Tribal hand woven fabrics of Manipur
- Part 7 -
By: Mutua Bahadur *
Chothe
The Chothe use not less than ten kinds of cloths. Both man and woman use the cloth known as Uikechung /Uikeaam (Fig. 25). All over the cloth, the design of dog's footprints are made with extra weft. This cloth is found in various colours too. The shawls worn by menfolk are Awa-ampee (Fig. 27), Leingam Busun (Fig. 28), Phurup Aam (Fig. 24), Purum Pan (Fig. 26), etc.
Awa-ampee is a cloth having python design in extra weft and the designs are found spreading all over the cloth surface. Instead of weaving this cloth in the same colour pattern, it is woven in different colour combinations. Leingam Busun is also a cloth characterised by extra weft designs symbolising the lunch pack of a folk hero called Leingam.
The designs are seen throughout the whole surface. Above this, there is no particular colour pattern for the cloth. These two cloths, that is , Awa-ampee and Leingam Busun, are made by the rich. Another decorative shawl of the Chothe is Phurup Aam. In extra weft design, the shawl is decorated all over its surface with spread wings of the butterfly (which is locally known as Phurup). No specific colour pattern is arranged for this cloth. Nevertheless, it is made commonly in a combination of red and green colour.
Another shawl of the Chothe is called Theiruaam (Fig. 29) which is covered all over the surface with the design of arrows in the weft. Purum-pan is another cloth having designs woven with extra weft and covering the cloth completely. Purum Nik and Tongkaap (Fig. 30) are two skirt-cloths related to the Chothe culture.
The two skirts are made of stripes of red, green and black thread. Ordinary designs are interwoven at the margin of Tongkaap using extra warp weaving method. While dancing, Chothe men and women fasten their waist with a piece of cloth. Ladies' waist band is known as Chaotanam/Hangsa-Hangset (Fig. 31) and that of men's is Chaotanam (Fig. 163).
Conventional designs denoting human nail, hand, eyes, etc. are crafted in the cloth using extra weft. The design of this cloth is related to a tragic myth of the Chothe. The designs are created in red, yellow, blue, black and green colours. In the past, the Chothe included this cloth as an item in the tribute paid to the Meitei king.
See a gallery photo of Tribal hand woven fabrics of Manipur here.
To be continued ....
|
* Mutua Bahadur contributes to e-pao.net regularly. This article was webcasted on October 26, 2012.
* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.