What is Risa?

• It is a cloth which is a part of Tripura’s customary attire.
• Total 3 type of clothes form the part of traditional attire:

1. 1. Risa: handwoven cloth, is used as a head gear, stole, female upper cloth or presented to honour a distinguished recipient.

• Rignai:  used to cover the lower part of the body.

• Rituku: covers the upper half of the body, wrapping it all around. 

• Risa plays a vital role in the social utilities. A girl starts to wear Risa around 12-14 years of age after a ceremony called Risa Sormani. 

• It is used in religious festivals like the Garia Puja, a customary festival of the tribal communities.
• It is also used to make head gears for males in ceremonies such as weddings and festivals.
• Risa is woven in different colourful designs. In the ancient days, they used to judge a woman’s intelligence in these communities by her woven Rignai and Risa designs.
• Maharaj Trilochana, aka Subhrai Raja, one of the early Manikya kings is seen as a pioneer of the Risa designs as he invented more than 250 designs of Risa.
• With modern times, most of the Risa heritage is lost due to mechanical weaving and fewer designs are available.

Why in the news?

• The Tripura government is set to promote Risa as the signature textile of Tripura nationally.
• The government is trying to add Risa into its policy for self-employment so that traditional weavers and handlooms get support.

Reference:

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tripura-culture-risa-trend-explained-7155359/