Age-old tribal art of weaving in Tripura dying

The age-old art of weaving threads from cotton and knitting clothes practised by the indigenous tribes of Tripura is dying slowly unable to face the challenge of modern textiles and their myriad designs.

Today's youths, who comprise the bulk of buyers of clothes in any society, are much more attracted to modern garments than their hand-knitted counterparts, experts in tribal designs say. “The youths are very much influenced by styles that come from western countries, which pose a big challenge to attempts at preserving the traditional designs," said Deepali Debbarma, an expert in indigenous designs and knitting clothes.

Keeping this in mind, some textile designers of the state are now trying their traditional designs on new fabrics to attract buyers, specially the youths, she said. The art of exquisite weaving in Tripura goes back in time. An ancient king Subrai Raja, or Trilochan Maharaj, is said to have first actively promoted the art of weaving designs on cotton clothes. Subrai Raja was so fond of good designs that, going by popular folk tales, once he announced that he would marry the women who could create excellent textile designs. This is a fairy-tale, but it is true that the indigenous people of the state knew the process of making threads from cotton and knitting clothes since time immemorial, Debbarma said.