Tribal Weave of The North-East
Tribal areas of the North-Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram ...
by Jasleen Dhamija, Illustrations by Minoo Sarin

[Total Vote: 1064, Hits: 8768]Print
Updated On: 12/11/2008

Tribal areas of the North-Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram etc have a tradition of lion-loom weaving. This is a simple loom, which is strapped to the back of the weaver and the end is tied to a bamboo stake, or a peg, on the wall. The weaver uses a simple bamboo container for keeping the bobbin, and polished bamboo sticks for separating the warp threads. A sword-like wooden piece is introduced for creating the shed and beating in the weft threads. Bamboo needles carry extra weft of colored threads with which the weavers weave in the design by working in the colored threads, with deft movements of their fingers.

Weaving is done mainly by women who weave for the entire family. In fact, tradition has it that a young girl has to know weaving before she can be married. Her skill in weaving determines to a great extent her popularity amongst eligible bachelors.

Each tribes, each communities has its own special patterns, and even with in a tribe, there are special designs, which only a privileged person is allowed to wear. A particular warrior shawl of Nagaland, known as the Tusungkotepsu shawl, has in the centre a white panel enclosed by red and black stripes and cheeks. This white panel carries drawings made in indigenous, indelible black ink, of mithuns, cocks, human heads, spears and daos, and of the sun and the moon. This shawl can be worn only by the warriors who has been victorious in battle and has taken a head.

There is another shawl, which can be worn only by a rich man, whose family has celebrated the mithun sacrifice feast foe three generations. The patterns woven by the tribal people are abstract in form, with an acute sensitivity to color and texture, which is expressed in the variations of stripes to create a harmonious pattern. Women of Assam also maintain the weaving tradition. They weave on the lion-loom, though some homes the frame-loom has been introduced. They weave the mekhla, a type of sarong or lungi for women with intricate patterns on one border. They also weave the chaddar to be worn over the mekhla. They have the interesting custom of weaving the gamcha, long towels with intricate designs, which are presented to the elders of a family during the Bihu festival. Young girls are taught the art of weaving from their childhood. Many families preserve their traditional patterns by weaving samples of extra warp patterns introducing a warp of threads and thin strips of bamboo in place of weft threads. These are rolled up and preserved for generations.

Manipur, the isolated cup-shaped valley to the south-east of Nagaland, has culture based on tribal traditions subdued by Vashnav influence which came from Bengal. The valley developed a sophisticated culture under the influence of its kings who reigned undisturbed for hundreds of years. The area around Imphal have a tradition of which bears the impact of this sophisticated culture. The surrounding tribal areas of the Nagas have a distinctive style of tribal patterns. The Morangfi sarees woven in white or in soft hues carry a shikhara, temple pattern on the border and dotted motif over the body. There is a belief that this pattern was created by Goddess Morangfi herself. People wear a variety of shawla, and have adapted a number of patterns from the tribal designs for weavings bed-covers, stoles and table-spreads. Tripura, situated to the east of Bangladesh, has a tradition of its own. Intricate patterns are woven on rihas, breast-cloth worn by women. The background is a dark blue-black but sometimes red, and over this, intricate patterns of stars, dots, stylized floral motifs, or the swastika are woven. Weaving is a so much part of their lives that the young girls are brought up on stories built around it. The Cinderella-like story of how an orphan girl married a crown prince because of her innovative designs is often told along with the story of how a girl wove a snake to such a perfection that it bit her on her breast! The woven riha is so important that in one of the wedding rituals the girl is represented by the riha woven by her.

Related Words:
Vashnav, Imphal, Morangfi Sarees, shikhara, Goddess Morangfi, Tribal designs for weavings bed-covers, Rihas, Tradition of lion-loom weaving, Bamboo stake, Bobbin, Sword-like wooden piece, Tusungkotepsu shawl, Warrior shawl of Nagaland, Mithuns, Cocks, Human heads, Spears, Daos, Mekhla, Gamcha, South-east of Nagaland, Tribal areas of North-Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, bamboo stake, polished bamboo sticks, Bihu festival, south-east of Nagaland, Morangfi sarees woven, Goddess Morangfi, breast-cloth worn by women

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