Karbi traditional attiers, ornaments and accessories

Karbi traditional attires, ornaments and accessories                                                                     -Kache Teronpi

In Karbi Anglong it has been observed that the demand for traditional attire is still very high as it is being preferred by the old and the young alike. So Karbi women weavers continue producing the traditional clothes, keeping alive the colours and designs of ancient time and at the same time modernising them. Though some of the clothes are now produced by modern power looms today yet the beauty and quality of traditional loom products can never be surpassed. The market is growing and we all wish that the growth   never stops.

         As the legend goes, the Karbis at the beginning used bark of trees to cover their bodies. Seeing their plight goddess Sintu brought cotton seeds from heaven and gave them to the people. Selangdi, a woman invented the art of spinning yarn from the cotton flowers. Rimsipi another women invented the art of weaving. After that a very creative woman named Dihun founded the art of colouring the yarns with flower, roots, seeds etc. making beautiful coloured designs on clothes. She is referred to as ‘ser’ meaning gold and immortalized as Serdihun, the patron of weaving. A ritual is performed even now praying for Serdihun’s blessings to rid the weavers from body pains.

         Karbi women still use ‘takiri’ a hand spindle to spin yarn. Natural dyes were used from shrubs, herbs, barks, roots, flowers, plants, seeds and insect secretions. Sibu plant was specially cultivated in every household for dyes.

         The karbi loom known as ‘kachivur-atherang’ is a    backstrap loom, which may have originated from the art of basketry and mat making credited to Saibisai jang-re. It is a simple implement consisting of the following parts basically made from bamboo-1. Therang(loom bar)2.Thening(shed rod) 3.Thepun(measuring rope)4.Uvek(bobbin)5.Thelangpong (heddle rod)6.Barlim (pattern sticks)7.Ingthi(reed/comp) 8.Hi-i(Heddle)9.Harpi(batten)10.Honthari langpong (Bobbin)11.Thehu(the backstrap)12.Dang(tightening stick) 13.Lang vet (sponging stick).

         With this traditional loom the weavers till today make various intricate designs inspired by nature, birds, fishes, flowers, trees and in modern times new objects also appear in their creations, aeroplane(rot ahem) being one of them.

         One notable aspect of Karbi traditional attire is that the different designs and colours of the clothes are meant for   particular age, sex and social status of the people using them.

The traditional attire of women consists of the following-

1.Pini-It is basically of black colour and worn around the waist tied with a belt. It can be of different designs called pini jangre, pini santok,  pini honki ranchom, marbong homkri, ahi cherop, chamburukso apini, pini mekserek etc.They are still produced in the traditional loom.

2.Pekok- It is a square piece of cloth tied at the right shoulder. It can be of different colours and designs like-pe seleng, pe duphirso, pe khonjari, pe luru, pe jangphong and pe sarpi. Pe sarpi was generally for older women, pe sleng, pe jangphong for middle aged women and pe duphirso was meant for young women. But this is not followed any longer. Pekok is now produced largely by power looms outside Karbi Anglong though the quality is not as good as that of traditional weavers.

3.Vamkok- It is the belt used to tie the pini tight at the waist. It has colourful fringes at both the length ends and can be found in the following designs- amekpi, amekso, abermung, thoithesuri angphar, suve arvo and phonglong angsu etc.This is still produced in the traditional loom.

4. Jiso-It was long black cloth with designs and decorated fringes at the length ends. It was used by women in ancient time to tie around the bust but now it’s replaced by short blouse for comfort and modern looks.

The attire of men consists of the following-

1.Choi- This is the jacket worn by men. They can be found in different types called choi hongthor, choi ik, choi ang,choi miri etc. Choi hongthor a ki-ik, choi hongthor ake-lok were meant for young men while Choi ang, choi miri were for middle aged and aged men.

2.Poho- It is worn around the head or used as muffler. But only the chiefs can wear the long white poho measuring 12 and half cubit. The differend kinds of poho are – simple long white poho, poho ke-er, and poho kelok with various designs.

