Ima Keithel (Mothers' Market)

The Ima Keithel — Mothers' Market in Meitei — is one of the most remarkable markets in Asia and arguably the most important sight in Imphal. More than three thousand women run stalls in a complex of adjoining buildings in the heart of the city, selling everything from fresh fish, vegetables, and spices to handwoven phanek textiles, dried goods, and household items. The rule that only married women may sell here has been maintained for over five centuries.

The market is best visited in the morning when it is busiest. The vegetable and fish sections are downstairs; the textile section, where you can watch weavers at work and buy directly, is upstairs. Even if you are not buying, it is one of the great spectacles of India's northeast — loud, colourful, and unlike anything in the rest of the subcontinent.

things to do market sight
A story
The Ima Keithel has operated for over five hundred years under a rule that has never been broken: only women may sell here. The market was central to the Nupi Lan, or Women's War — a series of protests in 1904 and 1939 in which the women of the market organized resistance first against British tax policies and later against forced labour. The 1939 uprising is still commemorated as a moment when women collectively changed the course of history in Manipur.