First-ever Sanatan Sammelan held in state
Source: Chronicle News Service / Waari Singbul Network
Imphal, May 25 2025:
The first-ever Sanatan Sammelan in Manipur themed 'Peace, Progress and Prosperity' was held on Sunday at auditorium of Manipur State Film Development Society.
Organised by the KRC Foundation in association with Shrimad Jagadguru Sharda Sarvagya Pitham of Jammu & Kashmir and the Barak-Manipur Friendship Association, the Sammelan lamp was lit by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Amritananda Devtirth Maharaj, the spiritual head of the Pitham, whose arrival in the northeast came like the arrival of a long-awaited rain on parched earth.
It is no accident that this Sanatan Sam melan was held here, in this border state - a land that once witnessed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's Azad Hind Fauj hoisting the tricolour for the first time on Indian soil, as recalled with solemn pride by his great grandniece, Rajyashree Chaudhuri.
In her stirring speech, she reminded the gathering that Manipur is not peripheral to Bharat - it is Bharat.
From the Mahabharat's mention of Chitrangada, consort of Arjuna, to its resilient Vaish-navite and Sanamahi traditions, Manipur has never ceased to be a sacred frontier of Dharma.
The Shankaracharya, who began with a Vedic invocation, noted that Manipur is in trouble, but the country "stands with you".
A son of Kashmir - another borderland wounded by violence - he knows what it means for a place of beauty and spirit to be turned into a battleground.
He praised the enduring spiritual life of the Meetei people, acknowledging the deep kinship between Sanatan Dharma and Sanamahi beliefs.
Both, he said, are rooted in the worship of nature, of ancestors, of the eternal cycle of life.
Where Sanatan Dharma venerates the elements through Surya (sun), Agni (fire), Vayu (wind), Jal (water), and Devi (Shakti), Sanamahism celebrates life through Lai Haraoba, the dance of the gods.
These are not two systems but twin streams of one ancient river.
The Sammelan was also a call to action.
Bajran Lal Bagra, general secretary of the Vishva Hindu Parishad, issued a blunt warning: that the demography of Sanatana Dharma is under threat, not just in Manipur but across the nation.
"Our numbers are dwindling," he said, "and if we do not rise with wisdom and resolve, we risk becoming strangers in our own homeland".
The spiritual significance of the Sammelan was amplified by the Shankaracharya's visit to the Shree Govindaji Temple, his role in inaugurating the Shrimad Jagadguru Sharda Sarvagya Pitham's Pranth office in Thangmeiband, and his planned interaction with displaced persons in relief camps.
As a part of the Sammelan, a think tank of intellectuals and spiritual minds gathered to discuss The Idea of Mani-pur-past, present, and future.
In hosting the first Sanatan Sammelan, Manipur has done something both symbolic and substantial.
It has proclaimed, not in aggression but in grace, that it still remembers its soul.
It refuse to be defined only by its wounds.
That despite the fire and ash of recent years, the eternal flame of Dharma still flickers still glows.
"In the time to come, more will be needed - more gatherings, more unity, more courage.
But for now, this flame is enough.
It is a beginning.
A prayer turned into presence.
A signal to the rest of Bharat that the eastern gate of Dharma is still guarded," said Biswadeep Gupta, the architect of this spiritual gathering.
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