HISTORY OF EMA MARKET AND ITS IMPORTANCE

Khwairamband Bazaar, also known as the Ema Bazaar, or Nupi Keithel, literally means
Mother’s Market or Women’s Market. The Ema Bazaar is one of the largest markets run by
women in the country. Main items found here include handloom and handicraft products, like
earthen pots, knives, shawls, puppets and all kinds of dried fish and vegetables.
This is also one of the oldest markets with its rich tradition intact. Built in around 1533 AD, the
amazing Ema Keithel was borne out of a desperate will to survive more than a well planned
economical set up. The Manipur kingdom was once doomed by the Lallup-Kapa, which was an
old form of human exploitation where men folks were deployed to work in far away paddy
fields, which left the women to look after the children. The role of women hence emerged as
central and plays a bigger role in the family. The trend of a bazaar run by women had continued
even to this day.
In 2010 the new Ema Keithel was inaugurated and was first used by around 3500 women. The
older market is still used to this day for selling vegetables. The three storey building designed in
traditional Manipuri style was a much awaited one. Even in Manipur the Ema Bazaar is one of
the most interesting markets. It is almost mandatory for people from Manipur to usually make
one visit to the Ema market before leaving Imphal- to replenish themselves with local delicacies.
This bazaar is the heart of the Manipuri kitchen, especially the Meitie people. Food items found
here are strange and shockingly different than elsewhere. You’ll see many wild and cultivated
vegetables sold in the market. Manipuris love a fermented dried fish called ngari. It goes well
with chutneys. Another delicacy is the bamboo shoot; cooked mostly with pork or even used for
a special chutney called ironba.Manipuris have a thing for chutneys and could as well be the
main menu at any meal; chutney is a food item Manipuris can’t do without.
The areas in Ema Keithel have represented the empowerment of women and the might of
mothers of Manipur and neither the long running insurgency,nor the visible presence of India’s
security forces have curbed women from doing business at the market.The vendors have also
held protests on various social issues.Every year, the Ema Keithel still continues its grip on the
culture of Manipur.

Through Ima Keithel, women in Manipur have carried the economic responsibility of trade and
commerce for centuries, endured political and military upheavals, maintained the indigenous
way of life, and remained economic pillars of their families and community. This undying spirit
of powerful local women holds them together in solidarity for a better future.

Pushpa Lairikyengbam Ongbi, 60, is the mother of three. She sells different varieties of laddoos -
a popular Indian sweet generally made of flour, sugar, milk and made into bite size balls - some
made of rice flour laloo, some made of beaten rice kabok. Her space in the market is a family
legacy that has been passed down from her mother-in-law who occupied this position until she
turned 80. Pushpa’s husband tells of the benefits reaped by the family, and how his mother
 HISTORY OF EMA MARKET AND ITS IMPORTANCE

supported the entire family on her income from selling edibles for 35 years. The children went to
school, clothes were bought for them, food was abundant, the children were married off, and the
familial house was constructed - all from this income.

After her mother-in-law died, Pushpa says she was not in a position to take over the business
right away. She had small children and domestic responsibilities. So during this period spanning
over five years, her mother sold edibles from the space and paid monthly rent to Pushpa’s
husband.

Serial number 1, seat in shade number 13, has been lucky for Pushpa in the two years she has
taken over from her mother as a vendor. “I am very happy here. I don’t want to stay at home
doing nothing anymore, after having tasted this way of life,” she beams.

When asked how many years she plans to sit in Ima Keithel, Pushpa refuses to come up with a
number. “As long as I can, and my health permits.” Pushpa is valued by her husband and her
children, all of whom look up to her as a pillar of strength.

Nungshitombi Laishram, 45, earns Rs.4000 (USD$ 73) per month on average, which she uses
prudently to run her entire household of five. Her three children are still in school. With these
earnings she puts food on the table and pays for her children’s education, clothing, medical care,
and social expenses. She sells indigenous fresh vegetables that include a special kind of
chilli umorok, bamboo shoot soibum, lemon grass nakuppi, and ginger.

Nungshitombi became the breadwinner for her family at 18 when she married her husband, a
farmer. She smiles as she recalls, “I have been here for a long time. Twenty-seven years have
just gone like that. In return I have found a stable livelihood, support that comes from belonging
to this big women’s association of Ima Keithel, and confidence that I will be able to complete my
children’s education successfully.”

Pushpa and Nungshitombi are not the only women, of the nearly 4000 women vendors at Ima
Keithel, who form the economic backbone of their families. The term ‘market’ is in fact highly
inadequate to describe what Ima Keithel is and the role it plays in the local economy, culture,
and society. The economics of such marketing is not just about the women who sell their goods,
but it is also about the men and women who produce these commodities in communities
stretching for hundreds of miles around the markets. In that sense, Ima Keithel is the site for the
affirmation of women’s control over the production, the use, and the management of
consumption patterns.

These women should not be mistaken for petty vendors as classified by municipal authorities.
They have been known traditionally to manage trade and commerce and are the producers of
many goods - including textiles, food, and earthenware - for consumption, local exchange, and
the larger regional markets. They are active conservers of biodiversity (agro, wetland and forest),
both through their farming practices, which nurture it, and also through their active promotion of
the local cultures. The market is a society, an institution, a way of life. In a report published in
 HISTORY OF EMA MARKET AND ITS IMPORTANCE

2005, Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE), Manipur, India, it was
highlighted that these Keithel aren’t just hubs of commerce, but also of information
exchange and socio-political processes.

In fact, during lunch break, these women traders discuss socio-political issues and such
discussions keep them aware and empowered.

Throughout history, a favoured tactic has been to displace and relocate Ima Keithel - be it by the
bankers and advisory to the ancient chiefs and their councils, the British colonists, or the recent
demolition of the Keithel by the State Government to make way for a modern supermarket.

In 2003, the government of Manipur planned to demolish Ima Keithel. The women’s association,
the Khwairamband Keithel Nupi Marup, appealed to the government to preserve this institution
and not replace it with a modern supermarket. They sat undeterred for the right to preserve their
heritage, even under the threat of the use of force by the armed forces and government in 2004.
In April 2005 the state government demolished the old Ima Keithel to build a modern structure,
but owing to the protest of women of this market, shelved the original plan of housing a
supermarket. Today this new structure is the new face of old Ima Keithel and one of the biggest
tourism destinations of Manipur.

Recently, when an earthquake of 6.7 struck Manipur’s Tamenglong district, this market
suffered as well. Around 20 pillars and front as well as back side walls of the market were
collapsed.Cracks were noticed in many pillars of the market.Cracks and fear of aftershocks
left the market deserted as many women preferred not to risk venturing
inside.Currently,temporary shed has been constructed by Imphal Municipal Council
adjacent to Imphal Pologround till renovation worked is completed.

Today Ima Keithel still faces an uncertain future. The systematic invasions of new products and
technologies constantly seek to replace local production and eliminate local economy. If retail
chains are introduced in Manipur the indigenous markets like Ima Keithel may not be able to
compete. The loss will be all of ours, firstly for the women, then for the farmers and producers of
the goods stretching over hundreds of miles around this market; and lastly for the people of
Manipur, for the loss of an indigenous way of life and our history.