Blog: The Story Of The Poloi, Manipur's Answer To The Beautiful World Of Indian Wedding Dresses

¡°Rs. 85,000!!!¡±

The amount makes my head spin. I want to ask why? For what? But I guess, for most women, a wedding dress is the most essential part of the wedding day. It is every girl¡¯s dream day and money is never really a concern when you put things into a certain perspective. Although I often end up wondering what use that heavy Rs. 85, 000 dress is of after the wedding.

As a kid I would often look at my mom¡¯s wedding picture, lovingly placed on our living room mantelpiece. It was faded, black and white, with her in a poloi.

Priyanka Koijam

Poloi is the wedding dress that Hindu Manipuri women wear. Mandatory.

Growing up with my North Indian friends in Dehradun, we girls would often giggle and talk about our wedding day. We would speak of churas, mehendi and lehengas, until I would pipe in and mention the poloi! My girlies would give me that confused-look-with-a-tilted-head, until I would describe it. So here goes.

Have you seen the Ras Leela dance? It is one of India¡¯s many classical dance forms. Well, poloi is the dress that is worn during this dance. It is a cylindrical, drum-shaped dress made of hard bamboo, and ornamented with satin cloth and glitter. The poloi wedding dress is the same, with some modifications made for the wedding. It is absolutely stunning, and has to be one of the most eye-catching wedding dresses I have ever seen.

Anyway, after I would show them a picture of it, they would ooh and aaah, and follow up with one pertinent question - ¡°How do you pee wearing that?¡±

Good question. I have often wondered the same myself, as the dress is stiff and not bendable at all.

Priyanka Koijam

*Note to self - Must ask Mom about this.

But you know what's so awesome about this wedding dress? An hour or two before the wedding, it is stitched on you. No, not gruesomely stitched to your skin (we are not barbaric) but stitched onto you, like in a dress rehearsal. Except that this is the final show, and there are no rehearsals here. The best part? It is stitched to fit your size. So I won't be worrying about losing weight before my wedding just to fit into my dress. No liquid and/or fruit diet for me. *Thank you God*

But what, you may ask, makes this dress so priceless?

Well, in a way, this dress is extremely expensive. One, because it can take anywhere between 20 days and a month to make it, since it is completely handcrafted - every little bead. Two, the poloi comes along with other accessories like the handmade cummerbund, velvet blouse, veil and ornaments like a golden tiara, butterflies, gold head gear and necklaces etc. All this is stitched on to you. So altogether, it works out to an expensive package that isn¡¯t really affordable. Most importantly, unlike a lehenga or saree, it cannot really be used again.

Priyanka Koijam

So the easy way out? Most people just rent it. As simple as that! The design of the poloi is the same for all brides. And for a minimal amount, the ladies will get you the dress and jewellery, and stitch it on you as well. Which answers the second part of the question, on what makes it so frugal. Because you spend nearly nothing on it!

Priyanka Koijam

But, hey! Just because it is frugal doesn¡¯t mean we don¡¯t love our glitter. You thought Mallus love their gold? Well, we win hands down. Manipur is known as the ¡®Land of Jewels¡¯ and I think we definitely live up to that reputation. In a way, we make up for our frugality with our jewellery. At least enough to make someone say, ¡°Oh. My. Gold!¡±

And now for the revelation. Around the time I was finishing writing this, my mom called up.

¡°While you are wearing the dress and for the entire duration of the wedding, you cannot go to pee.¡±

*PAUSE*

¡°Unless your bridesmaid carries a bucket for you¡±.

*GROSS*

While she continued with her evil laugh, I was left to wonder if she was joking or serious, because I know that once you are in that dress, you practically cannot move. Let alone pee.

No pain, no gain.

Priyanka Koijam

I guess this is something I have to find out for myself. Maybe someday.