Mizo Puanchei

Mizo Puanchei is a kind of shawl draped around the waist by tucking the opposite ends onto the side. The word “Puan” refers to a shawl-like cloth fabric that is woven by hand. The Mizo Punachei is considered to be an essential customary wear for women from Mizoram during auspicious rituals and ceremonies. Compared to normal Mizo Puan, Mizo Puanchei is thicker with a much higher thread count. The weaving quality of Mizo Puanchei is much finer than other Mizo Puan. Mizo Puanchei is characterised by the presence of two 2.5” wide black woollen bands (Hruih),breadth wise, diving the Puan into three parts. The design of the ground fabric is taken from Puanlaisen, a Puan is which a prominent deep red stripe runs horizontally in the middle along the length of the Puan. The middle piece has two dominating red stripes of 2” wide running in the middle, separated by an inch wide of white stripe with “Halkha” pattern motif work on it. Next to each of the red stripe runs an inch wide deep green stripe separate by thin yellow lines. Next to each green stripe, an inch wide white stripe filled with “Disul” pattern motif is seen. On the extreme ends of the middle piece run 2” wide black stripe.