In this post we visit Kutch desert together! It's spanned between India, Pakistan and the Arabian sea with unique ethnicities call this unique desert home.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabari
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Looking to weave a little local heritage into your Gujarat itinerary? Visit these handicraft villages in Kutch
Rabari herder with cattle in a rural village in the district of Kutch, Gujarat, India. The Kutch region is well known for its tribal life and traditional culture. Website: Dietmar Temps, photography Blog: Dietmar Temps, travel blog
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Mujeres rabari con sus tradicionales vestimentas, llevando en sus cabezas cántaros con agua cogida en el pozo que se encuentra a varios Kilómetros de su hogar. Rabari women whith traditional costumes carrying on her head brass pots whith water caught in a well, several kilometers from their home.
In this post we visit Kutch desert together! It's spanned between India, Pakistan and the Arabian sea with unique ethnicities call this unique desert home.
In Chobari village live Waga Dia and Machhukanah Rabari people. The region of Gujarat has played host to many a tribal culture and nourished them from the very earliest periods of history. One such tribe here, the Rabaris, still pursue a pastoral lifestyle—much in the same way as they did ages ago. The Rabaris are a semi-nomadic tribe—pursuing a pre-agrarian, pastoral lifestyle—found mainly in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions of Gujarat. Though living today in permanent settlements, they are believed to have originally migrated from Baluchistan more than a millennium ago. But over these thousand and more years, the Rabaris have undergone many changes and have been widely influenced by the local cultures with which they came in contact. Not only are they divided into distinct clans, they also prefer to trace their origin to Hindu Gods and even the Rajputs. Without delving into the garbled clues provided by folk lore about their origin, a closer look at the Rabari today leads one into his quaint, colourful and rugged lifestyle. By no means are the Rabaris an isolated people. The men are on the move—almost 10 out of the 12 months—in search of grazing pastures for their livestock; while the women and children remain in their villages. These villages are normally small, devoid of more than superficial amenities and, almost always, set in bleak, barren suroundings. In a typical village, their rectangular houses, called vandhas, are built in rows. The white-washed mud walls and tiled roofs may have an appearance of starkness when viewed from outside. But within each house, the Rabari’s fondness for patterns is easily visible from the many geometric patterns that adorn its interiors. The tiny mirrors embedded into these mud-plaster patterns only enhance their beauty as they catch the faint glimmer of light streaming in from a small window or a low doorway. A home usually consists of two rooms, and an extended enclosure in the verandah which forms the kitchen. The room at the back is normally used as a storehouse—a virtual treasure house of embroidered clothes and quilts kept in carved wooden pataras (chests); and the kothis and kothlas (granaries) made of mud and cowdung. The other room is mainly a living room decorated with embroidered torans or decorated doorways, while the doors are covered with brass foil etched in a myriad patterns. Often, the only piece of furniture that one might find is a carved, wooden cradle. The community’s main stay is milk and milk produce from their livestock in order to purchase commodities that they trade in various forms at the local village or town markets. Much of the handiwork seen in their decorated homes is that of their women. In fact, Rabari women are famous for their embroidery work, called bharat kaam, from which they make numerous traditional garments and furnishings. The kediyun, a gathered jacket with an embroidered smock, worn by young Rabari men and children, skirts and blouses for the women and girls—are al dexterously embroidered. Interestingly, the Rabari girl, completes over the years, her entire dowry which includes clothes as well as beautiful quilts or derkee. Kokulashtami, after the rains, is marriage time. The men are back from their wanderings for this al important occasion. All marriages take place on this one day. Since child marriage is still very much in vogue within this tribe, outsiders are distrusted. Again, the Rabari marries only within the tribe and often into families which are closely located. Marrying outside the fold leads to social castigation and is very rare. While Rabari couples are probably the most exotically dressed, the marriage is a simple ritual performed by a Brahmin priest. Rabaris, by and large, and ardent followers and worshippers of the Mother Goddess. Each clan has its own tribal goddess as the patron deity, though their homes often have pictures of other gods and goddesses as well. Strong tendencies of deifying and invoking the dead are still prevalent—a pointer to the community’s old world origin. Another old world custom that has persisted is the custom of tattooing and there is a marked similarity In the motifs used in their embroideries and tattoos. As an outsider it is difficult to communicate with these people since they speak a dialect which is a mixture of Marwari and Gujarati. But once they understand the visitor’s innocent curiosity, they exude the warmth and friendship that has always been a part of their make-up.
