The traditional textiles and costumes of Maring Naga tribe of Manipur
- Tribal heritage -

Joymati Thoudam / Dr Ritu Mathur *

Lamlai Festival of Maring tribe at Sandang Senba Maring Village in October 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

The tribes of Manipur have been known for their cultural and traditional vibrancy through their rich heritage of arts and crafts. Amongst the tribes of Manipur, Maring tribe possesses an eminent status for their traditional textiles and costumes. Maring tribe is one of the oldest ethnic groups among the Naga tribes in Manipur.

The literal meaning of the word Maring is derived from two roots Mi (Mee) meaning men and Ring meaning to live. Therefore, Maring means the living men. Another interpretation is that Mi (corrupted to Ma) means fire and Ring means to kindle and combination of these roots make Maring equivalent to the user or kindler of fire.

The Maring tribe are majorly populated in southern part of Manipur, occupying Chandel district and also scattered in some places of Thoubal, Senapati and Imphal. It is believed that the Maring tribe came to Manipur from China through Myanmar. According to mythological legends, Maring trace their origin to a place called Kulvi-shong shong or Morangphai in Kabow valley in Myanmar. It was believed that Maring tribe emerged from a cave at Kulvi-shong shong.

Earlier, the Maring Naga had perpetuated a distinct social hierarchy. They have their characteristic identity in terms of textiles, costumes, festivals and cultural aspects. Their traditional textiles and costumes are distinguished with specific colours, designs and motifs with significance and symbolism. Traditionally, women of all age, unmarried or married were engaged in art of weaving.

The art of weaving began since time immemorial in Maring society. The women wove their cloths using hand spun raw cotton. Cotton was widely grown in their fields which they harvested themselves for their weaving. White/off white and black were dominant colours used on their textiles. Colours such as yellow/orange, green and red were used for patterning and designing in their textiles.

Earlier, the tribe people used to practice the process of dyeing yarns for weaving and used bamboo stalks and cane for making their accessories. They collected the raw materials for dyeing from their surroundings. They used natural ingredients such as flower, leaves, bark of tree, roots of tree and creeper, mud and fruits etc. to dye their textiles and accessories.

One of the unique identities of the Maring tribe was their blackened teeth. They blackened their teeth by using fruits and leave of tree locally called Kaiko hing. Earlier, blackened teeth were fashionable for both men and women.

The weavers wove clothes on their loin loom. The width of cloth was narrow as it was woven on loin loom. Most of their garments were made by joining two or more pieces of cloth together lengthwise by hand stitching in order to get a wider cloth. Most of the cloth was woven in plain weave.

Extra weft (swivel) technique was used for patterning and designing the motifs. Designs and motifs of their textiles were inspired from their environment which was depicted in realistic way. Motifs such as animals, birds, plants, war implements and geometrical shapes were depicted on their textiles.

The traditional textiles of Maring can be broadly divided into home textiles, unisex textiles, male (upper and lower) garments and female (upper and lower) garments. Home textiles such as Monchal and Ngoupong were commonly used as a blanket by aged persons in cold season. Monchal was woven in stripes longitudinally with two colours of cotton i.e. off white and light brown and Ngoupong/Ngoupun was woven in plain off white cotton.

Lamlai Festival of Maring tribe at Sandang Senba Maring Village in October 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Unisex textiles comprise of Khwangchet, Kungoirei, Langphai and Lukhum Khutai. Khwangchet is a plain black cloth used to tie at waist as a waist binder during traditional dances and festivals. Kungoire, is a long scarf designed with hand embroidery in different colours on black woven cloth.

It is worn while performing ritual dances. Langphai also called as Phee Langphai is worn by men folk during dances, marriages, festivals and rituals as lower garment. Also, Langphai was used as upper garment and draped as a shawl by women folk of Maring.

Lukhum Khutai is a plain white cloth used to cover their head to keep warm during cold season and to protect from heat while they worked in fields. The cloth is also known by different name such as Lingkhang or Kokyet or Pheetup in some villages of Maring.

According to the elders of the community, it was reported that in earlier days, men mainly used to drape their shawls round their body as upper garment. Khuingallu and Pheemui Ralpul are two important shawls used by the male folk. Khuingallu is woven in black colour base with broad white colour stripe and Khuingal motif (Bee motif).

