A short documentary by Prakas Abheibam that brings to international light the advanced nature of ancient Meetei Civilization is officially shortlisted for Best Documentary Short Film; Best Original Music/Score at Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, a monthly film festival and officially selected at Los Angeles Cine Fest, a monthly online event.
It has also received an encouraging professional review in the recently concluded The Monthly Film Festival, Gaslow, UK. The Living God is a result of exhaustive research and comprehensive understanding of the ancient Meetei Civilisation. The Monthly Film Festival reviewed this short documentary “… an example of documentary film produced from nothing by resource-less staff who have deep consciousness and appreciation of old values… or rather forgotten human values that call out for their redeeming.”
This 30 minute documentary explores the nuances of this civilization and takes us deep into the subject matter, looking beyond conventional knowledge of Meetei culture and civilization known to all. It is a personal initiative as aptly described in the review “It is not the script, the cinematography or the overall cinematographic approach that keeps you watching, for it would be no surprise if this was a film of personal initiative (and neither does it look like these were an end in themselves) but rather the curiosity about unknown things and unsuspected resources of past civilizations…”
Los Angles Independent Film Festival will be held on June 13, 2015 while Los Angeles Cine Fest is slotted for June 3 to 17, 2015. Los Angeles Cine Fest calls for online voting to support the Best in each category. The voting opens and May 3, 2015 and ends on May 14, 2015 and the voting can be done using the below links,
http://lacinefest.weebly.com/
http://lacinefest.weebly.com/
The project is available for public viewing at
https://vimeo.com/127016050 and can be liked on facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/
Below is the video and short note on this documentary:
[ot-video type=”vimeo” url=”https://vimeo.com/127016050″]
The Living God: Medicine and The Ancient Meetei Civilisation
by Prakas Aheibam
When you study the writings, stories and remains of the civilization of a land called Kangleipak, you sense ‘the existence of Lai’ of the ancient Meetei civilization. That’s when you experience yourself at a gateway, from where you communicate to an existence beyond the existence of Humankind.
Meetei Civilization flourishes in the ancient land of Kangleipak, which now belongs to the north-eastern region of India bordering Burma. It is a civilization still unknown to the world. Its ancient script epitomizes the advanced nature of its civilization. The form, structure and phonology reveal the understanding of structure of human physiology. Its ancient writing, Puya, records their ancient knowledge on a widely varying subject like astrology, astronomy, genetics, medicine, human physiology, predictions, origin of life and the universe, and secrets of life and death. But most importantly, it writes about the mingling and relation between Lai (God) and Human.
Even today, the mingling between the two can be witnessed during Lai Haraoba (Festivity of God), also occasionally during the phenomenal encountering and communication between Lai and their descendants.
Withstanding the burning of Puya in 17th century, many mentions of this ancient writing still continue to exist in this land. The medicine of this ancient civilization is one such inheritance from the Lai (read ancestor God). The descendant still continues to treat various modern diseases with the healing power of this medicine.