Apatani Handicrafts

It is becoming harder and harder to find good quality Apatani handicrafts these days. Old pieces have been destroyed or allowed to decay without any care. Only a handful of people, who are able and willing to find time to create those handicrafts, are alive today.

While the native people are still to understand the values and significance of this art, there is hope that appreciation for the handicraft skills of the Apatanis will live on. This hope springs from seemingly insignificant facts like finding of an Apatani bamboo glass (Tanii turla) in the corner of a Harrisonburg home. 

If an American can carry a turla all the way home across the ocean, will an antique collector in the crowded Thamel in Kathmandu remain behind? 

An Apatani rucksak (lera) was nicely displayed in one of the antique shops in Kathmandu. Curiously, I asked the price. It was 8000 Nepali rupees, amounting to 5000 Indian rupees! Good price, as a lera is among the best rucksacks one can find.

A couple of Apatani caps - byopas, too adorned the walls of the antique shop. These byopas are equally useful both in sun and rain. They double up as helmets as well.

One only hope these useful handicrafts are not yet relegated as antiques!

World Bamboo Day

As the world was observing the World Bamboo Day on 18th last, I was looking around the ways we use bamboos in our daily life. I briefly mentioned the roles of bamboo in our live here and so, will not repeat that. I'll show some bamboo items as I looked around my home. 

Piipiñ and yagii are two of the most prominent items in any Apatani house. Piipiñ is used to dry paddy, millet, chilly or other items. It also serves as giant plates for many people to eat together on certain special occasions.

Yagii essentially serves as a basket to carry things around. They are named according to their sizes - giida pata, entii yagii, puhe yagii and so on. The one in the picture is the giida pata.

 There are many other bamboo implements that I mentioned earlier. I recently constructed a bamboo furniture which I find is really useful.

 And this is the season bamboo is harvested at Ziro. The following are the remains of the bamboo - the top (milyiñ and arañ). They too are used for many purposes; I am still figuring out the best uses now.

The few points mentioned here are hardly a comprehensive list of the ways the Apatanis use bamboo. It is just a pointer to the fact that bamboo is the material that sustains our lives.

Bamboos of Talle

Hiibiñ: Largest of the species in the area, but smaller than the Apatani bamboos at Ziro. Size of bije binyi. Larger ones can be flattened into yamyo, but not strong enough as poles.

Yana: Smallest one. Most abundant. Makes trekking very difficult as it 'creeps' on the ground.


Tader: Strongest. Its shoots are sprouting up now. As tasty as those of the Apatani bamboos at Ziro.

These are the bamboo species found in Talle Valley.

Amazing Bamboo Furniture

As I was looking over some old photo folders, the photos at Dan's house in Harrisonburg that I took last year caught my eyes. I had been to his house for lunch and the sight of some amazing bamboo furniture struck me and prompted me to take some photographs.


These furniture, Dan explained, was imported from Vietnam. Beautiful and innovative designs. Something else, which I may have ignored while clicking away struck me again while looking at the pictures. There is an Apatani glass - tanii turla near one of the bamboo sofas.

A tanii turla in United States of America sound something unusual, but not so when one thinks of its beauty and elegance. Apart from its utility value, it could easily be one of the most prized possessions in a sitting room.

Bamboo implements

The Apatanis are known for the meticulous care they take of their agricultural fields. In fact, it is often said they take too much care of the fields. After transplantation of paddy saplings, for example, they have to repeat three cycles of weeding before the paddy is harvested. It ensures that the fields are always clean.

Two days back when we visited Hong village with two American friends, the women had just returned from their works. One of our friends was into farming in Washington. The women asked her whether they do weeding too. Of course they do, but not that much and not in the same way as the Apatanis do.

The Apatanis use an implement called Pallii which used to be made of bamboo. These days, almost everybody use iron Palliis. The method of weeding remains the same.

Bamboo and the Apatanis

Last October, I literally walked down memory lane when I participated in a trekking expedition from Ziro to Palin through the old route via Siikhe and Amji. This was the connection between Ziro and all the areas in the present Kurung Kumey district before the motorable road was constructed some 20 years back via Deed. Since then, the track has almost been abandoned. More about this route later...

We were in the Bigyi Camp sitting by the fire listening to the Bigyi stream whistling by. We had just steamed some meat with bamboo shoot in the bamboo (sudu). Firewood, mostly of dry bamboo was keeping us warm. Our tent was constructed of bamboo. "Amazing!" remarked Phil. "Eating bamboo with bamboo spoon from bamboo plate cooked in bamboo!"

The Apatanis, who inhabit the Ziro valley cannot imagine life without bamboo. In fact, bamboo, along with pine and local cabbage (gian haman) is said to have beeen created along with human beings.