Costume of Manipur

1. Costume of Manipur

2. INTRODUCTION
Manipur came under British rule as a princely state in 1891 and existed
until 1947, when it acceded to the newly independent Union of
India. During the Second World War, Manipur was the scene of
many fierce battles between the Japanese and the Allied forces.
The Japanese were beaten back before they could enter Imphal,
and this proved to be one of the turning points of the war. After the
War, the Manipur Constitution Act of 1947 established a democratic
form of government with the Maharaja as the Executive Head and
an elected legislature. In 1949, Maharaja Budhachandra was
summoned to Shillong, capital of the then Indian province of
Assam. The legislative assembly was dissolved on the controversial
annexation of the state with the republic of India in October 1949.
Manipur was a union territory from 1956 and later became a full-
fledged state in 1972.

3. costumes of Manipur carry their own
unique characteristTheics. Stressed on its
functionality, the traditional Manipuri
costumes are simple and easy to wear. A
traditional Manipuri costume for women
includes a shawl called Innaphi, a Phanek
and a wrap around skirt called sarong. A
Manipuri man wears a dhoti, a jacket and
a white Pagri or turban.

4. With the advancement of time and the spread of
Christianity and western education, people in
Manipur have become extremely fashion conscious.
Jeans and jacket have emerged as a big hit with the
Manipuri youth. However, they still love to flaunt
their traditional attires and have modified the old
styled clothes with modernized variations. For
instance, the Innaphis worn by Manipuri women
resembles the modern wrap around skirts. Innaphis
are nowadays made with different materials from
cotton to silk rather than the thick textured Innaphis
of the yesteryears.

5. Different costumes are worn during the
colorful Manipuri festivals. In fact there are
separate costumes for separate festivals in
Manipur. The Potlois and Kumins are the
traditional costumes for the Rasa Leela
festivals. Other traditional dresses worn
during the festivals and festival related dances
are the Koks, Phurits etc. Some other dress
forms used by different tribes in Manipur are
Lmaphie, Saijounba, Ningthoupee and
Phiranji.

6. Varieties of dresses used by the Meitei ethnic
groups in Manipur may
be broadly classified in the following way.
(i) Dresses for Lais (deities)
(ii) Dresses to be adorned by the monarch at
the time of coronation
ceremony
(iii) Dresses to be worn during the festivals
(iv) Dresses for dancing
(v) Dresses for mourning
(vi) Dresses for kings and queens
(vii) Dresses for noblemen
(viii) Dresses for different communities
(ix) Daily (commonly used) dresses

7. The costumes of Manipura (Meitei) are simple and functional.
The women wear a phanek, a colorfully striped wrap around
sarong and an innaphi that covers the upper part of the body.
The men sport a white dhoti and, on ceremonial occasions, put
on a pagri. The innaphi, literally wrapper, has undergone
several changes. The traditional Innaphi, though distinctively
Manipuri, is clearly related to the Indian sari and dupatta worn
by the women of India.Originally made of the bark of creepers,
called uriphi, it was later substituted with cotton and silk
obtained locally. In its earliest stages, the innaphi consisted of
a thick, coarse-textured fabric that lacked its aesthetic beauty
and intricate motifs and patterns.

8. The Innaphi
Manipuri (Meitei) women have long worn a delicate muslin
innaphi, woven in fine cotton yarns. Since its warp and weft
threads are loosely woven, the cloth is transparent.. It was
also donned by women who participated in the ritual act of
serving among lai on the occasion of Lai Haraoba, the
traditional festival of the Meiteis (Manipuri). Today, exquisitely
woven innaphis can be found at weaving centres such as
Koogba, Wangkhei and Sagolband, The Meities of Manipur
also believed that wearing of shirts sewn from the used Phanek
(womens skirt of Meitei mother and grandmother) could
ensure victory in hunting and battles.

9. The material used for weaving clothes was
mainly from cotton and
Kabrang (mulberry silk). In both the
plains and the hills of Manipur
cotton was widely grown.
Three types of cotton were available:
(i) White cotton
(ii) Reddish cotton
(iii) Tree cotton
The third type was seldom used in weaving. It
was used mostly for
making pillow

10. DESIGHN TECHNIQUE
Natural Dyes and Their Preparation
Earlier, all dyes were obtained from natural sources
such as plants
and minerals. This provides a valuable vocabulary of
vegetable and
mineral dyes. The methods of preparing dye from
plants and flowers
and also types of plants, from which dyes are
extracted, are found
to be different from one village to other. Besides
names of the dyes
were derived from nature, flower petals and colors
of the flowers.
These dyes were used to colour the cotton and
Kabrang silk threads.
Types of colour ranged from mild ones to bright
ones.

11. MOTIFS……..

12. Kok
Ornaments made with glittering ribbon, ghirni, form the
elaborate
headgear that constitutes the kok. Its components include
the jhapa,
a pendant over the forehead; karna phul, bands that
extend from
either temple to the tip of the ears; a nari string that
connects
the jhapa and karna phul on either side of forehead. A
broad braid
at the nape of the neck called shamjinam and a
protruding stock just
above it called shamjithet adds to the whole look.
A decorative string is designed using pairs of butterflies
made with
an applique of chamaki over a thin bukram laced with the
string of
the karna phul on either side.

13. Phurit
This is a blouse-like garment made of
velvet and adorned with chamki
chank in a variety of patterns over the
trunk and arm.

14. Jewellery
Some of the necklaces worn with the
costume include the lik khuji,
ngaksham pakpi and tampha tongbi.
The adornments for the wrist and
arms, called khul-sha, consist of bukram
hemmed and decorated with
chamak charik.