From the archive record
Manipuris have a specific way of building houses. A typical Manipuri (Meitei) house has a verendah called 'mangol' where the right side is reserved for the oldest member of the family or clan. No women even of the family except the oldest female member is allowed to sit there. Then, climbing down the 'dhhari' the edge of the 'mangol' there's the courtyard called shumang in Manipuri. Right in the middle of the shumang is a tulsi plant. These days, concrete courtyards have a well cemented and smoothened circular area around the tulsi plant. Daily worships of Bina Devi( tulsi) and the sun God are done in the western part of this circular area. A few yards to the east of the tulsi plant, there is a shed facing towards the house called 'mamang sang-goi', Mamang meaning east and sang-goi meaning