In Chobari village live Waga Dia and Machhukanah Rabari people. The region of Gujarat has played host to many a tribal culture and nourished them from the very earliest periods of history. One such tribe here, the Rabaris, still pursue a pastoral lifestyle—much in the same way as they did ages ago. The Rabaris are a semi-nomadic tribe—pursuing a pre-agrarian, pastoral lifestyle—found mainly in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions of Gujarat. Though living today in permanent settlements, they are believed to have originally migrated from Baluchistan more than a millennium ago. But over these thousand and more years, the Rabaris have undergone many changes and have been widely influenced by the local cultures with which they came in contact. Not only are they divided into distinct clans, they also prefer to trace their origin to Hindu Gods and even the Rajputs. Without delving into the garbled clues provided by folk lore about their origin, a closer look at the Rabari today leads one into his quaint, colourful and rugged lifestyle. By no means are the Rabaris an isolated people. The men are on the move—almost 10 out of the 12 months—in search of grazing pastures for their livestock; while the women and children remain in their villages. These villages are normally small, devoid of more than superficial amenities and, almost always, set in bleak, barren suroundings. In a typical village, their rectangular houses, called vandhas, are built in rows. The white-washed mud walls and tiled roofs may have an appearance of starkness when viewed from outside. But within each house, the Rabari’s fondness for patterns is easily visible from the many geometric patterns that adorn its interiors. The tiny mirrors embedded into these mud-plaster patterns only enhance their beauty as they catch the faint glimmer of light streaming in from a small window or a low doorway. A home usually consists of two rooms, and an extended enclosure in the verandah which forms the kitchen. The room at the back is normally used as a storehouse—a virtual treasure house of embroidered clothes and quilts kept in carved wooden pataras (chests); and the kothis and kothlas (granaries) made of mud and cowdung. The other room is mainly a living room decorated with embroidered torans or decorated doorways, while the doors are covered with brass foil etched in a myriad patterns. Often, the only piece of furniture that one might find is a carved, wooden cradle. The community’s main stay is milk and milk produce from their livestock in order to purchase commodities that they trade in various forms at the local village or town markets. Much of the handiwork seen in their decorated homes is that of their women. In fact, Rabari women are famous for their embroidery work, called bharat kaam, from which they make numerous traditional garments and furnishings. The kediyun, a gathered jacket with an embroidered smock, worn by young Rabari men and children, skirts and blouses for the women and girls—are al dexterously embroidered. Interestingly, the Rabari girl, completes over the years, her entire dowry which includes clothes as well as beautiful quilts or derkee. Kokulashtami, after the rains, is marriage time. The men are back from their wanderings for this al important occasion. All marriages take place on this one day. Since child marriage is still very much in vogue within this tribe, outsiders are distrusted. Again, the Rabari marries only within the tribe and often into families which are closely located. Marrying outside the fold leads to social castigation and is very rare. While Rabari couples are probably the most exotically dressed, the marriage is a simple ritual performed by a Brahmin priest. Rabaris, by and large, and ardent followers and worshippers of the Mother Goddess. Each clan has its own tribal goddess as the patron deity, though their homes often have pictures of other gods and goddesses as well. Strong tendencies of deifying and invoking the dead are still prevalent—a pointer to the community’s old world origin. Another old world custom that has persisted is the custom of tattooing and there is a marked similarity In the motifs used in their embroideries and tattoos. As an outsider it is difficult to communicate with these people since they speak a dialect which is a mixture of Marwari and Gujarati. But once they understand the visitor’s innocent curiosity, they exude the warmth and friendship that has always been a part of their make-up.
