Traditional costumes of Tharu and Buxa tribe of Uttarakhand Region

Pages: 878-880
Pooja Bhatt and Anita Rani (Department of Clothing and Textiles, Collage of Home Science, G.B.P.U.A &T., Pantnagar, Uttarakhand)

The present study was conducted to record the details of traditional costumes of tribes residing in Tarai and Bhabar of Uttarakhand. Tharu tribe was surveyed under the study. Exploratory research design was used for the present study and data was collected using the primary and secondary resources. Each style of tribal costumes acts as a meaning and history. It is one of indicators which signify the life as a means of nonverbal communication of dynamic and visible culture of tribals. Costume comprises of garments, ornaments, accessories, body decoration, hairstyle, makeup and footwear. The traditional costumes of the tribes reflected their culture as well as specific requirement of a region. It was interesting to observe this form of human self-expression. Tharu and Buxa both have a same socio-cultural lineage, which was reflected in their costumes too. Buxa tribe is a sub part of Tharu tribe but as a lowest clan. There are several endogamous sub-groups of Tharu. Tharu of Uttarakhand are the Rana Tharu, who claim themselves as Rajput by origin and according to them they are the ancestors of Maharana Pratap. There were different traditional upper garments, lower garments and headgears for both the males and females in Tharu and Buxa community. The warps were prevalent only among females. Traditional foot wears also existed, which were similar for both male and female. Tharu females wore kurti, angiya and futai as upper garments ghagra was worn as lower garment by and argana was placed over the head. Male costumes were comprised of kurta, pajama and topi. Traditional costumes of Buxa females consisted of angiya, an upper garment; a skirt called guniya as lower garment. Uniya was the headgear used by the females of Buxa tribe. The traditional male attire of Buxa tribe consisted of dhoti, a loose kurta and a white topi.