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Smriti Rekha Chakma
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Culture & heritage · Tripura

The weaver who dyes with the forest

Smriti Rekha Chakma learned the Chakma loin loom as a girl, and then learned the forest: which bark, root, leaf, flower and seed gives which colour. She has spent her life passing both skills to other women.

Smriti Rekha Chakmaस्मृति रेखा चकमा
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Smriti Rekha Chakma. Photo: Padma Awards, Government of India

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Born
20 September 1964
State
Tripura
Field
Chakma loin-loom weaving, natural dyes, rural women's livelihoods
Honours
National Award 2000; Sant Kabir Award 2018; Padma Shri 2024
1999founds Ujeia Jadha
4trainees who went on to National Awards
2024Padma Shri

The loom and the forest

Smriti Rekha Chakma’s story links indigenous textile knowledge with modern design and rural livelihoods. According to her official Padma citation, she was born on 20 September 1964 and learned weaving on the traditional loin loom from childhood.

Later she developed natural dyes for cotton yarn from plants found in the forest: bark, roots, leaves, flowers and seeds.

Beyond Tripura

Her art did not stay a personal craft. Through workshops, demonstrations and training programmes, she took Chakma weaving to many states and abroad. Programmes in places such as Dhaka and Yangon gave this local craft a stage across borders.

Doordarshan and the Films Division made documentaries on her weaving and herbal dyeing.

From master to mentor

In 1999 she founded the NGO Ujeia Jadha for the education and economic progress of rural women. Its training centres provided free food, lodging and a stipend, and according to her citation, four of her trainees went on to win National Awards.

Her greatest achievement may be not her own award but the success of the women who learned from her. Traditional knowledge lasts only when the next generation can make a living from it.

Sources