Draft:Shirui Hills
 | This is a draft article. It is a work in progress open to editing by anyone. Please ensure core content policies are met before publishing it as a live Wikipedia article. Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL Last edited by Kowal2701 (talk | contribs) 4 days ago. (Update)
Finished drafting? |
 | This article may incorporate text from a large language model, which is prohibited in Wikipedia articles. (August 2026) |
| Shirui Hills | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,590 m (8,500 ft)(highest peak, Lilium mackliniae habitat)[1] |
| Prominence | 469 m (1,539 ft)[2] |
| Coordinates | 25°06′52″N 94°26′52″E / 25.11444°N 94.44778°E[3] |
| Naming | |
| Native name | Shirui Kashung |
| Geography | |
 | |
| Location | Ukhrul district, Manipur, India |
| Parent range | Naga Hills |
The Shirui Hills (Shirui Kashung; also Siroy Hills), are a short ridge of wet temperate hills in the Ukhrul district of Manipur, in Northeast India, lying about 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Ukhrul town and 105 km (65 mi) from the state capital Imphal. The ridge forms a southern outlier of the Naga Hills near the India–Myanmar border and culminates in three closely spaced peaks ranging from about 2,000 to 2,590 m (6,560 to 8,500 ft), the third and easternmost of which is the most often climbed and is locally known as Shirui Kashung Peak; the popularly quoted summit elevation of 2,835 m (9,301 ft) circulated by the Manipur Tourism Department is not supported by topographic mapping and ecological surveys, which place the highest point of the lily-bearing zone at about 2,590 m (8,500 ft).[1][4] Several of Manipur's principal rivers, including the Thoubal River and the upper Iril River, rise on the slopes and crevices of the Shirui range.[4]
About
[edit]The hills are best known as the world's only natural habitat for the Shirui lily (Lilium mackliniae), a pinkish-white pendant-flowered lily first collected on the third peak in 1946 by the British plant hunter Frank Kingdon-Ward and named in honour of his wife, Jean Macklin. The species was designated the state flower of Manipur in 1989 and is listed in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants.[5][6] The Shirui flora belongs to the East Himalayan Wet Temperate Forest type of Champion and Seth (1968) and includes substantial stands of Rhododendron species, Quercus-Lithocarpus broadleaf forest with Magnolia and Michelia, and open ridge-top communities dominated by the dwarf bamboo Yushania rolloana (locally Machun) together with Iris, Aconitum and Satyrium nepalense.[3] The avifauna includes the Blyth's tragopan and Mrs. Hume's pheasant (the state bird of Manipur, Nongin), and the Indo-Burma tiger and leopard have been recorded from the lower slopes.[7]
A schedule for a proposed Shirui National Park of roughly 100 km2 (39 sq mi) was issued by the Manipur Commissioner of Forests on 25 November 1982, dividing the hills into a core zone (Shirui village, Sihai and Lunghar) and an eco-sensitive zone (Khamasom and Choithar), but the gazette notification has never been completed in the absence of consensus with the customary land-holding villages, and the protected area remains at proposal stage more than four decades later.[7][8] In the absence of statutory protection, the lily-bearing third peak has since 2000 been managed by the Shiroi Youth Club, which patrols the site during the bloom in May and June, levies fines for plucked flowers and uprooted bulbs, and from 2023 has carried out organised cutting of the encroaching dwarf bamboo.[8][1] Studies by Mao and Gogoi (2013) and subsequent geospatial work have documented a contraction of the natural L. mackliniae population from the lower slopes to the third peak only, attributing the decline to a combination of shifting cultivation (jhum), repeated dry-season fires, expansion of Yushania rolloana into formerly open grassland, heavy grazing, and seasonal mass tourism.[5][6]
The Shirui range is a sacred site for the Tangkhul Naga, who associate it with the guardian spirit Kashong Timrawon believed to reside on the highest peak, and the lily itself with the goddess Philava and her daughter Timrawon in local cosmology.[6] Since 2017 the Government of Manipur has organised the annual five-day Shirui Lily Festival at Ukhrul and Shirui village during the bloom in late May, designated a state festival alongside the Sangai Festival, with the dual aim of promoting Tangkhul cultural heritage and raising awareness of the lily's endangered status.[9][10]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 "Manipur's Shirui Lily under threat: plucking of flowers among major reasons". Ukhrul Times. 19 June 2025. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ "Shirui Kashung". PeakVisor. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- 1 2 Thounaojam, R. (2023). "Geospatial analysis to assess distribution patterns and predictive model for endangered Lilium mackliniae Sealy: to support management decisions". Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 195: 1129. doi:10.1007/s10661-023-11553-7.
- 1 2 "Shirui Hill". Ukhrul District, Government of Manipur. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- 1 2 Mao, A. A.; Gogoi, R. (2013). "Lilium mackliniae Sealy, an endemic lily of Northeast India, its distribution and status in the wild". Indian Forester. 139 (2): 170–174.
- 1 2 3 Khoiyangbam, R. S.; et al. (2026). "A comprehensive review on conservation efforts of Shirui lily (Lilium mackliniae Sealy) of Manipur, India". Discover Plants. 3. doi:10.1007/s44372-026-00537-9.
- 1 2 Staff Reporter (24 March 2021). "National park tag on Shirui hills: still at proposal stage". The Sangai Express. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Shirui Hill". Kalpavriksh. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ "Shirui Lily Festival". Manipur Tourism, Government of Manipur. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ "Shirui Lily Festival". Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
External links
[edit]- "Shirui Hill". Ukhrul District, Government of Manipur.