Aalam is a kind of cloth that is the fabric of Chakma’s genre. Textile weaving is the family and ethnic tradition of the Chakma community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Almost every Chakma families have their own customised weaved clothes. The cotton yarn grown in ‘Jhum’ is adorned with the natural colours of various plants. Then the thread is knitted into a loom with various designs of outer cloth; containing a variety of floral designs. Aalam is the primary motive of these magnificent sketches. Precisely Alaam is a textile with different floral models to pick up within cloths.
It has various floral designs and a unique colour layout. Chakma women crafts flowers in cloths following those designs. Flowers also have different types of names in Aalam; such as Brinjal Bichi Flower, Charka Adha Flower, Samulesh Flower, Blleikhuj Flower, Ulu flowers, etc. Various design is picked up from the Alam and woven into Pinon-Hadi, Dhuti, Turban, etc.
Aalam is honorably mentioned in the ‘Palagan’ of ancient Chakma folklore ‘Radhamon Dhonpudi’. But it is unknown to us who is the inventor of Aalam. It is said that in 1883, Chakma Rani Dayamayi Roy have been awarded the Aalam design at the international exhibition in Kolkata. Besides, there was no mill to make clothes all over Pak-India at that time. There was a time in Bengal, Aalam and muslin silk textiles were considered to be the best example for designing various designs in the textile industry. At present, Aalam is still displayed in various national and international textile fairs as made by Chakmas. In our country, Aalam is still considered a major tourist attraction.
Written by Athina Chakma
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