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This project “Documenting the Visual History of Lamka” will create a digital archive documenting the visual heritage and history of Lamka (Churachandpur) town in Manipur.
The town is inhabited by over nine tribes belonging to the Zo (Chin-Kuki-Mizo/Zomi) group, with its rich oral traditions. The tribal groups did not have a written history until Christian missionaries from Wales came in 1910 and standardised their dialects using the Roman script. Since then, in the gradual adoption of writing, many of the oral histories have been written down in pamphlets and local magazines. However, there is little to show to the new generation of the town about its visual history.
What was Lamka like in the 1940s during the Japanese invasion of World War II? How did Christmas celebration look like in the 1970s? What was the fashion sense and pop culture like in the 1980s?
The town does not have a single documentation of its old photographs, video files either in digital archives or physical archives for young people to see.
The project involves crowd sourcing of old photographs to narrate the history of the town and its heritage and culminates with an exhibition.
‘This Is Lamka’ is a digital archiving project with a primary objective of preserving the visual history and narrative of the Zo people from Manipur and beyond, from photographic evidence and moving pictures that are surviving to this day and are in the danger of disappearing or lost.
Ranging from portraiture, family photo albums, private collections and several documentary images recorded by individuals or photographers, we aim to build a comprehensive record of the history and culture of the Zo people living in the town and beyond.
Conceptualised with the purpose to work on visuality to construct the historiography of the Zo kindred tribes beginning with Lamka town (Churachandpur, Manipur) as we rewrite, re-tell, rebuild and re-engage our stories from within - which will help us in filling the existing gaps and challenges.
We also seek to establish a common platform where younger generations and inhabitants of the place, practitioners and experts of the region can come together in restoring our own narrative - visual, written and oral of the Zo’s living in the Eastern Himalayas (Northeast India) and Chin Hills of Myanmar. In doing so, we will promote the importance of visual arts, engage in the socio-political and cultural discourse of the region to further and enrich research.
The photographs that we collect are digitised and preserved mainly:
We find a great urgency in collecting visual materials like photographs in its original form and digitising them as there is a threat of these relevant materials disappearing rapidly with time or as people discard them unaware of the imminent importance/ value it holds. Hence, the necessity of a people centric and participatory archive where the community and people of the region engage themselves and contribute in mapping stories together before they are wiped out and forgotten.
Our archive or visual history project is only at its starting point, and will continue to grow and evolve as we explore and collect visual records beginning with photographs. We also plan to work on other visual cultures in the future.
‘This Is Lamka’ as an endeavour is supported as a project by the British Council’s Heritage Grant for South Asia.
Manipur Hill Areas was reorganized in the year 1919 and the whole of the hill areas was divided into three administrative units. Songpi was made the south-west Sub-Divisional Headquarters, the others headquarters being at Ukhrul and Tamenglong.
In 1921, Mr B.C. Gasper, the SDO of Songpi threw a feast in honour of the France returnees who were transcripted as Labour Corps in the First World War where the Maharaja of Manipur, Sir Churachand Singh also took part in the feasting. On that occasion Songpi was renamed to Churachandpur after the name of Maharaja Churachand.
Lamka, an original and indigenous name of the town literally means ‘Road Crossing’. In 1930, Pu Zenhang Valte established the present Zenhang Lamka which was originally named as Bijang Loubuk. And, around the same time in 1930-31, Pu Phungkhothang Guite established the present Hiangtam Lamka. These two villages were together called Lamka. At that time when they established this twin village, there were no other villages nearby and the whole area was under thick forests, abundant in wild animals, teemed with mosquitoes and devoid of people. Malaria was too common and people from the hills were reluctant to live in the valley. But slowly, Lamka began to flourish from a twin village and now grows as the second biggest town in the state of Manipur.
Songpi was abandoned as a Sub-Divisional Headquarter through a Darbar Resolution No 2A of 29th January 1930 and approved to lease to the North East India General Mission (NEIGM) with a yearly fee of Rs 600. Later on 26th September 1930, after the verbal agreement of Pu Semthong Haokip, the chief of Songpi and Mr H.H Coleman who represented NEIGM, the chief agreed to transfer the land and all the rights he had to the mission. Accordingly the NEIGM made payment to the village chief for the land and called Mission Compound and not Churachandpur. However some people still refer to it as Old Churachandpur.
Ten years after the abolition of Churachandpur, there was a need to re-established the Sub-divisional office. So Major F.F Pearson and Pu Thangkhopao Kipgen came for site selection for the SDO's Office. They went to see the old site at Churachandpur (Songpi), but found abandoned structures left behind by the American troops after World War II. Considering the poor condition of the old site Churachandpur, Lamka seems to be a better location for the SDO headquarter. Therefore, the Circle Office was housed at the present residence of the Deputy Commissioner in Lamka. However, the new SDO headquarter at Lamka was imposed with the old name of Churachandpur, which was already given to Songpi.
Lamka, today is predominantly a town inhabited by the indigenous Zo kindred tribes. It is ethnically pluralistic with a cosmopolitan outlook while multilingualism thrives. There is homogeneity and the town continues to prosper socially, culturally and economically.
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'This Is Lamka' thanks all those families who have contributed and permitted to store and present their images. And if you see any copyright breach please inform us.