The sarees of Imphal
The capital of Manipur, where women wear the phanek, a woven wrap skirt, and sell cloth in the women-run Ima Keithel market.
Motifs of Imphal
Woven here
Best time: October to March; avoid the rainy summer months.
Imphal is the capital of Manipur and a centre of the state's handloom. Meitei women traditionally wear the phanek, a wrapped woven skirt, with an inaphi, a shawl, over the shoulder. The cloth is woven on a loom at home, and Imphal's markets sell it in a wide range of stripes and borders.
What is woven here
The phanek is a length of cloth, woven in cotton or silk, that is wrapped round the body from the waist to the ankle. Some are plain, some striped, and the festive ones carry woven borders. The mayek naibi phanek has a pattern of narrow stripes, and a woven border known as mayek, and is worn on special occasions. Shawls, called inaphi, are worn over it. Manipur also has cotton and silk weaving in other pattern styles.
The craft and its people
Weaving is traditionally a woman's craft in Manipur, done on a loin loom or a frame loom in the home, and many households have a loom. Lifting and selling cloth is also work done by women, most visibly in Ima Keithel, the market in the city centre that is run entirely by women. The market is one of the largest of its kind in Asia.
Seeing it
Ima Keithel, the Mothers' Market, is the best single place to see the range of cloth. The Manipur State Museum has displays on the tribes and textiles of the state, and Loktak Lake lies to the south of the city. Some craft shops and cooperatives can arrange visits to weaving households.
A trail idea for Imphal
- Ima Keithel Walk the women-run market to compare phanek, inaphi and other woven cloth.
- Manipur State Museum See displays of the dress of the state's many communities, from lowland and hill peoples.
- A weaving household With a cooperative or guide, visit a home loom and see a phanek woven.
Written by the EveryPallu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Imphal" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets and workshops change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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