier as a specimen for the two Kanglashas currently adorning Kangla was destroyed using explosives today.
The Kanglasha model was bombarded after obtaining permission from the Kangla Fort Board to shoot a film on Kangla and surrounding events associated with it including the scene of destroying the Kanglasha then installed in front of Kangla Uttra.
The 30 minute celluloid film is being produced by the Manipur Film Development Corporation (MFDC).
Film crews of MFDC demolished the Kanglasha model after fitting it with five explosives and setting them off with an electrical device.
Talking to The Sangai Express, MFDC Director Dr K Sobita said that the MFDC took advantage of the Government's instruction to remove the Kanglasha model by shooting the crucial scene about the destruction of Kanglashas.
The film will have different brief scenes about different historical events as well as dramatised scenes.
The underlying theme of the short film is the historical importance of Kangla, Dr Sobita said.
The two Kanglashas bombarded by British soldiers were erected by king Narsingh after driving out Burmese forces from Manipur in the aftermath of the Seven Years' Devastation, said Archeology Superintendent Sapam Bheigya.
British soldiers demolished the two Kanglashas on July 20, 1891 after capturing Kangla using canons in revenge for beheading five British officers including the then Chief Commissioner of Assam Quinton at the foot of the Kanglashas.
After the Kangla fell into British hands, all the existing buildings other than the library and temples inside Kangla were destroyed, Bheigya said.
Construction work of the Kanglashas being installed at Kangla began in 2006 .
The Works Department has also been entrusted to re-build the erstwhile Uttra Shanglen of Kangla.
For re-construction of the Uttra Shanglen, an expert committee has also been constituted.