Manipuri Textile from Bangladesh and Myanmar
- Art of Textile -
- Part 4 -

By: Mutua Bahadur *

Dress and customs, tradition and entertainment

A Manipuri male settled in a village usually wears traditional Manipuri lungi (khudei) at home. Manipuri women wear mekhala (phanek) at home. When they are out of home, Manipuri women not only wear saris, but mekhala and inaphi (wrapper). If there is any ceremony in the village and their locality, Manipuri women wear a kind of mekhala called mayek naiba (a mekhala neatly embroidered on the upper and lower parts and coloured horizontally)

and an inaphi is used as a piece of sari. Married Manipuri women of Bangladesh put red sindoor (red powder) on the frontal part of the parted hair just as women of other communities do. Bangles of conch are worn on both hands.

Manipuri widows do not use sindoor and bangles. Manipuri widows wear pumngou phanek (a kind of white mekhala used for specific purposes) when they attend marriage ceremonies and annual sharadas (annual ritual of the dead) but do not put chandan (sect mark) on their foreheads. Some village elder women still wear nayil (ear-ring).

The traditions of using ear-rings, necklaces and bangles and putting on half sari around the phanek are there for some married Manipuri women when they attend a ceremony like an annual sharada. And chandans are marked on their foreheads. Bangladeshi Manipuri women do not wear mekhalas which do not have borders. The borders one is reserved for widows. This tradition is followed in Tripura and Assam also.

Male elders who are Gouriya Vaisnavites have to remove their shirts and place them in a place when they attend community feasts and annual sharada ceremony. There are chandan marks on their foreheads. In some villages, people have to take a bath and the dress should be washed after they come out of the toilet. This kind of tradition is for both the males and the females.

Men wear white dhotis (pheijom) during the festival of umang lai haraoba (festival of deities). Girls wear phanek mapan naiba (a mekhala bordered with needle work) under their chest and they are wrapped covered with a thin moirang-phi (an indigenous cloth having extra-well pattern). Married Manipuri women also wear phanek mapan naiba over the chest and it is accompanied by a thin moirang-phi.

During local festivals and in the presence of male elders, married women cover their heads with a piece of cloth and the same is done before their brothers-in-law. Girls and married women play likon (an indigenous indoor game played with cowries) as a pastime. Service for distribution of dish and curry during grand feasts, and preparations of food for offering to deities, are done by girls and married women.

A bride has to wear the potloi (a dress specially designed for marriage). It has applique designs in red around its border. She has to wear a short sleeved shirt. The bride is covered with a thin white cloth, and sindoor is marked on the forehead along with the chandan. Conch bangles are put around her hands.

Different kinds of gold necklaces decorate the neck and kajenglei (head ornament) is placed on the head. The groom wears a white dhoti and a white shirt without collar but having full sleeves. There is no turban on the head but the forehead is marked with chandan.

A length of folded white cloth crosses the chest of the groom starting from the lower right side and going up to the left shoulder. Luhongphan (a wooden bench used in marriage ceremonies) is covered with a cloth. The bride has a glass full of flowers in her left hand and scatter flowers on the head of the groom by using her right hand. The tradition of bringing "meetam-ngaa (Channa orientalis) from the groom's house is still there.

Khamba-Thoibi jogoi (a dance Form), Maibi jagol, Leishem jagoi and Maharasa are performed by Manipuris. Manipuri children perform rakhal jagoi Manipuri dance developed since 1988. Not only dance, khutlang eshei (folk song) is also sung and appreciated. Khongjom parva (traditional ballad song) was sung around Bhanubil of Mouluvibazar district. The poshak (costume) of gopis for Maharasa is not stiff.

Bangladeshi Manipuris love to play kang (traditional indoor game). The tradition of playing kang, one team competing against another team, was started around 1991. A women player of kang wears sarong (phanek) and a moirang-phi. However, male players wear white dhotis and white shirts. Thabal chongba (traditional group dance). Kang chingba (Ratha Jatra). Jhulon (Hindu festival) and Durga puja (Hindu festival) are the main yearly festivals of Bangladeshi Manipuris.

See a gallery photo of this Textile here.

To be continued ....

Mutua Bahadur

* Mutua Bahadur contributes to e-pao.net regularly. This article was webcasted on September 19, 2010.