Cultural Traditions
The
tradition of colorful ornamentation on Aanchal cloths is a unique Kumouni
tradition, rooted deep in its long history. In all ritual ceremonies women wear pichora,
also known as Rangwali. It is a piece of muslin cloth, 3 mts. in length &
One and half mts. in width, which is dyed yellow, it is then printed with design with a
padded wooden stick using red colours. At the centre is the sign of Swastik, and
the motifs of sun, moon, bell and conch shell .
The style of
painting is locally known as Aipan. During ceremonies and festivals the women set
themselves to decorating the floor & walls of their houses with designs & patterns
. The material used is the paste of rice mixed with ochre. The floor of the worship room
& the seat of Gods & 
Goddesses,
are decorated with specific tantrik motifs called Peeth or Yantra. A Yantra
is a diagrammatic representation of the deity, and consists of linear or septal
geometrical permutations of patterns considered as the plan of the terrestrial places
where the deity resides. For Namkaran Sanskar, the Aipan on the wooden chauki
comprises motifs of sun, moon, bell etc. In the Janeu, the Aipan shows the
zodiacal sign of Great bear arranged in hexagons, to invoke the blessings of Sapta-Rishis.
In marriage ceremony, the Dhuliargh Chauki bears a design of big water-jar,
symbolising primordial water from which the universe emerged.
