Sekta Kei Mound

    The site is located in village Sekta, Imphal district and is around 18 kms north east of Imphal on the left bank of the Iril river and around 4 Kms north of Lamlai on the Imphal-Ukhrul road. There are reportedly six well demarcated burial areas in village Sekta. However, only one burial mound was located, excavated and protected by the State Archaeology. The total area under protection is 0.35 acre.

    The excavation at the Sekta burial site revealed important information's of the burial customs of the Sekta people and their social and economic life. This has helped archaeologists and historians to reassess the historical process of the people of Manipur.

    The discoveries from the site include ornaments of semiprecious stones, brass, copper, iron implements, pottery, porcelain, bell-metal casket, and urns containing human skulls. Important findings include skulls with copper and silver masks contained inside the urns, Buddhist relics like the bell-metal casket, rate forms of pottery, and porcelain.

    Recovery of good number of pottery of various designs, shapes and sizes, and an equal number of other antiquities indicate that the Sekta people were economically prosperous.

    The recovery of copper, brass and iron implements establishes the fact that the Sekta people had the knowledge of metallurgy of those metals or had trade links with other civilizations like India & Burma. Now the Govt. of Manipur has constructed an Archaeological Living Museum at Sekta.