| caption: |
girls dance at Chingphoi ; description of costume and ornaments |
| text: |
In the afternoon the girls danced on the platform in front of the Ang's house. This platform had been set up explicitly for the Oulingbu. (130) The costume of the girls is similar to the one of Longkhai but their apron is a few inches wider. (However Pongyong insists that it used to be very narrow and a change in fashion was only brought about by the teasing of the people from Wanching). Above the cloth they also have put on a wide belt of glass beads. When they start dancing however most of them have wrapped Ao cloth around their hips which looks very ugly and is also proclaimed to be inaccurate by the men. Finally they agree to take off these cloths which is done with a lot of laughter. Metlou too agrees that the girls of Chingphoi are very pretty and their costume consisting almost entirely of jewellery looks splendid on their brown bodies. I work out that some of the girls are wearing ornaments on their bodies which are worth about 100rs. and I do not even know whether I have not under-estimated the value of the necklaces from Assam. The dance is identical with the one in Longkhai, Wakching and Chingtang |
