Hmaram is a beautiful traditional small skirt, only worn by women and girls of Mizoram State. The cloth is wrapped around the waist by tucking in at the waist to fasten it, covering the lower part of the body upto the knee. Hmaram is produced in the state capital Aizawl and especially in Thenzawl town of Serchhip district.
It is commonly worn during festive dances and official ceremonies. The oldest patterned textile of the Mizo (Lusei) tribe, Hmaram is a single loom width fabric made from handspun indigo-dyed and natural white cotton. Hmaram is normally 42" to 43" in length and 17" to 18" in breadth though the size can vary a little more or less.
Image credit : asiainch.org
A single loom width fabric, traditional Hmaram had intricate and complex bands of patterning. In Hmaram, the indigo weft almost entirely conceals the white warp. There are weft-wise stripes of patterning which vary in size; some are broad while others are very narrow. The narrow stripes of patterning have simpler motifs as compared to the broader stripes of patterning.
This patterning follows a continuous double-faced supplementary weft technique. The stripes are woven with a white weft on which an extra weft of indigo-dyed yarn is used to do the patterning. The white edges of the textile are then finished with a rolled hem, which is hand stitched.
Typically, Hmaramcan have three beautiful pattern motifs namely Disul, Lenbuangthuam and Kawkpuizikzial. These pattern motifs are incorporated as a white stripe of 3" that appears as five prominent bands. Alternating each of the prominent bands is a fine smaller stripe of 5mm. In total, there are six smaller stripes. There are only two colours visible in Hmaram i.e. black and white
A very complex and intricate motif, Kawkpuizikzial is believed to be the oldest motif, inspired by the curled new shoot of an edible fern Kawkpui (Cyathea chinensis). Kawkpui is the name of an edible fern, zik means new shoot and zial means rolled up or twirled. More than 30 heddles are required to weave the repeat pattern of Kawkpuizikzial.
Lenbuangthuam motifs, again also believed to be one of the oldest motifs of the Lusei tribe. Lenbuang is the name of a tree with acacia-like leaves and thuam means a junction with two or more paths. This motif is characterized by triangular designs which are separated by intervening giving the overall appearance like that of the paths with many branches.
Another motif seen in Hmaram is Disul. The word Di refers to a species of grass (Imperata cylindrical) and sul is a term used for grass brushed against by passerby which bends to the direction in which they have been brushed against.
Hmaram is mostly worn during festivals like Pawl Kut and Chapchar Kut. It is also worn by girls during various traditional dances such as Khuallam, Sarlamkai, Chawnglaizawn etc. In the earlier days, the material used for the ground fabric (Puan Bu) of Hmaram is the locally produced cotton yarn. Nowadays, acrylic yarn that are easily available in the market is most commonly used due to rise in demand of Hmaram. Silk is also recently introduced in the production of Hmaram.
For making the design/motif (zeh), wool, silk, cotton or acrylic materials can be used. In the loin loom, the technique involves embroidered work but the speciality rests in the fact that all this embroidered work is done simultaneously with the weaving. In this respect the process differs from the designs produced on mill-made cloth or fly shuttle cloth.
GI Tag Registration Date : 06 August 2019
GI Tag Number : 588
Certificate Number : 349
Geographical Area : Mizoram
Special Cover Release Date : 24 November 2021
Cancellation : Aizawl 796 001
Type : GI Tag Cover
Cover Identification Number : NE/12/2021-2022
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Enlarged View of Cancellation
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