Pleasence of rural ar forms
As a part of art, people used painting to express their thoughts over many things, but if we go back in our past more accurately in our ancient times it is visible that our ancestors used drawing as a communication tool. India is like a tree with a lot of branches like “yggdrasill” , every branch represents an art form. “Khambana Kao Phaba” represents a tale among the folktales of Manipur in a painting.
Origin of Khuman Khamba: According to the Manipur folktale Khuman Kamba or Monirang Khamba is both a commoner of a clan and a hero of the famous epic poem “Khamba Thoibi ''. The story behind the poem is a love story based on a commoner and a princess. Khamba’s father was a noble man but after his death, Khamba was raised by his sister Khammu. Khamba married Thoibi but the process took a lot of effort from Khamba. Unification of two lovers has always been very unique in every ancient love story and also not straightforward. Khamba’s strength, physic, and morality always made him unique and a legendary character.
Story behind the Painting: According to the story Khamba was very strong and generous. His one strong opponent was Nongban Kongyamba, a great wrestler, undefeated before Khamba came into play. When a dangerous bull came into the Khuman kingdom, Nonbang made a plan to defeat Khamba, so he managed to drag the king in his plan by crook. The king ordered Khamba to capture the bull and decided to give his daughter Princess Thoibi ‘ hand in return. To see the fight a colosseum was built with a huge capacity. Khamba was able to capture the bull before the sport was announced. Nongban decided to betray him and marry Thoibi. When khamba was coming back to the colosseum from the woods with the captured bull Nongban tactfully took the captive bull and entered.
Everyone thought that Khamba was defeated and Nongban won the match. Princess was not convinced and she wanted to review the match. The result was clear and by the posture of Khamba everybody could tell that he captured the bull before. The king was pleased to see the match and kept his promise. The painting is framed on the plot of Khamba capturing the bull titled as “Khambana Kao Phaba”.
The painting “Khambana Kao Phaba” was exhibited in the Indra Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) Museum, Bhopal. In Manipuri dance dramas this story is often displayed. In 2020 in a theatre at Imphal the legend of Khamba capturing the bull was performed and was named as “Kao Phaba”.
