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Imphal

Imphal

city · Manipur

State
Manipur
Type
City
Best season
Winter
Things to do
2+

Imphal, the capital of Manipur, is a culturally rich valley city famed for the all-women Ima Keithel market, the WWII Imphal battle sites, classical Manipuri dance, and as the gateway to the floating Loktak Lake.

When to go

Best visited in spring (Mar-May) and autumn (Oct-Nov); summers can be hot and the monsoon wet.

Why visit

A culturally distinct valley capital with the unique all-women Ima Keithel market, WWII history and gateway to Loktak Lake.

Cultural notes

Imphal is the heart of Meitei culture, home to classical Manipuri dance, the Kangla fort and the Ima Keithel, one of Asia's largest women-run markets.

How to reach

Imphal has an airport with direct flights from major cities. Road links connect to Loktak Lake and other valley sites; check current travel advisories.

Imphal in 3 days

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3 days in Imphal

Take the whole plan, or add any single stop.

Kangla FortDay 1

Day 1

Kangla Fort

The historic seat of Manipur's former kingdom in the city centre.

Ima Keithel (Mother's Market)

Day 1

Ima Keithel (Mother's Market)

A centuries-old market run entirely by thousands of women.

Day 1

Imphal War Cemetery

Imphal War Cemetery

PhumdiDay 2

Day 2

Phumdi

Loktak Lake is carpeted with these floating mats of vegetation, soil and half-decayed organic matter, solid enough to build a fishing hut on, and about 4,000 people live out on them. The largest single mass, 40 sq km in the lake's southeast, is Keibul Lamjao National Park, the world's largest floating park, kept for the sangai, the Eld's deer indigenous to this area. The neat circles you notice from the shore are athapums, artificial phumdis built as fish enclosures, and it is that aquaculture which has made the phumdis proliferate in the first place.

Day 2

Sendra island viewpoint

Sendra island viewpoint

Day 2

Keibul Lamjao — sangai deer country

Keibul Lamjao — sangai deer country

Day 3

Day 3

INA Memorial at Moirang

INA Memorial at Moirang

Day 3

Andro pottery village

Andro pottery village

Manipur State Museum

Day 3

Manipur State Museum

Natural history, ethnology and archaeology fill the galleries of the state museum in Imphal, and it is the sort of collection that gives you a frame for everything else you will look at afterwards. The ethnology rooms are the reason to come: the peoples of the state gathered in one building, which is otherwise hard to get at on a short visit. Do it early in a trip rather than at the end, because it works far better as preparation than as a summing-up.

Imphal guide & itineraries

Imphal is perfect for

heritageoffbeatnature

Popular attractions

The places in Imphal most people come for.

Ima Keithel (Mother's Market)

Ima Keithel (Mother's Market)

Market

Kangla Fort

Kangla Fort

Attraction

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Loktak Lake

Loktak Lake

Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India, famous for its phumdis — floating islands of vegetation that dot the water like a green patchwork. Near Moirang in Manipur, it has become an emerging offbeat destination for travellers seeking surreal landscapes far from the mainstream trail. The lake is home to the only floating national park in the world (Keibul Lamjao, refuge of the rare Sangai deer) and to fishing communities who live on the phumdis. Homestays on the lakeshore, sunrise boat rides and birdwatching make it a quiet, photogenic stop in India's far east.

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