-:Gamosa:- Gamosa (Gamocha/ Gamusa) is a unique identity of - TopicsExpress



          

-:Gamosa:- Gamosa (Gamocha/ Gamusa) is a unique identity of Assamese Society. This small piece of cloth has high esteem and wide usage in Assamese culture. Gamosa is one unique cloth article in its usage and looks, nowhere in the rest of India something like Gamosa is found. Gamosa is also known as Bihuwaan, as it is an essential part of Bihu festival of Assam. Gamosa - Beautifully Woven Motifs Ga means body and mosa means wipe in Assamese. So Gamosa is equivalent to towel by meaning, but it means a lote more than that in the Assamese society. Origin: The origin of Gamosa is still vague to the historians. Its not known whether it was originated in Assam or came from far east like Thailand, where small clothes like Gamosa are in use. Its for sure that Gamosa didnt come from other parts of India as there is no such article used anywhere else in India. So, it can be assumed that Gamosa is a great innovation of Assamese weaver. There are few references of Gamosa in history of Assam. Historian Dr. Leela Gogoi mentioned the usage of Gamosa during Ahom days. There is also a reference of Gamosa from the days of Srimanta Sankardeva. Sankardevas disciple Srimanta Madhavdeva got the news of sad demise of Sankardeva when his son Ramananda Thankur came running wearing a Gamosa in his head. Edward Gaites A History Assam also mentions about Gamosa. According to this book in 1739 a Gamosa cost 6 paise. Design: Gamosa is of rectangular shape, around 2 feet in width and 4 feet in height, closer to the shape of a towel. Its white in colour with red borders. One or two borders on the width, are woven with very artistic embroidery. The raw materialused for weaving Gamosa is cotton. But some gamosa used in special occassions are made of Silk too. Though its pretty simple, weavers show their artistic talents in the motifs of a gamosa. Usage: The usage of Gamosa is wide spread. From very ordinary household jobs to high esteem jobs, Gamosa performs all of them very well. In ordinary tasks its used as a bath towel, a head wrapper, easy to use dhoti and so on. The list of special usages of gamosa is longer. Gamosa is the symbol of showing respect to elder ones in Assam. Its gifted to the elder one in any special occassions as a token of respect. Gamosa is part and parcel of the most celebrated festival Bihu of Assam. It is also known as Bihuwaan. Bihuwaan is gifted to the family members in Bihu. Bihu dancers also wear gamosa on the waist or on the head(male dancers). Gamosa is used in any religious activities in Assam. The Monikut of Namghar is usually covered with Gamosa. Gamosa, Xorai, Tamul(Betel Nut ), Paan(Betel) are essential articles of assamese religious occassions. Assamese society cant be imagined without Gamosa. The most ineterestingly its not losing its popularity and importance with time unlike other traditional elements of Assamese society. It has found its way from Hand weaving to the machines and also increasing business prospects. It has also found a place in the modern fashion world.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 01:44:54 +0000

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