It was worn during ritual functions especially by those who performed feast of merit, the village chief, elders and Laarung (Choir director). The other shawl, Pheemui Ralpul, is also woven in black base, but has red border and motifs are designed using hand embroidery. The shawl was reserved for warriors and heroes. The first son of the family could also wear this shawl.

The shawl could also be worn by Themkhui (priests), Khulpu Khullak (chiefs) and Laarung (Choir directors) etc. Maring men also wore a specific shirt called Lhouwa Linglik only on special occasions. Lhouwa Linglik is a full sleeved shirt with a stand collar and center front opening.

It is also called as "Kumoilik" meaning shirt for festival. It is made from printed cotton usually reddish or orange in colour. The shirt is designed with printed peacock motif at front and back. Traditional Costumes of Maring Tribe

According to information received from the tribe people, Maring men wore two types of lower garments. They are Lingkham and Langphai. These lower garments were worn based on their places of settlement. Lingkham is worn during special occasions as well as daily wear by men folk who reside in Machi, Langol, Khunbi and Khudei Khullen villages in Chandel district of Manipur.

Langphai is mainly worn by the Maring tribe who reside in Senapati and Thoubal districts of Manipur. According to the elders of the tribe, there were no specific upper garments for women.

They usually wore sarong round their body covering the upper chest, breasts and tucked the ends of sarong under the armpit. They used Khemichi as upper garment only on special occasions and festivals. Khemichi was a full sleeve blouse made from black colour velvet.

In earlier days, women wore very limited number of lower garments. They wore sarong called Pheekham in Maring dialect as their lower garment. It could be worn by all Maring women. The Taphu and Nayal motifs were woven in black in colour and were placed all over the cloth.

It was reported that Taphu and Nayel motifs are considered to be most auspicious symbols for the tribe. These motifs can be seen on certain objects such as wooden poles at entrance of newly constructed traditional Maring house. Hand crafted images of these two motifs can also be seen on wooden pillows kept in boys and girls dormitories.

There are two types of Pheekham based on the colour used in the border. The first one is Yarui Marao which has a red border with yellow and black stripes. Another is Yarui Mong which has a black border with red stripes. It is also called as Yarui Khamang or Anthur Yarui.

Lamlai Festival of Maring tribe at Sandang Senba Maring Village in October 2016 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Maring women also worn a kind of inner wear called as Khanikcha woven in plain off white cotton. The inner garment is usually worn above knee length and wrapped around at waist. It is usually worn with Pheekham (sarong) in such a manner that Khanikcha was worn first and then wrapped Pheekham over it.

Jewellery and ornaments are important part of traditional costumes of Maring tribe. Ornaments of Maring can be broadly divided into unisex, male and female ornaments.

Unisex ornaments include Thrumthrill (ear wear made from dried wing of an insect and ivory disc), Khutsi (brass bangle), Khutsin (brass finger ring), Rulsum khrul and Muidou Khrul (beaded strings). Male used Rulsum khrul and Muidou khrul to decorate their head and female used them as neck wears.

Male ornaments consists of Yaha (boar tusk neck wear), Nakhap (ear wear made from horse tail, yellow stem orchid, porcupine hair, bird feather and bamboo), Tongthil (circular brass armlet), Tonsi (leg wear made from cowrie shells and brass bells) and Hakhei (aluminium hair stick).

Female ornaments comprised of Mui Bang Bal (a cross shoulder wear made from conch shell and sea shell), Nuru (wooden ear wear), Ho (ivory disc ear wear), Holcham (waist wear made of cowrie shells and brass bells) and Shamkeen (head wear made from bamboo stalk, cane and dried stem of an orchid).

Hence, in earlier days, the traditional textiles and costumes of Maring tribe played a prime role inherent to their tradition. Their textiles and costumes were a medium to signify the social status within and outside the community. Today, the traditional textiles and costumes of the tribe have changed in several aspects such as designs, motif placement, colour, yarn and uses.

The traditional textiles and costumes have been slowly replaced by contemporised textiles and costumes. The tribes people largely no longer have the knowledge of indigenous spinning or dyeing process. However, they still practice loin loom weaving in their houses.

In earlier days, there were restrictions and permissions were required to wear traditional costumes based on sex, age or social status. Presently however, they wore traditional costumes only on community occasions, calendric festivals and dances.