Mon Pa Weaves in Arunachal Pradesh

The elaborately built Norphel Retreat designed in the Buddhist style, looks onto the Kameng River, with the Dirang Dzong and old monastery in the distance.

The Tibeto-Burmese Mon Pa tribe live in Thembang Village, 14 kms from Dirang.

Tibetan flags, stupas and mantras are inscribed on stone walls and artwork of auspicious symbols on the way, heralding its proximity.

The ancient Thembang Dzong, or fort, is said to have been built in 1110 CE.

Traditional building techniques used in the fort are a part of its immense heritage value.

The Thembang Dzong, or fort, overlooks the Dirang Valley, lush mountains with exotic vegetation.

The old Mon Pa home built in traditional style serves as a popular homestay for travelers looking for a true heritage getaway.

Traditional Mon Pa architecture consists of stone masonry, sun-baked mud brick, lime wash and carved wooden features.

Pema Wange is the senior project officer of the World Wildlife Foundation, but more importantly he is the accepted community leader who puts Thambang Dzong on the map.

He communicates with the world telling everyone about the heritage of the place and its unique tangible and intangible features like their trade dealings with yak herdsmen, livelihoods as porters for trekkers along the dangerous Bailey Trail and running home-stays.

Petang lives in the village of Thembang and associates closely with all the activities of the community. She usually wears a simple sarong and blouse but dresses in traditional clothes on festive occasions.

A bit shy to serve as a model at first, she soon slipped into her role with ease, standing at the doorway of the homestay.

An upright frame that goes with back strap weaving is lodged in Pema Wange’s home. On display is a small woolen floor rug for winter days.

In the Dirang Valley an entrepreneur trains young women to weave fabrics exclusively required for the Mon Pa community.

The warp threads of the yarn are stretched onto the frame and then taken outside to be woven by women using the back strap method.

The Mon Pa community treasure their traditional clothing, hence a small but dedicated production and marketing unit in the main village of Dirang serves their needs.

The sarong is called a shingka and involves a distinct pattern of stripes and decorative strips that serve as a signature of the tribe’s identity.

In most tribal societies, the decorative stripe signifies the particular tribe - and sometimes even the status of the wearer in the tribe.

Hand-spun, hand-dyed deep red yarn is the main colour of the Mon Pa dress.

When worn, the handwoven shingka displays all sections of its varied patterning.

The distinctively patterned highly decorative fabric is woven to be tailored into a jacket called a todung.

The piece on the left is an old one in which the yarn is dyed with natural colours. Industrial dyes are now used to almost the same effect at lesser cost and effort. The motifs of the old piece are also finer.

The cloth to make the Todung with animal motifs on it is called the Semchen Zuk Chola and is more expensive than the pieces with simpler motifs.

Horses, yak, the sun, mountains, riders, are some of the motifs that are part of its signature.

A young entrepreneur of the community in Dirang who is associated with a family dedicated to developing the area for tourists and business opportunities, shows visitors the different varieties of Mon pa fabrics he has for sale.

Read more about Arunachal weaving here:
- Environment
- Weaving Process