Traditional Dress and Ornaments of Assamese : Pride of Assam

Model :Pratiti Devi with Assamese Traditional Attire

Assam has a rich culture and tradition. The Assamese titivate very simple dresses, and mostly used hand loomed. Its dresses include Golden Silk Fiber or Muga. The women wear motif-rich Mekhela Chador or Riha-Mekhela. The dress is simply superb with stylish designs. In order to create the clothing of Assam, “Paat” and “Eri” are used. Eri is used to create winter clothing particularly shawls known as “Eri Chadar” and Paat is for creating “Mekhela Chadar”. . The men wear 'Suria' or 'Dhoti', and over it, they swathe a Chadar known as 'Seleng-Chadar'. The Silk saris of Assam are very popular and demand in India. The saris have fine delicate designs and rich patterns, made of fine woven. The state produces the hub silk, which has a number of silks like Eri, White Pat and Golden Murga.

Gamosa is an obligatory part of Assam and it is use in almost all auspicious ceremonies and it is know about Assam’s identity. It is derived from the Kamrupi word 'Gamsaw' which was used to cover the Bhagavad Purana at the altar. It is considered as an act of purification and used to clean the body after bath that so it is called Gaa-musa (Gaa:body, musa: wipe). It looks like a white rectangular piece of cloth along with a red border on three sides and woven decoration on the fourth. Bihu dancers wrap it around the head, and it is often used to cover the altar at the prayer hall or the scriptures. Guests are welcomed with the offering of a gamusa or hung around the neck.

Traditional Jewellery

The traditional jewellery of Assam is mostly handmade, crafted by the skilled artisans and workers. Here the a few traditional ornaments of Assam’s are discussed below:

Gam-Kharu 

This is a chubby wristlet /bangle made of silver or gold, adorned by Assamese women. Gam-Kharu is one of the most beautiful ornaments of Assam and can be opened with a golden knot attached to it and therefore, it fits any standard sized hands of a woman.

Loka-paro:

Paro means pigeons. In Loka Paro, the pendant is embellished with identical pigeons, positioned one after the other, and attached to a string containing gold beads

Jonbiri:

In Assamese, Jon means the Moon and Biri is the surrounding designs of Jonbiri. This is an eye-catching handmade accessory adorned by the beautiful women of Assam. It is inspired by musical instruments, nature and household goods of Assam.

Model: Pratiti Devi with Traditional Ornaments

Dholbiri/Motabiri:

Dholbiri regarded as one of the most popular attractive ornaments for Assamese women. It is inspired by Dhol (musical instrument), Dholbiri is usually prepared in a traditional dhol shape. Biri means the surrounding design.

Gal-pata:

Gal means neck and pata is the flat-sized design of Gal-pata. Adorned by the beautiful women of Assam, Gal-pata is a traditional choker necklace made of Gold.

Model: Pratiti Devi with Assamese Traditional Jhapi