Exploring Sustainability and Gender in the psyche of the Meitei through Goddess Ecology
| Author |
| Akash Rajkumar |
| Date of Publication: June, 2026 |
| Volume: XXVI, No.- XXIX |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.26.29.7 |
| Abstract |
| Goddess ecology is a framework that views nature as a sacred, feminine entity. The Meitei are an indigenous community nestled in the crossroads of Southeast Asia, South Asia, and China, in the northeastern corner of India. The lifeworld of the Meitei is closely entwined with nature. The socio-cultural elements and their religion exhibit a strong animistic belief system. The animistic beliefs later became deified into guardian spirits when combined with nature’s totem. As agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, the deities of the Meitei are said to possess the power to control the natural elements of air, water, and the sun. And, as a society where women are fostered to complement its menfolk, the cosmogony provides substantial space to goddesses. Therefore, the paper attempts to understand the concept of goddess ecology, analytically, that exists in the socio-cultural psyche of the Meitei by exploring the manifestation of nature/environment in the form of goddesses in the Meitei pantheon- Ima Leimalel Sitapi -believed to be the Universal mother of the Meitei; Lairemma Emoinu – the manifestation of wealth and prosperity, and Lairemma Phouoibi – the goddess of agriculture, especially paddy. The paper, in its basic argument, argues that the manifestation of the natural world in the form of goddesses clearly reflects the upholding of gender equality and an intimate understanding of environmental sustainability, whereby both nature and women are protected through its socio-cultural practices. The paper drew on existing literature, oral traditions, especially legends surrounding the goddesses, and folk beliefs. |
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