Source: TW
Their king had imposed Ramanandism on some of the officials due to his own political reasons and buried some deities of rival clans in one grove and established a Hanuman there, all the while promoting his own clan local deities. The Meiteis don’t even follow Ramanandism now. They follow Caitanya Vaishnavism promoted by the earlier king’s descendent(Bhagyachandra) and largely peacefully accepted by the local people.
Rather it was a Meitei v/s Meitei clan issue that is now blamed on Hindu Brahmins and tales of the Ramanandi mahant Shantidas etc. which have no evidence other than internally contradictory folklore.
Infact, the native priests(Maibas and Maibis) used to recite chants in the local language calling upon god’s like Shiva, Durgā etc. along with the local gods, used to wear white Chandan etc. These things systematically removed by revivalists. Chandan replaced by a black mark etc.
False tale
A dramatic religious change took place during the reign of Charairongba’s son, Pamheiba or Garibnawaj ( 1709-48). After following the Nimbarka sect of Radha-Krishna cult for about two decades30, he got baptized to the Ramandi sect of Ram-Sita cult by a Brahman priest from Narasimhatilla of Sylhet, Bengal named Shantidas Gossain in 1737.
Vaisnavism was declared as the official state religion and it grew up as an aggressive religious force during the reign of Garibnawaj."
- “all kinds of puyas collected from nook and comer of the state under the strict order of the king were consigned to flames in front of the Kangla Uttara in 1789 which is recorded in the annals of the state as Puya Meithaba…. Puyas and works in Meitei scripts were banned. "
Various altars were brought to the ground and many konmais (masks of gods and goddesses) of Umanglai (traditional deities) were buried.
The archaic Meitei scripts were replaced by the Bengali scripts. Bengali and Sanskrit languages were patronized. Translation of Hindu epics and religious texts into Manipur was encouraged.
The traditional deities were interpreted with reference to the Vedic gods. Idols of the venerated traditional deities were buried at Mahabali jungle. Pre-vaisnavite Meitei festivals were either assigned Hindu names or adjusted with the Hindu festivals.
Ritual performances of the traditional Meitei deities were taken away from the traditional priests by the Brahmans priests. Hindu calendar with ritual dates was introduced. Kirtans were sung in Bengali. The antiquity of history of Manipur was linked up with the Adi and Aswamedha Parvas of the Mahabharata.