Dokhti ni Daophang
A 'handloom' is a loom that is used to weave cloth without the use of any electricity. The whole process of weaving a fabric in 'handloom' is completely hand based. 'Daophang' is the traditional loom of Dimasa community. The ''Daophang' is mainly made of bamboo or a wood, Dimasa people consider ' washim grah' and the 'Bethua grah' ( M. baccifera ) the two types of bamboo or any strong wood best for making the four pillars of 'Daophang'. The making and installation of Dimasa loom is mainly done by Dimasa menfolk. The size of a 'Daophang' differs from its type to type, however the wooden made 'Daophang' requires bigger space than the bamboo made one. For weaving 'Daophang' requires a numbers of tools like Rashi ( Reed), Boron, Khun thukri, Turi, Yao ni makhu, Khonta, Bobbin, Charkha. Khundingma, Khundingsa, Gongphong, Gonsai, Gonshi, Nadhowai, Shamporma, Shamporsa, Muh, Halai, Shugur, etc. The whole process of Dimasa looming has its own specific steps like the first step of loming starts with Khun Paiba ( Spining and arranging the yarn ) followed by Daophang sengba ( Arranging and straightening the warp threads in order with halai ), Daophang byeng konba ( Counting the warp threads with the help of pointing fingers), Daophang khaisingba ( Inserting the wrap thread into the reed), Daophang khatingba ( The setting of wrap threads ), Doaphang sibba ( Combing the warp thread in order to avoid entangle among the threads), Daophang thonba ( Rolling the wrap thread on the solid traditional cylinder wooden rod known as boron ), Ney konba ( picking up the warp threads through a bigger thread via gonshai and allow to wrap on a cylindrical hollow bamboo called gongphong). Gonshai shaima ( Picking up the whole threads of the warps, by orderly taking two warp threads each on the cylindrical bamboo sticks depending on the design of Rikhu), the final steps is to start weaving the body of the cloth and making of Rikhu. The process of weaving in Dimasa loom is a very time taking which also requires a lot of dedication and effort in the final result of the product. All the traditional handloom for Dimasa and women is prepared in 'Daophang' till today.
Weaving is an age old tradition in Dimasa Society and 'Daophang' is the traditional handloom where the Dimasa women weave their beautiful, colorful and unique attire. Most of the Dimasa girls start to learn weaving at a young age, In Dimasa society spinning and weaving is considered as one of the good quality of a women specially at a time of marriage and also considered as an obligatory duties of a Dimasa women. The origin of 'Doaphang' in Dimasa society is still cannot be traced due to lack of written documents but there are many folklores and Dimasa legend which narrates the existence and uses of 'Daophang' from the very beginning of our mother earth. The whole process of Dimasa handloom is a difficult job and requires a lot of time and energy. Most of the parts of Dimasa handloom ( Daophang) is made of wood and bamboo and each parts of a 'Daophang' has its own Dimasa term, The entire process of Dimasa looming contains more than 09 to 10 steps. The significance of 'Daophang' and Dimasa handwoven cloths can be seen in every Dimasa rituals, even there are a number of 'Murithai' (Folk songs which are sung orally and by playing the traditional pipe like instrument Muri ) which signifies the importance of weaving in Dimasa community.
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