ABOUT LAMKA

The Statehood in 1972 saw Manipur divided into five districts, simply called CENTRAL, WEST, EAST, NORTH and SOUTH Districts. The Central District comprised of the whole of the Imphal Valley and Jiribam Sub-Division, which in the 1980s was further divided into the three valley districts of Imphal , Bishenupur and Thoubal.

The East, West, North and South Districts later became the hill districts of Ukhrul, Tamenglong, Senapati and Lamka, respectively. A fifth hill district, Chandel, was carved out from the erstwhile East and South Districts. These five are home to twenty-nine (29) recognised Scheduled Tribes of Manipur.

Among the hill districts, the fastest growing district headquaters and hill-town is that of Lamka. It is truly an island of peace, tranquility, prosperity and progress. Here all the communities of Manipur, nay the whole of India, live happily in small but noticeable sizes amongst the more populous tribal folk belonging to Chin, Kuki, Mizo, Naga and Zomi ethnic groups - a mosaic of tribes, well laid out and glowing with life.

Enthralling it is to see Assamis, Bengalis, Biharis, Keralites, Malayalis, Marwaris, Nepalis, Punjabis and Tamilians rubbing shoulders, inter-marrying and bargaining in the markets in one of the local tribal dialects ! Lamka, which the locals call "Lamka" - meaning 'roads meeting at a mouth' - possesses an air of fledging cosmopolitanism and can appropriately be dubbed 'The Cosmopolitan Hill Town of Manipur.'

Lamka / Lamka was and is a mini-India : living, thriving yet trying to find its feet. It is colourful, dynamic and vibrant; a well laid out mosaic, bright and attractive; a beautifully woven and patterned fabric of a God-fearing society. Even the two ethnic clashes that rocked Manipur - the Kuki-Naga(1992) and Kuki-Zomi(1997) - turned out to be but aberrations. True these clashes tore at the long and painstakingly-woven fabric of tribal co-existence. But with changing times and advent of the new millennium, and the rips in the fabric is being mended in the able and loving hands of weaver-craftsfolk, the tribal themselves who have learnt through pain.
What then sets Lamka apart from others ?
Not the distinction of having as its inhabitants the largest conglomeration of tribes from the five tribe-groups of the region.


Not the proud privilege of it supplying to the nation, just about the highest number of Central Government Service Personnel, ratio-wise, amongst all districts of the country !

Not the infamous reputation of being the 'AIDS Capital of India' !

This, notwithstanding the fact that, in Lamka, there are about 15 of the 29 different tribes and about ten other communities from the rest of India, each with their different dialects and languages. Go to a town committee meeting, observe a students' union meeting, participate in a condolence meeting, and so on, and the amazing thing is that every individual will speak in one's turn in one's own dialect ! The lingua franca is each one's own dialect ! With no one complaining, we all get by. This is the beauty of the place. Where else can we have such harmony ? Where else can we have equal importance, and respect, given to others not of your own community ?