Clothes used for religious ceremonies and mortuary occasions

For religious ceremonies, women clothe themselves in Pumngou Phaneks, which are either light pink or beige in color and a white upper cloth. Married women who usually dress in pumngou phaneks by placing them below the chest will pull it up over the chest when they go for religious or death ceremonies. At present, this pumngou phanek has got thin and broad colored borders.
Pumngou phanek during religious ceremonies.

 The practice of using Mayek Naiba Phanek, in place of Pumngou Phanek, was in place in villages before and during the Second World War, when women, not yet widowed, attended death ceremonies. Pumngou phanek was for the widowed women. This is in sharp contrast to the black phanek used by the widowed women before the establishment of Vaishnavism in the kingdom.
Reference- Manipuri Costumes Through Ages(India, Bangladesh, Myanmar) by Mutua Bahadur

Disclaimer - I do not own any of the images in my blogs

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Attire worn by women during the Lai Haraoba Festival

Image
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 ...
Read more

Role of flowers in the whole ensemble of Meitei/ Meetei Women

Image
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 ...
Read more

Hairstyles of The Meetei/Meitei woman then and now

Image
Before the Second World War, Manipuri (Meetei/Meitei) girls, aged up to 10 years, had the frontal portion of their head shaved. The hair behind the head is preserved. This was known as S amji Khakpi.   Hairstyles sported by Manipuri Women  T his helps, when a girl is mature, on fashioning the hair kept around the face. The hair that cover the forehead is cut to maintain a curved shape. The side hair is cut in line with the lips. A married woman will push up the circular mass of hair and the hair behind the head is tried to form a beautiful round knot or bun. The side hair on both sides of the head is pulled back in such a manner that a part of it covers the ears. The practice of S ai Kakpa even after the Second World War was seen in some villages and it eventually died out for some years. This style of haircut has been reborn again with renewed vigor, along with the trend of new hairstyles or cuts of modern day. Reference - Manipuri Costumes Through Ages(...
Read more