When one takes the name of Meghalaya, an image springs to mind of the people here. The tribes have beautiful costumes, which, like everywhere across the country, have their roots in tradition, customs, and the climate and natural resources of the area.
Khasi women, for instance, often sport a cotton shawl and wear necklaces made of red coral and golden earrings. Khasi women are also known to wear silver crowns (occasionally) consisting of a silver chain in the back of it.
They wear the gown-like Jainsem with a blouse. It is made of mulberry silk and has a typical border of gold thread embroidery. They often carry a cotton shawl with this.
The Kyrshah is a more informal, but popular, garment. It is basically a gingham-patterned garment worn at one shoulder as a layer over their clothes by the Jaintia tribal women.
They also cover their heads with the Kyrshah during the post-harvest season and are seen in velvet blouses and ankle-length sarongs or wrappers known as a Thoh Khyrwang.
The traditional attire for Khasi and Jaintia men is an unstitched Dhoti with an embroidered jacket, while for Garo menfolk, it is a loincloth. Garo men are the most skilled weavers in the region, with almost all families earning a living by weaving. Nowadays, though, tribal men tend to wear traditional clothing only during festivals or some event.
Both Khasi and Jaintia women love their silver and gold ornaments, an example being the Kynjri Ksiar — a unique gold pendant. Amulets, bracelets, necklaces, headgear and anklets are manufactured locally and extensively worn.
Khasi ladies wear earrings and necklaces made of gold and coral. The Paila is a string of thick red coral beads worn during festivity.
Exquisitely crafted ornaments of gold, silver and gilt beads form a large part of Meghalaya’s rich dancing costumes and include ornate headgear. Typically, gold beads are hollow and filled with lac. Many of these ornaments are embellished with diamond-like crystals.
On occasions, Khasi women put on layered silver crowns with a chain at the back.
For their part, the Garo tribal womenfolk drape an Eking, a short cloth, round the waist, with a blouse and a wrapper called Dakmanda. Garo tribals can be seen with a unique necklace, the Rigitok, which consists of thin tubes of glass strung on a fine thread.
Garo men and women often wear Natapsi, long ornate earrings, from the upper part of the ear. Their necklaces are made of barrel-shaped beads of red glass, with the special ones crafted in brass or silver.
