Attire of the Manipuri Women Through The Ages

Aimol tribe The Aimol tribe has about eleven kinds of cloths. Out of these, three are female dresses. They are saipikhup, senchal and arisan. saiphkhup is a phanek and its literal meaning is elephant’s knee. At the borders in the lengthways, the saipikhup design is red and yellow color  is interlaced adopting extra weft weaving on the black background.  Another decorative pattern of design woven with extra warp is Thabi maru meaning cucumber seed. Senchal is a wrapper having black and red stripes. The two borders  are decorated with extra warp. Aris an is a women’s shawl. It is a  white cloth having blue border. One of the clothes of the Aimol community, ponchial rulpuiyeak cannot be touched by the women folk though. Reference -  Traditional  hand woven fabrics of Manipur by Mutua Bahadur Disclaimer - I do not own any of the images in this post

Women use flowers on the upper part of the ear and buns of hair to beautify themselves. They help in arousing the amorous feelings of the men. The use of flowers by women can be seen in the paintings of Ningthoujam Bhadra which were executed in the early part of the 20 th century. The manuscripts, ‘Leirol’ describes the origin, form and color of flowers. Girls, when they take part in the festival of lai haraoba adorn their ears with flowers; red colored flowers are preferably used. Red flowers, as the girls do, are the favorites of married women also. They are used to add more beauty by using them on the ear and buns of hair. Both girls and women use sweet-smelling leihao numbering more than one among and on the hair. Once it was a usual practice for youth to beg for leihao from those girls whom they were after. This happens when the girls are wearing them on the head. If there is a favorite among the young men, the girl will offer the leihao along with a stand ...

Phaneks embroidered with hijam mayek , are said to be used by women belonging to the Luwang Salai  (clan). According to some, it was thought to have been worn only be widows. Married women do not use it on auspicious occasions as it is associated with widowed women.  In the past, women wore phaneks depending on the Salai or clan they belong to :  Ningthouja -light red colored background crossed by red and black stripes; A ngom -white and black stripes;  Luwang –blue background, and light coloured blue and black stripes; Khuman - indigo background and black and white stripes; Khaba nganba - black stripes on yellow background; Moirang - pink stripes on light-yellow background; Chinglei -light red and white stripes etc. They were once used to indicate clan status but now-a-days they are freely wore by everyone. People belonging to the Yaithibi clan (lowest social status) used violet colored clothes. Even if other clothes of different colors are used, a...

The priestess or amaibi , from an early period, dress using a covering of the upper body and no shirt accompanies it. A piece of cloth bordered with the sarong is put over the shoulder. Later on, amaibi used a white phanek and a long sleeved white shirt. Experienced priestess use a sarong crossing over the shoulder and letting the two ends fall in front which was in vogue till the early 1960s. At present, sarong is used to encircle the waist. A sanglakpi , an attaché to the palace and observer of rules, will put on a namthang phijin ; the shirt is white. The amaibi accessorises with khuji (bracelet) and a tan, with the chomai as earring. The asuppi  (head priestess) has to use a resham (velvety cloth) shirt along with khuji, tan, chomai and a namthang . The priestesses of Chakpa Andro have not used sarong phijin and namthang up to now.  Reference - Manipuri Costumes Through the Ages (India, Bangladesh, Myanmar) by Mutua Bahadur Discl...

Lai haroaba festival is performed to bring about prosperity to the community and fertility to the land. Some of the famous ones are Kanglei Haraoba, Moirang Haraoba, Kakching Haraoba and Chakpa Haraoba, each differing in how it is performed. The girls or women participating in the festivals usually put on a phanek called phanek mapan naibi or thambal leikhok patterned with black and red  lines on a pinkish backgroud.  Married women,however,cover the area of the hip with a bordered yellow or white cloth. Other sometimes use khamen  chatpa printed ones. A thin Harao phee , a ceremonial cloth covers the upper part of the body. In some Lai Haraoba festivals, the pumngou phanek is worn while carrying the items associated with the festivals. The hair of both the married women and girls are adorned using leihao   (michelia champaka) letting the flower dangle, along with a garland aro und their necks. Some wear the potloi (kumin) at the said ...

The coronation costume of the queen is very vibrant and intricate. The queen puts an indigo-colored-sarong kumlang phanek , that should cover the lower ankles. Another phanek is again put on and the lower part is higher than that of the first one. That is known as tharon phanek , and it is lavishly decorated with hook patters. Costume Wore by the Queen  A third phanek covers the second one, and it is placed higher; this one, which   is woven with silk, goes by the name of kabrang kanap . It is also richly adorned. A slightly broad piece of cloth goes above the others. This one is called phireng kanap . The last covering, sarong namthang , which is also richly embellished  is put a little above the fourth one. A long sleeved -shirt, phurit saichonba is put on.  A  long silken cloth goes over the right shoulder and the ends are tied to form a diagonal shape after circling the waist with the two ends left dangling. The neck is decorat...