Under the popular museum series ‘Exhibit of the Month’ of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, a traditional object has been displayed for a whole month. The exhibit for the month is ‘Bogre: Traditional bag of Sherdukpen community of Arunchal Pradesh’.
Bogre is a bag used by males among Sherdukpen community of Arunachal Pradesh. It is collected from Rupa Village in the year 2005. It serves as a knapsack. This hand woven cloth, decked with pretty patterns, is tied around the shoulders to form a fold at the back, which is used as a pouch or pocket for keeping eatables and other articles of use.
Bogre is a specialty of the Sherdukpen area. Traditionally it was made from the fibre of local plants known as hongchong and hongche. According to the Sherdukpen calendar it is in the fourth month that women spin yarn from the fibre of hongchong which is used in weaving Bogre. The Bogre has invariably a Swastika figure in the centre around which variegated patterns are woven. Swastika is a common symbol of luck among the Buddhist people. This exhibition is being mounted by Surya Kumar Pandey, Assistant Keeper.
Bogre is a square shaped cloth made by joining three equal rectangle pieces stitched together. This woven cloth is prepared on traditional Sherdukpen loom using woolen threads of various colours.
The base warp element is white with small linings in black and red strips running uniformly. Intricate designs of extra wefts are produced using strands of pink, black, green, brown and red colours which are significantly arranged in proportion in each halves. Designs represented on the cloth are geometric in pattern.