Textiles and Dress

Jaapi

Jaapi or Japi (Bodo: Khofri) is an Asian conical hat. It is made from tightly woven bamboo and/or cane and tokou paat (Trachycarpus martianus) a large, palm leaf. The word jaapi derives from jaap meaning a bundle of tokou leaves. In the past, plain jaapis were used by ordinary people in Assam and by farmers for protection from the sun, while ornate decorative jaapis were worn as a status symbol by the royalty and nobility. Decorative sorudoi jaapi are made with intricate cloth designs (primarily red, white, green, blue, and black) that are integrated into the weaving. The upper metal component attached to the top of a jaapi is known in Assamese as sula (Assamese: চূলা), described as a metal, cap-like ornament fixed to the top of the jaapi. The Sula of Japis used by royalty and nobles were made of silver and gold. Besides East and Southeast Asia, rain hats, similar to Jaapi, are spread throughout East India and Nepal, including Bengal, Terai, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh like Mishmi and Adi also wear similar traditional headgear made of bamboo or cane.

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See also

• ▸Fabiola Jean-Louis
• ▸Coronavirus
• ▸Cross-dressing

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.