Cane and Bamboo Crafts of Manipur
- Part 4-

By: Mutua Bahadur *

CONICAL BASKETS

Meiteis inhabiting the valley previously used conical baskets extensively for various purposes. Today, its use by the Meiteis has diminished greatly - in fact, to a limited use by menfolk in villages by the foothills. Tribal people in the hills of Manipur, however, are still using conical baskets in great numbers. The Meitei womenfolk of Kwatha village in Chandel District also use conical baskets.

Conical baskets are primarily used for carrying things, like cut firewood gathered from the jungle, drinking water contained in bamboo tubes, field implements during both the sowing and the harvesting seasons, grain, vegetables and other essentials to and from the market, and so on. The conical baskets used for carrying firewood, field-implements and bamboo tubes containing water, are usually of the open weave type, i.e., in the pattern of open diagonals filled in to the texture of the open hexagonal weave.

An interesting custom of the tribals of Manipur is the practice of presenting a close weave conical basket as part of the dowry when a daughter in the family gets married. It is a firm belief among the tribal folks that if a daughter is born, then the family must make a present of such baskets as dowry at the time of the girl's marriage. Right at the birth of the girl-child, the elders of the family prepare such a basket and store it upon the Lup, where it is exposed to steam and smoke for conditioning.

This practice is still in vogue. If the elders in the family cannot make one, then a purchase is made from the village craftsman who makes such baskets on demand. It becomes a natural duty for the elders of the family to weave or to purchase such number of baskets as corresponding to the number of unmarried girls in the family, and to keep them in store for use later on.

The practice of keeping a conical basket stored by for use at the time of a girl's marriage is considered an integral part of the tribal custom. And, in a way, it is more or less an evidence of the living tradition. In addition to this, the elders of a family make small conical baskets for use by kids in the family.

Conical baskets are usually carried about by placing the straps called Namlee, that are attached to the baskets, upon the head, with the basket resting on the back, and the normal posture of the person carrying such baskets is inclined at an angle of 45°. To ease the task of carrying heavily-laden baskets, menflok use a shoulder-length wooden appliance called Lengkot (Fig. 18 a) fixed to the namlee.

The lengkot is placed horizontally on to the nape of the neck, but is mainly borne by the shoulders. The womenfolk of the Moyon, the Monsang and the Lamgang tribes use cane lengkots in place of the wooden lengkots. Resembling the wooden lengkots, the cane lengkots feature a slightly curved shoulder-length stiff cane of big size (i.e. the cane rods are of big size), fixed to the namlee (Fig. 1e).

The namlee on the conical baskets are of two types; those which are fixed permanently on to the baskets, and those which can be removed and replaced by new ones. Some of the tribes like the Kom, the Vaiphei and the Haokip keep the conical baskets and the namlee stored away seperately when not in use.

The namlee is fixed on to the basket only when there is a need for its use. To lessen the pressure on the back while carrying the baskets, the womenfolk of the Maram tribe use mats (size 54cm x 26cm) attached to the namlee and placed in between the basket and the back. These mats are made of dried plants called Slialem (Cyperus) found abundantly on the banks of the Barak River.

The Mao, the Maram and the Paomai tribes attach a great importance to the namlee and decorate it with exquisite designs and patterns. Corresponding to the differences in the structure of the conical baskets from one particular tribe to another, the base of the conical baskets of each tribe differs accordingly.

The difference ranges from the use of bamboo or dried vine, either of the Uri or the Chingthrao (Bauhinia Vahlii), for the base to the use of the bark of the Heirit plant (Ficus Cunia, Ham) for the same.

The womenfolk of the Maram tribe employ a device by means of which the items kept inside the baskets are prevented from spilling out when the baskets are accidentally dropped on the ground or if they happen to overturn. The device employed is a thorn-like projection called Shou. The shou are left projecting like thorns or hooks, on the inner surface of the baskets at the time of weaving these baskets.

See a gallery photo of Cane and Bamboo Crafts of Manipur here.

To be continued ....

Mutua Bahadur

* Mutua Bahadur contributes to e-pao.net regularly. This article was webcasted on August 24, 2011.