WEAVING TRADITIONS, SUSTAINING HERITAGE: EVALUATING THE SOIO-CULTURAL STATUS AND ROLE OF BISHNUPRIYA MANIPURI WOMEN

Abstract

The primary objective of the present paper is to analyze the status and role of women in the culture and traditions of Bishnupriya Manipuri society. Every society has its own culture and traditions that distinctly identifies it from all other ethnic societies or communities. Culture is a collective term used to identify certain ideas, customs, traditions, attitudes, beliefs, social behavior and shared characteristics of a society that has been amassed and passed from one generation to another. It represents spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that distinctly identify a society or a group of people combining their knowledge, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs, morals and laws, art and literature etc. Women are integral part of each and every society but their status and position greatly differ from society to society based on its own culture and traditional practices. Hence it is very important to understand the socio-cultural status and role of women so as to determine the true nature and development of a society on the one hand and position as well as empowerment of women on the other.