By Ranita Sinha, Kolkata, India
Khuttei (towel) can rightly be denoted as the trademark of a Bishnupriya Manipuri. It is an inseparable part of a Bishnupriya Manipuri house. It has a distinctive feature of its own. The texture of a Bishnupriya Manipuri house is not complete without a khuttei put in the courtyard to dry in the sun.
Khutteis are mainly used by the male members of the Bishnupriya Manipuri family to wrap around as a dhoti or lungi at home. It is also used by the male and female lot to dry their body and hair. It is very convenient to use as it is very light and does not take time to dry.
Khutteis in earlier days were weaved at every Bishnupriya Manipuri house by the female members for their own use. At present, as khutteis are available in the market; many houses have stopped weaving at home and soon this custom of weaving khutteis is loosing its popularity. But for many it has become the source of income. As our khutteis are convenient to use, it is in demand not only among Bishnupriya Manipuri's but also among other communities. Now a days weaving of khutteis is prevalent only among those who think of earning by selling it and those who cannot afford to buy and the rest prefer to buy from the market.
Bishnupriya Manipuri Khutteis are of different colours such as ranga (red), mahong (pink), napu (orange), basonta (yellow), hawaiya (florescent yellow), tanwalang (parrot green), nil (blue), sanglel (bottle green), khoiyari (coffee), jaroli (violet) etc. the khutei are weaved and given a fixed texture. A khuttai has a border of an inch or two on both sides of the length. The body is again given the structure of small boxes mixing the above colours.
The Khutai of Bishnupriya Manipuries are again of different length and sizes. Sare panch atti (7 feet 7inches length) and sare chari atti ( 6 feet 3 inches length) are used by the males to wear. Teen atti ( 4 feet 3 inches) Khutteis are used by both the male and the female lot to dry their body, face and hair.
Bishnupriya Manipuri khuttai are made by a fixed procedure. The instruments used for weaving a khutei are – tereng, terengor jang, natua, jatar, laltum, yepu, gulli, haal, langchak, jaka, singkak, pacheng, chena, bow, gilla etc.
To start with the procedure to weave a khuttei, firstly the threads (luri) is weaved and it is washed and starched and put in the sun to dry. After the threads are dried it is rolled finely using a tareng, jatar and laltum. After that, depending on the number of khutteis to be weaved, the threads are stretched at an open area and given the basic structure using konnapa, chena, gulli and pacheng. Then the stretched threads are gently rolled and put on the weaving machine (haal) and thus it is ready to get weaved. The weaving is done by using a weaving shuttle(langchak). After this lengthy procedure it takes three to four hours to complete a khuttei.
Khutteis also plays an important role in the Bishnupriya Manipuri religious ceremonies. Khutteis are gifted to the Isalpa (singer), Dakulla and Palla (musicians) to perform in marriage and shrada ceremonies, popularly known as “dahina”. Khuttei is also used to wipe the feet of the groom by the bride's younger brother during a marriage ceremony.
Thus, khuttei plays an important social role in the life of a Bishnupriya Manipuri. In many cases it happens that after seeing a khuttei put to dry in the sun, we come in contact with people of our community in foreign land.
Has it ever happened that you saw a khuttei and you come to the conclusion – yes, this is a Bishnupriya Manipuri house. Do tell and do comment.
Khuttei (towel) can rightly be denoted as the trademark of a Bishnupriya Manipuri. It is an inseparable part of a Bishnupriya Manipuri house. It has a distinctive feature of its own. The texture of a Bishnupriya Manipuri house is not complete without a khuttei put in the courtyard to dry in the sun. Khutteis are mainly used by the male members of the Bishnupriya Manipuri family to wrap around as a dhoti or lungi at home. It is also used by the male and female lot to dry their body and hair. It is very convenient to use as it is very light and does not take time to dry.
Khutteis in earlier days were weaved at every Bishnupriya Manipuri house by the female members for their own use. At present, as khutteis are available in the market; many houses have stopped weaving at home and soon this custom of weaving khutteis is loosing its popularity. But for many it has become the source of income. As our khutteis are convenient to use, it is in demand not only among Bishnupriya Manipuri's but also among other communities. Now a days weaving of khutteis is prevalent only among those who think of earning by selling it and those who cannot afford to buy and the rest prefer to buy from the market.
