Cute Apatani girls in their traditional attire, in Arunachal Pradesh

From the archive record

Cute Apatani girls wear their traditional dress in Arunachal Pradesh. The Apatanis wear elaborate and colorful, yet simple in style, traditional dress. Tattooing and the stuffing of large nose plugs (Yaping hullo), once popular among the women, has gradually declined in recent years. That practice reportedly started because the women wanted to look unattractive to males from neighboring tribes. Apatani women have been considered the most beautiful among the Arunachal tribes. Younger members of that community have that traditional practice altogether. Traditionally, the men tie their hair in a knot just above the forehead (locally called as piiding) using a brass rod (Piiding Khotu) measuring twelve inches, placed horizontally. They wear strips of fine cane belt painted in red (Yari), and b