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Mizo Puanchei is a colourful Mizo shawl and is considered as the most colourful among the Mizo textiles. It is an essential possession for every Mizo lady and an important marriage outfit in the state.
It is also the most commonly used costume in Mizo festive dances and official ceremonies. The weavers insert the designs and motifs by using supplementary yarns while weaving to create this beautiful and alluring textile.
GI tag accorded to Mizoram’s handloom products
Mizoram is a state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its capital city. The name is derived from “Mizo”, the name of the native inhabitants, and “Ram”, which means land, and thus Mizoram means “land of the Mizos”.
The culture of Mizoram reflects the quintessential lifestyle and traditional heritage of the inhabitants of the Mizoram, popularly known as the ‘Songbird of the North east’.
The people of Mizoram are collectively known as the Mizo. The textiles of Mizoram constitute one of the most significant art and crafts of the region.
The textile industry of Mizoram offers a variety of garments, which are quite popular in the north-western part of the country of India.
Many Mizo people are well known as skilled weavers. Weaving is one of the most important segments of the cultural life of the people of this state. The women are involved in weaving in Mizoram from a very early age.
Puan :
Puans are the traditional clothing of the native people of Mizoram. There are many kinds of Puans, and each colour, motif and design has a traditional and cultural significance to the Mizos.
The weaving is done by women on the loin loom and the earnings empower them financially.
Worn by both men and women, puan means cloth in the native language. Production clusters in Mizoram include Serchhip district (Thenzawl), and Aizawl district(Aizawl).
Woven predominantly on a loin loom, the puan is also occasionally woven on a frame loom or a Zo loom. The weaving in the loin loom is done in two parts, and the fabric is later stitched together. Frame handlooms produce single width fabrics.
The loin loom is very versatile in the sense that it supports a range of possibilities that can be woven. The weaver sits in front of the loom, fixes the back strap and rests her leg on the footrest. The footrest can be adjusted to keep the loom in tension.
The weaving is done on the loom by a shedding motion, a picking motion, and a beating motion. The heald bar is lifted up with the left hand and the circular bamboo bar is pressed down with the right hand.
The weft is then passed through from the right to the left by means of the shuttle, and is beaten by the sword. The shuttle is then passed from right to left, and the weft is again beaten. The one-up-one-down process of plain weave is repeated until weaving is complete.
The traditional way of wearing a puan is to wrap it around oneself from the waist to the ankle. The length of the puan is normally sixty to sixty-five inches. It takes a week or more to finish a plain puan, and a month or more for one with patterns, on a loin loom.
Puan Laisen is a traditional wedding, festival and dance costume, with a red horizontal section in the middle.
The Puan Hruih has a white background with black stripes and is worn by both men and women.
The Puandum is balck, while its edges are red. The Tawlhlopuan is black, with red, yellow and white strips, denoting bravery.
Patterns like ginger flower, stars, roses, tiger’s skin etc are traditional motifs and designs used in the weaving of Mizo puan. These motifs have a traditional and cultural significance to each tribe.
The Mizo Puan is considered the traditional clothing of the Mizo people. Now worn mostly by women, the skirts were the common clothing for both men and women.
The yarn for weaving was cotton earlier and has now been slowly replaced by acrylic yarn for its durability and attractive finish. While loin loom was used traditionally, now frame looms, zo looms and fly shuttles are used to weave the Puan.
Embroidery of Mizoram :
The female folks are more inclined towards work and have raised the art of weaving through their skills and beautiful designs. There are many different types of attire having different kinds of needlework.
Dazzling with bright colors Puanchei has embroidery with artificial diamonds along its stripes also it has needle work and the embroidery showing arrowheads.
Traditional designs consist of graceful Ngotekherh. Ngotekherh is generally a combination of pleasing colors which is common on sarongs as locally known as puan. It is made ready on loom.
Traditional Costumes of Mizoram :
The traditional clothing of Mizoram looks like the outfits of other hill states of the North-Eastern India. With a full fledge of outfits and colorful designs, costumes of Mizoram are stimulating enough to attract so many people. They comprise ethnic heritage of the habitants.
Costumes for Women of Mizoram :
Mizo women love to beautify themselves in Puan, which is the most favourite dress in Mizoram. Beautifully intricated design with perfect fit makes it the most preferred dress for the people of Mizoram.
The lively color and the exceptional designs and fittings made this outfit superb. Puanchei is the beautiful costume of girls, mostly worn during festivals like Pawl Kut and Chapchar Kut. Its shades are white and black. The black shade of the attire is created from the synthetic fur.
Traditional Costume of Mizoram for Women :
Another traditional dress worn by Mizo girls is known as Kawrechi.
Kawrchei is a magnificent blouse. It is made of cotton material and hand woven. It is a kind of handmade blouse, made up of cotton fabric and worn by Mizo women while dancing on festivals. It is generally paired up with Puanchei.
The cloths are designed from the cotton and hues are designed by “Ting’.
The traditional outfit of the women of the Lusei tribe is dark blue cotton skirt, worn round the waist and tightly held by a girdle or belt of brass wire.
Lusei girls wear a headgear . This is the dress, worn by all women, stretches itself up to the knees. This skirt is worn with a short white jacket and a cloth, wrapped in the same way as the males.
Zakuolaisen is a beautiful piece of blouse with crimson stripes worn by unmarried females. And after marriage girls wear Puon Pie.