Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts

Friday, 3 April 2020

Traditional Dress and Ornaments of Assamese : Pride of Assam

April 03, 2020 0



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


Thursday, 3 May 2018

MAGAR COMMUNITY'S ORIGIN

May 03, 2018 0


GENETICALLY AND PHYSICALLY, MAGAR PEOPLE ARE MONGOLOID/EAST ASIAN. THEY ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE MIGRATED FROM TIBET LIKE THE GURUNGS AND OTHER PROMINENT ETHNIC GROUPS, HOWEVER, THERE IS AN INTERESTING MYTHICAL STORY DESCRIBING MAGAR’S ORIGINS AND VERSIONS OF THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGE GROUPS ARE PRESENTED.

THE MAGAR OF THE BARA MAGARANTH (A GROUP OF TWELVE MAGAR KINGDOMS EAST OF THE GANDAKI RIVER) ARE SAID TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN THE LAND OF SEEM. TWO BROTHERS, SEE MAGAR AND CHINTOO MAGAR, FOUGHT, AND ONE REMAINED IN SEEM, WHILE THE OTHER LEFT, ENDING UP IN KANGWACHEN IN SOUTHERN SIKKIM. THE BHUTIA PEOPLE LIVED AT THE NORTHERN END OF THIS REGION. OVER TIME, THE MAGARS BECAME VERY POWERFUL AND MADE THE NORTHERN BHUTIA THEIR VASSALS. SINTOO SATI SHENG RULED IN A VERY DESPOTIC MANNER, AND THE BHUTIA CONSPIRED TO ASSASSINATE HIM. SHENG’S QUEEN TOOK REVENGE AND POISONED 1,000 BHUTIA PEOPLE AT A PLACE NOW CALLED TONG SONG FONG, MEANING “WHERE A THOUSAND WERE MURDERED”. THE BHUTIA LATER DROVE THE MAGAR OUT, FORCING THEM TO AGAIN MIGRATE FURTHER SOUTH. AS PART OF THIS MIGRATION, ONE GROUP MIGRATED TO SIMRONGADH, ONE GROUP MOVED TOWARDS THE OKHALDHUNGA REGION, AND ANOTHER GROUP SEEMS TO HAVE RETURNED TO THE EAST. NO DATES ARE GIVEN.
A SECOND MAGAR FEDERATION CALLED ATHER MAGARAT (18 MAGAR KINGDOMS) WAS SITUATED WEST OF THE GANDAKI RIVER, INHABITED BY KHAM MAGAR. THE ORIGIN LEGEND OF THIS GROUP IS THAT FOUR BROTHERS GOT LOST WHILE HUNTING. THEY CAMPED OVERNIGHT AND FROM THE DISTRIBUTION OF CHORES ROSE THE VARIOUS JATS OR TRIBES. THE FIRST TRIBE WAS THE BAHUN MAGAR (THE ELDEST BROTHER’S TRIBE), THEN CAME THE THAKURI MAGAR (THE SECOND ELDEST BROTHER), THEN THE KHAS MAGAR (THE THIRD BROTHER), AND LASTLY THE KAMI MAGAR (THE YOUNGEST BROTHER).

THE TARALI MAGAR ARE SAID TO HAVE ORIGINATED FROM A WOMAN WHO FLED THE REGION OF JUMLA DURING A WAR BETWEEN KALYAL KINGS. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHO HER SPOUSE, WAS BUT SHE ARRIVED AT TARAKOT ON THE VERGE OF GIVING BIRTH TO A SON. ONE DAY THE BOY SAW A STRANGE PHENOMENON IN THE JUNGLE LAKE WHERE HE WENT WITH HIS CATTLE. LHE LAKE IS SAID TO HAVE FILLED WITH MILK, AND SEVEN SHINING CREATURES, LIKE FAIRIES, WERE BATHING IN THE WATERS OF THE LAKE. HE WAS ENTHRALLED AND CAME TO OBSERVE THEM DAILY. ONE DAY HE TOLD HIS MOTHER ABOUT THIS STRANGE SIGHT, AND SHE ADVISED HIM TO TOUCH THE YOUNGEST OF THESE ANGELS; THIS WOULD CAUSE HER TO BECOME HUMAN SO HE COULD MARRY HER, AND HE BROUGHT THE BEAUTIFUL DAMSEL TO HIS MOTHER. WHEN THEY ASKED HER WHO SHE WAS SHE REPLIED IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE WHICH WAS INCOMPREHENSIBLE FOR THEM. THE DEVI WAS OFFERED SOME BREAD, AND SHE UTTERED THE WORDS, “TAI KHE NAN.” SLOWLY THEY BEGAN TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THIS WOMAN, AND KAIKE WAS SPREAD AMONG THEMSELVES. THE LANGUAGE WAS CALLED “KAIKE“, MEANING “LANGUAGE OF THE GODS“.


N.B: Help taken from various books related Magar Community.

Friday, 13 January 2017

MAGHE SANKRANTI

January 13, 2017 0
MAGHE SANKRANTI
Maghe Sankranti (Nepali and Maithili: माघे सङ्क्रान्ति, Nepal Bhasa: घ्यःचाकु संल्हु) is a Nepalese festival observed on the first of Magh in the Bikram Samwat Hindu Solar Nepali calendar (about 14 January), bringing an end to the ill-omened month of Poush when all religious ceremonies are forbidden. On this day, the sun is believed to leave its southernmost position and begin its northward journey. Maghe Sankranti is similar to solstice festivals in other religious traditions. On this occasion prayers are offered at the confluence of rivers and people take a dip in rivers. These include Sankhamul on the Bagmati river near Patan; in the Gandaki/ Narayani river basin at Triveni near the Indian border; Devghat near Chitwan Valley and Ridi on the Kaligandaki; and in the Koshi River basin at Dolalghat on the Sun Koshi. On Maghe Sankranti Cha puja and on Bhadra Purnima Nara puja is performed for people to pray for the community's protection against the external forces of evil. Festive foods like laddoo, ghee and sweet potatoes are distributed to relatives and friends. The mother of each household wishes good health to all family members. As per Kirat  and Madhesi community this festival is celebrated as a start of a new year which is called Yele Dhung. Based on the rical evidence, the Kirat and Mithilacalendar was started when King Yalamber and Janaka respectively and they conquered Kathmandu valley . The legend states that a successful businessman was curious as to why his supply of sesame seed seemed to be never ending. When he inspected the bag he found an idol of Lord Vishnu, the preserver. According to Mahabharata, Bhishma , who had the power to control his own death, chose to die on the day of Maghe Sakranti. Therefore, it is believed that one who dies on this day might achieve Moksha, a release from rebirth cycle.

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