Dressing For Bihu

The energetic dance steps and quick hand movements define the Bihu dance of Assam. But that is not all as any folk dance is incomplete without its costume and jewelry and the performers of Bihu’s traditional Assamese attire. This dance is performed usually by the young males and females to show their joy and merriment on the arrival of spring season. A lot of vibrancy can be seen in the dance outfit of Bihu and that is what depicts the genuine spirit of this dance form. The male performers of Bihu are dressed in Dhotis and Gamosa.

Dhoti

A Dhoti is primarily a long and thin piece of cloth that is worn around the waist and it covers the lower part of the male body.

Gamosa

Gamosa on the other hand is for the head, and both the Dhoti and the Gamosa are bright in colors and have beautiful embroidery in different styles and patterns on the two ends. 

The female who perform Bihu usually wore traditional Assamese attire for the performance. They are dressed in Chador and Mekhela.

Mekhela

Mekhela is cylindrical in shape and is worn on the lower half of the body.

Chador

Chador on the other hand is like a drape which is used for covering the upper portion of the body. The women wears a blouse beneath the chador and the common fabrics used for making the attire are pat silk, cotton and muga silk. Women team up their outfits with gaudy and heavy jewelry and they also decorate their braids were copau flowers that perfectly match the color of the attire worn by them.

The dance is a part of the Bihu festival that starts in mid-April, when harvesting work of farming is over pregnant with the essence, feelings of youth and energy. The dance covers topics such as nature, dreams and feeling of young lovers, fields of crops, trees, season of the year etc. The dance is performed in an open space during daytime but there is a clear distinction of separate sexes. The youths perform this dance accompanied by songs of sentiment, loud beating of the Dhol, soft strains of Pepa, manjira and tokka (bamboo clappers) and many more indigenous musical instruments. In a course of dancing, the dancers commonly form a circle or parallel rows. The dance has been noted for maintaining authenticity and at the same time displaying the traditional Assamese handlooms and handicrafts in their glory and beauty by the dancers.