Kawrchei

Template:Prod llm/dated

Kawrchei

Mizo women in the kawrchei (with matching puanchei) performing the Cheraw dance
Year	Developed in the late nineteenth century during the British presence in the Lushai Hills
Type	Handwoven women's blouse
Material	Cotton (handwoven traditionally; mill-woven cotton or silk in modern examples)

Search Kawrchei on Amazon.

The Kawrchei (Kawrchei; also known as Kawlraisen) is a traditional handwoven blouse worn by women of the Mizo community of Mizoram, India. It is the customary upper garment of Mizo women's traditional dress, and is most often paired with the wrap-around puanchei on ceremonial occasions, including weddings, the festivals of Chapchar Kut and Pawl Kut, and the Cheraw (bamboo dance).

The Kawrchei is a comparatively recent garment in the history of Mizo dress. Before the late nineteenth century, Mizo women generally wore only the puanchei wrapped around the body, the upper body left otherwise unclothed or covered with an additional length of cloth. With the consolidation of British administration in the Lushai Hills and the arrival of Welsh and other Christian missionaries from the 1890s onwards, Mizo women adopted a sewn upper garment that became known as the Kawrchei. The earliest form was made of two rectangular pieces of cloth, each about a yard long, sewn together so as to leave openings for the head and the arms; the result is closer in cut to a tunic than to a tailored blouse. Originally handwoven on the same loin loom used for the puan, the Kawrchei was widely substituted with mill-woven cloth during the British period and is today often produced industrially, although handwoven examples continue to be made.

In the Cheraw dance the Kawrchei is worn together with the puanchei, a thihna (necklace) and a vakiria (a headdress of bamboo decorated with feathers, beetle wings and other ornaments). Although the most ornate Kawrcheis are reserved for festival and dance use, a simpler version, sometimes described as a sleeveless white blouse, is among the everyday traditional dress options for Mizo women. It is regarded by the community as a marker of Mizo identity and is sometimes inherited as a family heirloom.

See also

• Mizo clothing
• Puanchei
• Puan
• Cheraw (dance)
• Chapchar Kut
• Mizo people

Further reading

• Puan: The Pride of Mizoram. Aizawl: Mizoram Publication Board. Search this book on (a survey of Mizo woven dress including the Kawrchei).
• Mizoram, Directorate of Art & Culture (n.d.). Mizo Puanchei, G.I. No. 583. Aizawl: Art and Culture Department, Government of Mizoram. (Mizo and English).

This article "Kawrchei" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Kawrchei. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---