3.Rikong- It is the loin cloth worn by men in ancient time during work, which is rarely used now. It was of the following types-rikong jongjong with colourful designs and simple white rikong bamon.

4.Sator- It is a white piece of cloth worn by men around the waist as the dhoti covering the whole length of the legs. A long pe seleng is also used as sator with colourful designs all over and borders at both the length ends which covers up to the knee.

         Besides these some other accessories are part of traditional attire of men and women. They are-

1.Jarong- It is a woven bag and serves many purposes. It can be found in different colours and designs. They are- jarong mokajin, jarong jambili and jarong miri. Jarong jambili is used in auspicious occasions.

2.Chui- It is a small bag for women which can be rolled up with silver girdle and decorated with silver coins. It is used to carry betel nuts and other things.

3.Piba- It is a piece of long thick cloth used to carry babies either tied in the back or front side of the body. It is also used to cover the head of young girls during the “Nimso kerung” dance ritual during chomangkan festival. They are of the following kinds-pi sobai, jir-ik and jiso. Jir-ik is also used to cover the head of a dead woman in her last rite.

4.Pelim- They are bed cloths of white colour with designs at the sides. Their different kinds are pelu and piniku. Pelu is for men and piniku for women with different designs. On wedding nights these two bed clothes are exchanged symbolising formal union of the groom and the bride. These two bed clothes are also needed to be spread on the death bed of men and women.

5.Pe-um- They are warm clothes or shawls and come in many designs and colours like pe khonjari, pe sarpi arjon, rinditho and pe khirwang.

         Various ornaments were also used by both men and women to adorn themselves. Women’s ornaments were mainly of silver as they were not allowed to wear gold. Only the males used gold ornaments. The ornaments are-

1.Lek-They are ornaments worn around the neck. Silver, gold, coins, colourful beads were used to make different kinds of neck ornaments. They were-  lek sobai, ser alek pongting, lek pengkhara, lek ruve, lek bonghom, lek waikom, lek manduli, lek jingjiri etc. Lek ruve, lek sobai and lek manduli were worn by men.  Many of these ornaments are no longer found.

2. Roi-They are kinds of bracelets worn around the wrists called roi pengkhara, roi ke-er, roi kelok etc.

3.No thengpi- They are ear ornaments. Their different types are-no thengpi  angrong katengbai, angrong kangchim etc worn by women. While norik was worn by men often made of gold or silver.

4.Arnan-They are rings for the finger. Arnan ke-et, arnan kelok, rup bonda, ser bonda, vokapardon arnan are some of the arnans used by the karbis. The priests wear rings made of copper.

5.Nokek/nokanti- a small  knife was carried by women in their bag called nokek or tari. Their handle was often made of ivory or buffalo horn decorated with coins. Nokanti is a special kind of large knife carried by men which was also decorated with ivory, silver coins etc.

6.Kove longtok- The older women used this small mortar and carried along in their bag for grounding betel nuts. Some used silver mortar for the purpose.

7.Saini hem- It is a small box to keep lime. It is often made of silver and a small spoon is fitted to it with a chain for taking out the lime.

8. Duk keduk-It was a tattooed line on the face of women from the forehead down to the chin. There are various theories explaining the origin of the tattoo, one being a deterrent for other invading tribes to take away the beautiful women folk and slowly it ended up being a mark of fashion. But it has become obsolete now.

9. So-ik: In olden times it was a fashion to blacken the teeth among the Karbi women. The wood of a tree called phar-ik was burnt to extract the sticky juice used for blackening the teeth and it was believed to prevent tooth decay.

                  These are some of the traditional attires and accessories of Karbi men and women inhabiting the Rongkhang area. Some have disappeared, some remained till today and used currently. They were created by people out of necessity and their utility is proved by their continuity. One particular fact must be noted here that there are slight local variations in many things among the Karbi people, so in attire and ornaments also there are variations and varieties.  Now our endeavour must be to preserve them. Preservation is most essential because they are our identity and our history. If one is lost a part of our identity is lost, part of our history is destroyed. In the name of modernity let us not distort and destroy our traditions and culture. ***