{"id":34191,"date":"2023-04-01T02:57:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T21:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=34191"},"modified":"2025-04-20T09:48:03","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T04:18:03","slug":"gamosa-a-marker-of-assamese-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/gamosa-a-marker-of-assamese-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"Gamosa &#8211; A marker of Assamese Identity"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gamosa<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Gamosa?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why the gamosa wraps the Assamese society together?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gamosa gets GI tag<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Recently, there were protests in Assam this week after a newly formed literary body called the Bangla Sahitya Sabha, Assam (BSSA) used a ceremonial scarf to felicitate guests.<\/li>\n<li>This scarf was created by sewing together half an Assamese <i>gamosa<\/i> and half a Bengali <i>gamcha<\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Gamosa<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What is Gamosa?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The traditional Assamese Gamosa\/Gamusa or Gamucha is one of the most recognisable cultural symbols of Assam.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>It is a white rectangular piece of cloth with embroidered red borders.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>The red border is called the &#8220;anchu&#8221; and is <u>believed to be the sign of Ahom strength<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>There are a total of nine types of Gamosas used for different occassions.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>These are &#8211; Uka Gamosa, Phulam Gamosa, Bihuwan Gamosa, Tiyoni Gamosa, Pani Gamosa, Anakota Gamosa, Telosh Gamusa, Jor Gamosa and Xadharon Gamosa.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>While <u>most Gamosas are made of cotton<\/u>, few utilized in special occasions are made from Silk too.<\/li>\n<li>While it has a lot of uses, it is mostly used as an article presented to guests, elders, family or friends on special occasions as a sign of respect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why the gamosa wraps the Assamese society together?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Symbol of Assamese cultural identity<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The gamosa is considered a symbol of Assamese cultural identity and is revered for multiple reasons.<\/li>\n<li>It has a deep symbolic value in Assam, be it religiously, socially or culturally.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Socially, it is gifted as a symbol of mutual respect and solidarity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Special relationship with the Vaishnavite culture<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It also has a special relationship with the Vaishnavite culture in Assam.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The axon, the main place of worship, is considered incomplete without one. So, there\u2019s a lot of emotion attached to it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gamosa became a symbol of Assamese sub-nationalism<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>During moments when Assamese sub-nationalism took centre stage, the gamosa was prominently used by protesters as a marker of Assamese identity.<\/li>\n<li>E.g., During the Assam Agitation of the early 1980s and more recently, the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests in the state.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The rise and rise of the gamosa\n<ul>\n<li>The gamosa has traversed beyond Assam:\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>to Delhi (on account of being Prime Minister Modi\u2019s favourite accessory)\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>to the tracks of Finland (when athlete Hima Das won her historic gold in July 2018) and\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>even to outer space (when NASA astronaut Mike Fincke \u2014 married to an Assamese \u2014 performed Bihu aboard the International Space Station in 2004).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Gamosa gets GI tag<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In December 2022, gamosa has received the Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the central government.\n<ul>\n<li>A GI is tagged to primarily agricultural, natural or manufactured products, handicrafts and industrial goods originating from a definite geographical territory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)\u00a0What is GI tag?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>\u00a0A GI tag refers to a Geographical Indication tag or a Geographical Indication mark. It is a form of intellectual property right that identifies a product as originating from a particular region, territory or locality, where its quality, reputation, or other characteristics are significantly influenced by its geographical origin.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>What is Vaishnavite culture?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Vaishnavite culture is a religious and cultural tradition within Hinduism that centers around the worship of Lord Vishnu, one of the major deities in the Hindu pantheon. The term &#8220;Vaishnavite&#8221; comes from the Sanskrit word &#8220;Vaishnava,&#8221; which means a devotee of Vishnu.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-culture\/hybrid-gamosa-protests-assam-8528837\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>How a \u2018hybrid\u2019 gamosa sparked protests across Assam<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/north-east-india\/assam\/why-the-gamosa-wraps-the-assamese-society-together-6185954\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/photos\/lifestyle\/heres-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-traditional-assamese-gamosa-101658833244149-7.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hindustan Times<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/lifestyle\/life-style\/assamese-gamocha-gets-gi-tag-state-jubilation-8324209\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gamosa is a traditional cloth of Assam and is a symbol of its cultural identity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}