SERICULTURE AND WEAVING INDUSTRY OF THE BODOS: A BRIEF DISCUSSION

The hand-woven textile has occupied an important place in the culture and civilization of India since very ancient times. Bodo people living in the side of North-East India (Brahmaputra plain of Assam) were influenced in their textile production by the elements of physical environment as well as by their folk song, rituals, myths, legends, ceremonies festivals, social organizations and cultural norms. The indigenous inhabitants of most of this largely hill region are Bodo. There is an immensely rich assembly of tribal culture in this region. The beautiful hand woven product of the Bodos of this region not only reflects the skills of individual weavers but the creative capacity and deep perception of beauty in variety color and design of the Bodo people as a whole. The very socio-cultural life of the Bodo communities is revealed significantly in their clothes. Silk culture is a traditional cottage industry rooted in the life and culture of Bodos. Sericulture of Bodos comprises mulberry (pat) and non-mulberry silkworm culture. The later includes endi, muga and oak-tasar, Endi and muga skills are considered to be of indigenous origin and found only in foot hills of Himalaya. Largely, the Kachari Bodo tribes practice this culture during their leisure time, but ithelps to improve their economic condition a lot especially of women.