Jessami cries for museum to preserve relics
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Nomita Khongbantabam
Jessami, September 03 2012:
In order to preserve the aged-long cultural relics passed down from their forefathers, people of Jessami in border area of Ukhrul district have appealed to the state government for construction of a separate museum for keeping alive their cultural legacies.
Speaking to Hueiyen Lanpao, the villagers pointed out such cultural relics are found scattered in almost every household and some of the villagers are simply throwing them away considering them to be of no use in present day.
In fact, Chakesang community in Jessami village observes the customary practice of handing over all their ornaments, cultural stuffs, family heirlooms, handicraft products, etc from the elder to younger members of the family.
Some of these rare relics included 150 year-old cloths of their forefathers, jewelries, shells, cloths, utensils made of bronze and silver, armlets/ bracelets for both male and female, twoketsu (waist-bags for male) which date back to 1940, etc.
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According to the custom of Chakesang, married women only use Lapee (a type of earring) while unmarried women wear another type of earring called Minah.
At the time of wedding, the bride and the bridegroom put on a special necklace called Enitsii and Epfutsii Tsupha respectively.
Male members of the community who are yet to enter into wedlock also bedeck themselves with Tekhu, which is made from halves of a Conch.
Apart from using specific ornaments and attires for specific occasions, Chakesangs have the custom of handing over the ornaments worn by the eldest son to his immediate younger brother once he got married and so on.
All these rare cultural relics are still in the possession of most families although the original structure and sheen may have been lost as the owners could not maintain them properly.
So, there is an urgent need for setting up of a museum where these valuable cultural relics could be kept and preserved for posterity, the villagers observed.