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EveryFaceShape

Living tradition, India

Ziro valley

The Apatani valley in Arunachal Pradesh, where women once wore facial tattoos and wooden nose plugs.

Ziro is a high valley in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, home of the Apatani people, known for their wet-rice terraces and fish farming in paddies. Until the early 1970s, Apatani women wore tippei, a tattooed line from forehead to nose tip and lines on the chin, and yaping hullo, round wooden plugs in the sides of the nose. Some older women still carry them.

Tippei and yaping hullo

Girls were tattooed with ink made from soot and animal fat, using a bundle of thorns as a needle. Plugs of cane or wood were set in the pierced nostril wings and enlarged over time. The common explanation is that the marks protected women from raiders of neighbouring groups; Apatani people also describe them as marks of identity. Between 1971 and 1974, with support from the Apatani Youth Association, the practices were ended.

The valley today

The Apatani cultural landscape was placed on India's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage in 2014, for its sustainable farming. The Ziro Festival of Music has drawn visitors each autumn since 2012, and the Myoko festival in March celebrates Apatani traditions. Younger women do not wear the tattoos or plugs, and photographs of the last wearers have become an emblem of the valley.

Guides of Ziro valley

Face tattooApatani women's tippei tattoosIndigenous Tattoos of the IndiIndigenous Tattoos of the Indian SubcontinentZiro's tattoos are among the best knownNose piercingApatani nose plugs sat in pierced nostrils

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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