Ima Keithel

Ima Keithel means mothers' market, and the rule is absolute: every one of the several thousand stalls across its buildings is run by a woman, a practice traced back some five centuries to a labour system that sent men away to work and left trade to women. Only married women or widows may hold a stall, and places pass within families. The market sells vegetables, fish, rice, textiles including handwoven phanek and shawls, pottery and household goods, in separate sections. The Imas have been a political force in Manipur, organising in the Nupi Lan uprisings of 1904 and 1939 and in protests since.

What you actually see

• The all-women stalls - several thousand, held only by women.
• The handloom section - phanek, shawls and Manipuri weaving.
• The produce halls - vegetables, fish and rice in separate buildings.
• The organisation - a trading body with a long record of political action.

When to go

October to March for comfortable weather; the market runs daily from morning into the evening and is busiest in the morning. Manipur summers are hot and the monsoon heavy.

Honest expectations

Photography of the vendors should be asked for, not assumed. The market is dense and crowded, and the narrow aisles between stalls fill quickly by mid-morning.

Nearby

Kangla Fort lies nearby; Loktak Lake is southwest.