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Houses
Their houses are well adapted to the climatic conditions.
The
rich construct houses on the posts and beams with wood, and the poor with
Bamboo. The walls of both types are of reeds plastered with a mixture of
earth and cow dung and the roofs of all are thatched with grass. All
dwelling houses face eastward in which direction they have a large
open verandah. In villages some affluent people have replaced these old
types with cement, brick and concrete material. In towns, the modern
type of house construction is common. But they do not go in for multi-storeyed cement and concrete material construction
because of earth quakes. Villages are established with a cluster of few
houses in pockets distributed throughout the valley.
Profession
The common profession among men is agriculture.
The educated
folk seek official jobs and some engage themselves in different
kinds of business. Women are hard working. In towns they keep
themselves busy in the sale of small merchandise articles. Some of them run big textile shops,
some are retailers, grocers etc. In rural
areas their main engagement is work in fields and fishing. Weaving
and basket making are the main interests of a Meitei women. In every house the
loom is installed and women are on the job. They are expert in the art of weaving. In agriculture Meiteis
are much more advanced and self-sufficient in food grains right from the historic times. Fishing is taken
as a hobby as well as a profession.
Food
Fish is the common article of diet. Meiteis
do not take meat and purely vegetarians but fish is not considered non-vegetarian.
Some of them who eat meat are not allowed to eat at home. Non-vegetarian food is not prepared in any Meitei house. Rice is the staple
food, wheat is not taken in the form of chapatti or other wise. In town
some people eat bread at breakfast but in villages there is no
concept of breakfast. Both in morning and evening rice along with dhal,
vegetables and fish is taken. Meitei prepare a kind of Chutney called 'Iromba',
from the dried
fish by adding bamboo shoots or banana trunk pieces.
Religion
Meiteis are easy-going people.
Singing, dancing and
fishing are indispensable parts of their social life. Their religious
faith is Vaishnavite Hinduism. The
traditional Meitie religion was based on animism. Both men and women take active
part in social life. Women are treated with high respect. Nobody disobeys them.
Games
The muscular race of Meitei is known for their games.
The
khong Kangjei, hockey, kangand polo are traditional games. Wrestling was also a
common and favourite game in the past and it is still liked by them.
Another popular game is lamchel, which is the foot race game. Several players
from Manipur are national players of top ranks in the athletics, chess,
swimming, mountaineering, cycling etc.
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