Documentation of costumes of Bagri community through three generations
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Date
2018
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The investigation entitled “Documentation of costumes of Bagri community through three generations” was
carried out in two states namely, Punjab and Rajasthan. From Punjab, two districts, namely Muktsar and
Fazilka and similarly from Rajasthan, two districts, namely Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar were selected
for the study. A purposive sampling technique was used to select families having three generations of either
male or female. A total of 360 respondents comprising 45 male and 45 female from each of the four selected
districts were taken. The age of the 1st generation was 65 years and above, 2nd generation was between 45-65
years and that of the 3rd generation was in the age group of 25-45 years. Data for the investigation were
collected from the respondents with the help of interview schedule. Maximum of the respondents in the first
generation were illiterate, second generation studied up to matric level and respondents (both male and
female) of third generation were graduate. The results of the study revealed that majority of the Bagri male
respondents were engaged in farming and female respondents were housewives, respectively. Majority of the
respondents (male and female) belonged to other backward class and had monthly family income between
Rs 10,001-15,000. The Bagri males through three generations wore coat, kurta shirt, sherwani (upper
garments), chadar, dhoti, designer dhoti pajama, pant (lower garments), potio, pagri, topi (headdresses),
phenta and stole (wrap). Almost all the male respondents of three generations of both, Punjab and
Rajasthan had similar type of upper and lower garments and headdresses, but there was difference in
fabric choice and length of upper garments. The respondents of both states preferred neutral and warm
colours for casual and ceremonial headdresses, respectively. Men wore very few jewellery. Silver metal
was preferred by first generation whereas gold and silver metals were used by second and third
generation of Punjab and Rajasthan, respectively. Bagri females through three generations wore aangi,
blouse, jamper, kurti, kameez (upper garments), ghaghro, lehenga, salwar (lower garments), bugiyo, chuni,
chundadi, pila and sunkukdo (headdresses). Almost all the female respondents of three generations of
both, Punjab and Rajasthan had similar type of upper and lower garments and headdresses, but there
was difference in the length of upper garments, fabric design and fabric choice of second and third
generation, for both casual and ceremonial wear, respectively. The females of Punjab preferred bright
colours while females of Rajasthan liked medium shades for upper and lower garments. In both states,
the headdress of females were embellished with zari work, gota kinari and salama/sitara. Bagri females
were very fond of jewellery. They possessed many jewellery items made in gold or silver metal. Various
jewellery of the females of Rajasthan and Punjab were found to be similar but in Punjab, women of
second and third generation preferred gold whereas women of Rajasthan wore jewellery of both gold
and silver. The difference in designs and weight of the jewellery was also noticed. Advancement in
communication media, education level, greater connectivity with urban areas and occupational shift
were the major factors that were responsible for change in male and female costume pattern. For the
purpose of preserving the traditional costumes of Bagri culture, total five costumes were selected. The paper
patterns of these selected costumes of Bagri male (kurta and coat) and female (aangi, jamper and ghaghra)
were developed in Tuka Tech software using standard sizes of third generation.
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