Kakyen

Kakyen, also known as Kakyen Mingamba or Kakyel Meengamba , was a big man-eating bird mentioned in Meitei mythology, folklore and history of Kangleipak (Manipur). According to legends, it used to serve King Kangba. It used to eat dead bodies thrown at the water bodies, especially a river near Heibok Ching. It was best known for having a fight with two Meitei princes, Taothingmang and Yoimongba. It was later killed by the two brothers.

According to the Sakok Lamlen Ahanba text, Kakyen was mentioned as the king of the birds and was named as "Thilpai Ngamba Thinungkhak".



Kakyen was mentioned in the Tutenglon text. The book was about the heroic works of the two Meitei princes, Yoimongba and Taothingmang.

Story
Once Kakyen started killing many people and destroying many villages, including Lokha Haokha area in ancient Kangleipak. The people requested Taothingmang and Yoimongba, the two sons of Khuyoi Tompok , the then King of Kangleipak, to kill the bird to save them. So, the two royal brothers worshipped goddess Leimarel (Leimalel). The goddess blessed the two men with a divine bow (along with a quiver full of arrows) and a divine sword. Later, they met the bird. Yoimongba held the sword and Taothingmang held the bow and arrows (in the quiver). Kakyen swallowed prince Yoimongba. Taothingmang shot his arrows to the bird. The bird flew away. Inside its body, Yoimongba cut the bird using his sword. Later, the bird was killed. One of its wings was chopped off.

In another version of the story, goddess Leimarel suggested the brothers to worship goddess Panthoibi to get the weapons. And the boys did so.

Nomenclature of places
One of the Kakyen bird's chopped off wings was used to stop the flow of water as a dam. That place was later known as "Ithing". The place where the bird was beheaded was called "Kaklou".

The place where Kakyen was killed was also known as "Kakyen Phabi".

Festival
The killing of the Kakyen was celebrated as a part of the festival of Mera Chaorel Houba, including the Mera Hou Chongba by the Meitei people and the tribal people of Kangleipak (present day Manipur). The body of the Kakyen was cut into pieces and cooked by the people. Both Meitei people and the tribal people of Kangleipak together had a big feast of the Kakyen meat. However, as there would be no more Kakyen, but they still wanted to celebrate the festival next year, they collectively decided to have feasts on cattle meat instead from the coming years. For the event, they annually sacrificed seven big cattle animals to the gods, and later ate the meat. The ceremony was known as "mera santuba".

In popular culture

 * The Tales of Kanglei Throne, an English language book by Linthoi Chanu