Handmade in India

MIZO PUAN WEAVING
Production Clusters
Serchhip district:
Thenzawl
Aizawl district:
Aizawl
Products
Puans - wrap skirts
Tools
Frame loom, Loin
loom
Zo loom - multi
tradle loom
Warping drum
Yarn winders
Coated thread healds
Reeds
Shuttles
Pirns
Women are the sole weavers in Mizoram. Their craft shows
them as being a self reliant, sensitive and skilled. Since skills
of weaving reflected a woman`s capability for hard work and
enhanced her marriage prospects; weaving 15 to 30 puans for
her dowry was fundamental for a girl as some had to be gifted,
while others were essential to her trousseau. Puan, a draped
and uncut rectangular cotton cloth with well crafted edges and
prominent horizontal borders, was the main costume of Mizos
that men draped around the entire body till they adopted
wearing a shirt and trouser. The woman`s puan worn over a
blouse has undergone a chnage and is now worn as a wrap
skirt measuring 51 inches X 43 inches. Earlier woven on a loin
loom in two parts and later stitched together, today these are
woven on frame handlooms as single width fabrics.
Traditional puans and their variations are produced on frame
looms and zo (looms of Burmese origin) multi-treadle looms.
The weavers use the extra weft technique to produce patterns in
relief. Brightly coloured, handspun cotton puans have bold
stripes due to a warp faced plain weave structure. They are worn
during special occasions, marriages, and festivities and as daily
wear. Puans such as puanchei, puandum, ngothekher and
kwappuizikzial use colours and pattersn related to specific
contexts. Acrylic yarn has replaced cotton yarn due to the bright
hues available and its tensile strength. Thenzawl, a village
located south of Aizawl, with over 200 professional weavers is
well known for producing traditional puans of high quality and
craftsmanship. It has about 67 entrepreneurs who are also
weavers who emply other weavers.
3 Women wear puanchei and a stitched blouse kawrchei and the men wear striped puans for the Cheraw dance. Long pairs of
horizontal bamboo staves are tapped open and close according to rhythmic beats by men sitting on the ground , while girls dance
between the beats of the bamboos.
4 Puans worn for Chawnglaizawn, a dance done to honour brave hunters returning from the forests with their trophies. Shown here
is the ngothekher puan in black and white and the puanchei alongside.
5 Detail of a puanchei, chei being the Mizo word for decoration. Horizontal stripes with multi coloured wefts and motifs are woven
in extra weft technique. A black stripe is woven in a weft faced plain weave.
6 Mizo woman wearing a ngothekher, a white puan with black stripe and a wide border. Black dye is made easily from soot and
charcoal, and was used in most puans.
7 An artisan weaving on a newly constructed fram handloom in Thenzawl