Tribal Handlooms

The Dhangedi or a maiden wears special dress to attract people around while the priestess (Gurumai) wears formal attire consisting of robes. Basically the people belonging to the different status wear different clothes. Even different tribal communities wear different kinds of clothes reflecting their typical characteristics. Tribes like Bondo and Gadaba weave their own clothes. Other communities, like the Dongria Kandha, the Kutia Kandha and the Desia Kandha, Lanjia Saora and the Santhals in the Kandha community purchase clothes from the ones who weave and sell clothes. However, each tribe typifies an individual kind of clothing to mark them as their lot.

Among Tribal Handlooms, special mention needs to be made regarding the ringa of the Bondos and the embroidered shawl of the Dangarias. The latter has a connection with the marital relationship and according to their superstition their course of their conjugal life depends on it. The dance costume of the Lanjia Saoras is a specimen of fine artwork and art sense.

Originally the tribes created threads by boiling and soaking the barks of trees and their fibers. They colored threads with turmeric and used wooden looms to weave their clothes. However, in modern times, the tribes are being influenced by the readymade clothes and in the process the original form of weaving and creating their own clothes have taken a beating.