Bishnupriya Manipuri Khutteis are of different colours such as ranga (red), mahong (pink), napu (orange), basonta (yellow), hawaiya (florescent yellow), tanwalang (parrot green), nil (blue), sanglel (bottle green), khoiyari (coffee), jaroli (violet) etc. the khutei are weaved and given a fixed texture. A khuttai has a border of an inch or two on both sides of the length. The body is again given the structure of small boxes mixing the above colours.
The Khutai of Bishnupriya Manipuries are again of different length and sizes. Sare panch atti (7 feet 7inches length) and sare chari atti ( 6 feet 3 inches length) are used by the males to wear. Teen atti ( 4 feet 3 inches) Khutteis are used by both the male and the female lot to dry their body, face and hair.
Bishnupriya Manipuri khuttai are made by a fixed procedure. The instruments used for weaving a khutei are – tereng, terengor jang, natua, jatar, laltum, yepu, gulli, haal, langchak, jaka, singkak, pacheng, chena, bow, gilla etc.
To start with the procedure to weave a khuttei, firstly the threads (luri) is weaved and it is washed and starched and put in the sun to dry. After the threads are dried it is rolled finely using a tareng, jatar and laltum. After that, depending on the number of khutteis to be weaved, the threads are stretched at an open area and given the basic structure using konnapa, chena, gulli and pacheng. Then the stretched threads are gently rolled and put on the weaving machine (haal) and thus it is ready to get weaved. The weaving is done by using a weaving shuttle(langchak). After this lengthy procedure it takes three to four hours to complete a khuttei.
Khutteis also plays an important role in the Bishnupriya Manipuri religious ceremonies. Khutteis are gifted to the Isalpa (singer), Dakulla and Palla (musicians) to perform in marriage and shrada ceremonies, popularly known as “dahina”. Khuttei is also used to wipe the feet of the groom by the bride's younger brother during a marriage ceremony.
Thus, khuttei plays an important social role in the life of a Bishnupriya Manipuri. In many cases it happens that after seeing a khuttei put to dry in the sun, we come in contact with people of our community in foreign land.
Has it ever happened that you saw a khuttei and you come to the conclusion – yes, this is a Bishnupriya Manipuri house. Do tell and do comment.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think your blog is very interesting and it fills me in on Indian customs and traditions. We need more of that in the blogosphere.
http://thesilverpeoplechronicle.blogspot.com
It was THE BEST OF ALL....Great piece of work...came as a gift of puja to the readers....Fatastic...
ReplyDeleteDespite being a villager i was not aware of all that...
Well done Madam Ranita..
Subho Bijoya....
it was great to read the post khuttei. i never i thought a full page article could be written on a piece of cloth. the marvellous article. though i am an assamese but i nver thoght to write on gamocha.
ReplyDeleteI read ur post on khuttei. It is fabulaous. I never thought like others that khuttei means a lot. It is not mere a pice of cloth but it is more than that. Great piece. Really. The way u have described, it gave a new meaning to the khuttai. Well, topics on intercaste marrige is understandable but someone giving thoguht ot this simple cloth is simply unimaginable. I read all ur articles in the BM blog. Each article seems somtehig has been added to the whole BM community. The one on BM dancer was extensive and self explanatory. U did a good job.
ReplyDeleteMadam, do write on other issues, customs, culture and anything under the sun. this was my first visit to thhis Blog, but I will come daily to read everyday since this is the only way I remain in cntact with BM people, I stay in australia. Best of luck.
My heartiest thanks to Mr. Roberto, Mr. BN, Miss Pranati and Mr Rakesh for ur appreciation but it would be wrong on my part to take the credit all for myself...though the writing is mine but the idea of the topic is Rishi's, the owner of this blog...i want to thank Rishi too..
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed a great piece of work by Ranita. Khuttei or khudei is a living testimony of great manipuri civilization.The origin and history of khudei goes back to 8th century AD which is even before indian 'dhuti' or burmese 'lungi'. This clearly indicates that our ancestors were very smart and civilized people. Many thanks to Ranita for her love and pride towards bishnupriya manipuri culture.
ReplyDelete