Mount Koubru

Mount Koubru, also called Mount Koupalu, ranks among Manipur's highest mountains and stands in Kangpokpi district, with the town of Saparmeina below its peak. In Manipuri mythology it is the home of the god Lainingthou Koubru, protector of the northern Kanglei world, his consort the goddess Kounu and their sacred white elephant, Shamu Laishaa Angouba. Pilgrims come here in great numbers, and the mountain is also known for hiking and climbing.

The Liangmai people are said to have been the first to settle on the Koubru range. Oral tradition tells that Koubru married Wimaranliu Abonmai of Makhan village, who became a deity herself. In Meitei cosmology the mountain stands for the head of the body, and the stone formations on the peak are believed to make up a single human face resembling the 27 letters of the Meitei script; several old Meetei Mayek letters are said to remain on the summit.