Shop at
Ima Keithel in December
The 500-year-old all-women market.
Quick answer. Cool, dry winter. Prime valley and lake season. For Ima Keithel specifically, December is a comfortable month with the usual hill-state caveats.
The essentials
- Tradition
- Women-only traders
- Position
- Central Imphal
- Month
- December, Manipur
- This month
- Cool, dry winter.
Why December here
Asia’s famous women-only market: thousands of Imas running the trade of the valley.
Ima Keithel, the Mothers’ Market, is Imphal’s historic market run entirely by women: thousands of licensed female traders selling produce, textiles, fish and handicraft from a complex of halls, a tradition centuries old and unique in scale.
Wildlife this month: Birding at its best through March.
What to do
The halls
Rows of Imas under one enormous roof.
Elsewhere in Manipur in December
The wider Manipur calendar this month: Sangai Festival (if extending to December, announced annually). Dates shift with harvests and moons; we confirm them when you plan.
Pair it with
Ima Keithel in December, planned properly
Tell us your dates and group size. Solo travellers can join fixed departures and keep the freedom. A real person replies with a plan and an honest price.