Scarf (khamar kabne)

In Bhutan ceremonial scarves are worn by all men and women on formal occasions, for instance, entering the fortress (dzong). The colors and fringe of the scarf as well its arrangement indicate the wearer's rank.

This red and white example was once worn by a village headman. A government official would present such a scarf to the headman, at the same time lecturing him on his duties. Woven of wild silk (spun from cocoons—from which the moths had already escaped—collected in the forests of eastern Bhutan), this scarf consists of three separate panels hand stitched together. The two red side panels were dyed with stick lac, a resinous secretion deposited by parasitic insects on branches of trees in the tropical eastern valleys of Bhutan. Two decorative strips of red, white, and blue weft patterns decorate each panel.