Heejing Heerao

An excerpt of this archaic ballad, this particular verse tells the story of how Luwang Ningthou Punshiba, King of the Luwang dynasty, harnessed an idea to build a boat by cutting down an Uningthou tree after seeing tiny insects floating on a leaf to cross a brook. His people found him the perfect tree for this purpose on the Kouba Ingel Ching. They went to implore the tree before falling into making ritualistic offerings of fruits, flowers, and other harvests to the tree to show respect and beseech its falling. They left an axe leaning on the trunk of the tree overnight and if on the next day the axe were to fall over, it would be forbidden to cut the tree. After this solemn ceremony, at midnight, Tampak Lairenhanbi came to grieve over the fate of her son, the Uningthou. She lamented that the tree was bound to fall the following day. She mourned that if the tree had been crooked and twisted, then it would have survived, but since the trunk is straight and lofty, it has fallen prey to the greed of man.
 
This performance by the folk artist, Laishram Niketan was recorded at Punshilok, which happens to be the sacred place of Epudhou Luwang Punshiba. The moral embedded in this remarkable piece is more relevant than ever, given the pace of environmental degradation that we see around us.