The barren land of Kutch in Gujarat is one of the highly visited regions in Gujarat. The long stretched white sand desert may look barren, but has its own charm and magic, attracting tourists from different parts of the world.
In this post we visit Kutch desert together! It's spanned between India, Pakistan and the Arabian sea with unique ethnicities call this unique desert home.
Rabari embroidery gets its name from its community from Bhujodi, who were a nomadic/ semi nomadic community of cattle raiser living in the western region of India, from Rajasthan to the Kutch region in Gujarat. Earlier, the term Rabari was loosely applied to migratory camel herders having similar customs and beliefs due to their profession and different sub communities of Rabari’s. Each community and culturally linked group in Gujarat is distinctively identified by the kind of embroidered costuming, body tattoos and living settlements.
In this post we visit Kutch desert together! It's spanned between India, Pakistan and the Arabian sea with unique ethnicities call this unique desert home.
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Rann of Kutch is famous largest salt deserts in the world.
One of the largest salt deserts in the world, surreal White Rann, art, culture and handicrafts overloaded, a vibrant festival in Rann Utsav and an amazing local population, I would not even battle an eyelid before thinking of a holiday in the Greater Rann of Kutch. It has something to keep all kinds of travelers interested. Here is my list of best experiences to be had here.
Rabaris do have very rich cultural past and present. They are known for their "Rabari Bharat (Embroidery)" ,especially in Kutch. Embroidery is a vital, living and evolving expression of the crafted textile tradition of the Rabaris. Rabari women diligently do embroidery on textiles as an expression of creativity, aesthetics and identity as far as the tribe’s collective memory goes. Afternoons are time for embroidery in all Rabari villages when women routinely embroider trousseaus, everyday apparel, dowry bags, bride's ghagro (skirt), kanchali (blouse) and ludi (veil), the groom's kediyan or shirt, children's cradle cloths as well as dowry bags and auspicious torans. Rabari embroidery is very vigorous, with bold shapes. Designs are taken from mythology and from their desert surroundings. They use glass mirrors in various shapes: round, lozenge, rectangular, square, triangular, and beak shaped. The stitches are square chain interlaced with buttonhole for mirror work, single chain, knot, Romanian, blanket interlaced with herringbone, running, and double running. Another interesting aspect of Rabari women is their earrings which is the most abstract form of snake earrings. Women in Puskar, Rajasthan describe a mushroom as snake umbrella, because it comes out after the rains and snakes have the habit of hiding under its hood. The nagali earring is supposed to stand for the double shape of the mushroom. Rabari tribes, now living in Kutch passed the Puskar region on their migration from the north of Rajasthan and may have seen the local earrings there, or rather transferred their main designs to the village people. The nagali earrings of the Kutchi Rabari with their spiral, spring like shape can be considered as the form most closely related to snake. Their attire(clothes),which is different on regional basis,also shows their culture. We can see that in Navratri festival days,urban people try to imitate their attire. The Rabari women are easily distinguished by their long, black headscarves, which fall loosely to the ground. They wear distinctive heavy brass earrings which hang low, stretching the earlobes. They tattoo magical symbols onto their necks, breasts and arms. Their jewelry is modest in comparison to other tribal women. They wear small gold nose ring and silver and gold chains around the neck on which protective amulets are hung. Few simple glass bracelets adorn their arms. In contrast to woman, a Rabari man commonly appears in white dress, golden earrings and a big stick in the hand. They wear dhoti and on the top a short double breasted waist coat (all white) laced over the chest and tied, long sleeves which are gathered up and folded at the arms. The head is covered with 'Paghadi'(Turban). They also do have mass collection of rare folk songs and stories. Rabari women even sing on their loved one's death occasion,which is their tradition. One of the most common thing in their culture is highlighted in their food habit, it is that from wherever they may belong, they consume lots of milk and milk products.
