Offering for Helloi
This is an image of an offering performed by an anonymous individual from a Meitei Community in Manipur
This is an image of an offering performed by an anonymous individual from a Meitei Community in Manipur
As seen from the number of items, one can identify that the offering is for the Helloi spirits, a popular band of seven female spirits of the Meitei community. Helloi are considered malicious spirits and offerings are usually done to protect oneself from being spirited away by them or just from any misfortune. It is also a common belief for the Meitei community that evil spirits like the Helloi usually reside at the crossroads. Offering such as this image is performed at the junction of a crossroad near a water body. Oftentimes, these offerings for evil spirits are usually done at odd hours (such as midnight or mid-day, early morning or late at night), practically to avoid spectators or any encounter with other passersby as it is believed that encountering such brings bad luck. There is no particular deity or time fixed for these kinds of offerings but one can perform it if they feel like they are not feeling well, had some bad dreams, or have any disturbances felt spiritual.
