Eminent Pena Guru Khangembam Mangi condoled

IMPHAL, Jun 16
The employees of Manipur State Kala Akademi condoled the demise of eminent Pena Guru (Late) Khangembam Mangi Singh who passed away on June 15.
The attendees observed two minute silence as a mark of respect to the departed soul, said a press release by Manipur State Kala Akademi.
It may be noted that (Late) Khangembam Mangi was a popular exponent of Moirangparva and Shumang Leela and he was conferred with several prestigious honours including PadmaShri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and Manipur State Kala Akademi Award (2005) and Manipur State Kala Akademi Fellow (2015).
Being the son of renowned Pena player of the time, he initially learnt Pena from his father Khangembam Tomei and under illustrious gurus of Pena and mastered the finer aspects of Pena and also became an accomplished artiste of Pena Phamshak.
On the professional front, he joined Jawaharlal Nehru Manipur Dance Academy (JNMDA) as an artiste of Pena in 1975 and retired from the service as Guru of 'Lai Haraoba'. He was also one of the founder members of Laihui, a cultural organisation established in 1985 to promote research on local traditional and indigenous performing arts.
With his demise, Manipuri traditional music has lost a tireless exponent and a reverend Guru, added the release.
Manipur State Kala Akademi and its entire staff also extended their condolences to the bereaved family and prayed that the departed soul may rest in peace in the Heavenly abode.
Theatre Centre Manipur too mourned the demise of the renowned Pena artiste, Khangembam Mangi Singh.
A condolence meeting was held chaired by the president of  Theatre Centre Manipur, Padmashri Wareppa Naba and two minute silence was observed in the honour of the departed soul, said a statement by the Centre.