‘Mon Shugu’: Monpa Handmade Paper

• 30 Dec 2020

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has installed a Monpa handmade paper making unit in Tawang which not only aims at reviving the art but also engaging the local youths with this art professionally and earn.

• The art of making Monpa handmade paper originated over 1000 years ago and was an integral part of local custom and culture in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. However, the handmade paper industry almost disappeared in the last 100 years due to cheap inferior Chinese paper.
• The fine-textured handmade paper, which is called Mon Shugu in the local dialect, is integral to the vibrant culture of the local tribes in Tawang.
• The paper has great historic and religious significance as it is the paper used for writing Buddhist scriptures and hymns in monasteries.
• The Monpa handmade paper will be made from the bark of a local tree called Shugu Sheng, which has medicinal values too.
• Monpas used to sell these papers to countries like Tibet, Bhutan, Thailand and Japan as no paper making industry existed in these countries at that time.