Maihang
Maihang is a traditional raised metal plate used in Assam for eating food. It is a type of plate with a stem, stand or holder, and is generally made of bell metal. A similar raised plate, known as the "ban-kahi", differs from the "maihang" in that the latter is supported by three legs forming a tripod vessel, whereas the former rests on a single pedestal. Comparable tripod plates or ritual vessels are also found in Nepal, Tibet, and South India., where such forms are associated with Buddhist and Hindu ritual practices.
Etymology
The word maihang primarily denotes the bera-kahi. According to the Tungkhungia Buranji, maihang referred to the three-legged plate used by kings and the da-dangarias, or high-ranking nobles. There are two views regarding the origin of the word maihang.
According to some, the word is a compound from the Deori-Chutia or Bodo-Kachari, meaning a raised plate used for eating rice or food. In this interpretation, mai means rice or food, while chang or hang refers to a raised platform or stand. Similar formations are seen in words such as maibang, meaning excessive rice or food, and mairung, meaning uncooked rice. In the Boro language, the word bi-chang means an elevated platform. In the related Tripuri or Kokborok language, a plate is called mairang.
In present-day Deori, the maihang is called mehenga or maihang. The ban-kahi is called mechowa or maichowa, while the ordinary plate is called merong or mairong. In Deori, the word chu means “high” or “raised”. Therefore, mechowa may also mean a raised plate. The word mai, meaning rice or food, is said to have changed over time into me or mi in Deori, while it continued in the same form in other Bodo-Kachari languages.
Some others seek to derive the word mai-hang from the Ahom language and interpret it as meaning “wooden platform”. However, in the Ahom dictionary, the Ahom word given for maihang is phon. In the Tai-language portions of the Ahom Buranji, too, maihang is referred to as phon. According to the same work, the word phon is also used for the xorai. In Thai, a vessel used in religious rituals similar to the xorai is called phan. This word is derived from the Old Chinese word pan, meaning "plate" or "tray". It is possible that, because the Xorai and Maihang are structurally similar—both being raised plates—the Ahoms, upon encountering these objects, referred to them collectively as “Phun,” a term that originally meant “plate.” The word ban, used for ban-kahi, is also recorded in the Ahom lexicon in the sense of a bowl. This word may have come either from the Sanskrit or Prakrit word pan, meaning cup, or from the same Chinese word pan, meaning plate or tray.
It is also known that, according to Ahom grammar, adjectives follow nouns. Therefore, in Ahom, the expected form would have been hang-mai, where hang would be the noun and mai the adjective. Comparable examples include chin-kham, meaning golden cloth, and kup-kham, meaning golden hat. Some scholars have also referred to the influence of later “pseudo-Ahom” language. According to B. J. Terwiel, in Ahom revivalist rituals, many Ahom words were formed with the help of dictionaries, but they did not follow actual Tai-Ahom grammar and often took artificial forms. In this context, the explanation of the word mai-hang in Ahom remains doubtful.
Since the old word maihang continued to be used in Assam instead of the Ahom word phon, it may be inferred that the Assamese maihang had been in use since the pre-Ahom period. Possibly, since the Ahoms already used phon or phan for plates, trays and similar objects, they referred to both the local maihang and the xorai as phon, seeing them as similar types of objects. In any case, since these plates are not found outside Assam and Northeast India, it may be assumed that the Ahoms adopted the use of these plates from the local people.
History
In Assam, the maihang plate has been used both for eating food and for offering items to deities. In Assam and other parts of India, as well as in different regions of Tibet, Nepal, Southeast Asia, and China, vessels similar to the maihang or xorai have been used for offering items during worship. However, the use of such a vessel as a plate for eating food is found only in Assam.
The first mention of the maihang in the Buranjis is found in the sections dealing with the Chutia kingdom. The Buranjis state that after the capture of Sadiya, the Ahom king began to use the golden maihang of the Chutia king. According to the chronicle of Kashinath Tamuli Phukan and Hiteswar Barbarua’s Ahomor Din, after conquering Sadiya, the Ahom king Suhungmung brought many objects to his capital, among which were golden maihangs. According to the Naobaicha Phukanar Buranji, Suhungmung began to use gold and silver maihang plates taken from the Chutias.
In ancient times, members of the Chutia and Ahom royal families and aristocratic households ate from maihang plates. The historian Lila Gogoi states that the maihang plates of royal households were made of gold.
The maihang is used in various auspicious rituals and ceremonies of the Chutia, Deori and Ahom communities for making offerings to deities. In the public celebration of Me-Dam-Me-Phi, eight maihang plates are placed, and the Molung priests offer ritual items such as thuria tamul, betel nut and betel leaves, duck eggs, chicken eggs, luk-lao, earthen lamps, mustard oil, incense, flowers, water and a rooster.
Description
The maihang or ban-kahi is made of bell metal, although the maihang of royal families could be made of gold. The upper part of each plate is like an ordinary plate. A foot, stem or holder is attached below it. This holder may be attached as a single stem at the centre of the underside of the plate, or there may be three legs attached to three sides of the plate. The upper plate is decorated with engraved floral designs and other motifs. The plate and its holder are joined together with copper nails. In some cases, the holder may also have different ornamental forms similar to those seen in a xorai.