Phumdi
Phumdi, also known as Phumthi or simply Phum, are a series of floating islands in the Loktak Lake, located in Manipur state, in northeastern India. They cover a substantial part of the lake area and are heterogeneous masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter, in different…
Loktak’s floating mats—locally called phumdi—are the only place on Earth where a national park literally drifts, and they’re the raison d’être for a two‑day side‑trip from Imphal that most itineraries forget. Reach the lake at sunrise from the district capital; the mist over the water makes the 40‑km² Keibul Lamjao National Park look like a green‑tinted mirage, and the early light is the only time you’ll see the sangai, the endangered dwarf deer that can only survive on the thick, buoyant vegetation. Book a night‑stay at the modest eco‑lodge on the southern bank of the Ithai hydro‑dam, where you can join a guided canoe at 06:30 hrs to the central phumdi; the guide will point out the different decay stages of the mats—young, spongy clumps that sink in the dry season, and the older, denser islands that still support the park’s grassland. Avoid the monsoon months (July‑September); the water level rises dramatically, the mats break apart, and the trails become impassable. November to March is the sweet spot, when the temperature is tolerable and the sangai are most active. Skip the generic boat tours that ply from Moirang; they skim the periphery and never get you close enough to the deer, and they charge a premium for a half‑hour ride. If you have a third day, swing by the nearby floating market at Pumlen, where locals sell smoked fish and sticky rice on reed platforms—authentic, noisy, and wholly un‑Instagrammable, but a good barometer of how life really floats on Loktak.
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