Shawls of Nagaland

Fast Facts:

Region: Nagaland, India

Prime Colors: Yellow, Red, White and Green

Nagaland is one of the hilly states of India that is located on the Northern eastern side; it is exactly located on the border of Myanmar. The major aspect is a national identity of this state is its tribes. This state contains almost sixteen prime tribes that are derived from mongoloid group. This ethnic group includes rich and beautiful tradition of weaving. Nagaland is very famous for their intricate shawls which are hand woven. The artists of Nagaland use a very unique way to weave the beautiful shawl. Usually they use loom, which are made of wood and bamboo, the loom always has 2 similar bamboo ends. They attach one end of the loom to the wall and the other one to any leather strap. Because the loom is adaptable and light, artist can connect it to any plant or tree and he can start weaving on the outdoor portion. They tie the wrap ending points of threads to 2 bamboo trails, the time women start weaving, they go towards the leather strap to so that the wrap threads remain nicely polished, they use bamboo sticks so that it is stretched, they also use it to create a shed on the wrap thread. 

Because the loom's back strap is tiny, the weaving which is created by the artists is thin. To gain the expected breadth of the shawl, the artists weave 3 or 2 length. The most attractive element of the Shawl is located on the center point of the shawl, it is connected to the shawl through beautiful stitches. If you observe the Nagaland shawl, you will find that artists majorly design the shawl by using the single strip and vertical strip designs with edge similar stripes, different patterns bands. Shawl's stripes might be edged along with contrasting multicolored threads to make it noticeable. Some times they also use tiny geometric motifs that are made by extraordinary threads that artists can’t wove again. In a few shawls, artists use weft threads in different sections to give a decorative look to the shawl because of which the Shawl also get ribbed texture. 

The overall look of the Nagaland shawl is very impressive due to its striking textile and colors like blue, white, green, red and many more. During the ancient time, the colors which were used by the artists to color the Shawl were obtained through vegetable sources like roots, yarn, flowers, berries and leaves. Artists used to color the threads at their home but in today's developed world they use already colored yarns, which are colored in the synthetic dyes. A very sober black color shawl, colored by multicolored stripes is made as a sack for weaver to carry their baby while climbing the hills. The shawls of Nagaland comprise of a number of Naga Shawls, which includes various patterns. The motif of Shawl indicates the wearer's identity, from which tribe that person belongs and it also displays the social status of that person. The people of Nagaland state are martial people; every tribe of Nagaland has their own traditional exclusive shawl, which was the only dress by the courageous warriors. Within few tribes, the wife of the warrior's dress in exclusive shawl like Tiger shawl made of nice blue lines over black and blue ground. You will also get to see one more type of shawl which is only used by the male member whose family had pragmatic a specific feast for 3 generations. Shawls of Nagaland are not just attractive and beautiful but they are too functional, their shawls are used by the people to satisfy their cultural and physical needs from many generations. Apart from the changes which have happened in their life, who are still practicing their traditional art of weaving with lots of enthusiasm and pride. 

Meta Description:

Shawls of Nagaland is one of the prime and attractive aspects of Nagaland state, it is a historical and traditional art form, practiced by expert artists.