Tezpur (Assam): Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about 'Mon Shugu' during his Maan Ki Baat aired on January 31 this year and appreciated the effort of the young entrepreneur, which has not only revived more than century-old traditional art but also provided employment to some of the local youths in the area.
Located at an elevation of close to 10,000 feet from the sea level, Tawang borders China in Arunachal Pradesh.
Mon Shugu handmade paper is an ancient craft developed in response to the need of documentation and preservation of religious manuscripts of the Buddhists community. This paper is manufactured from the bark of a locally available Shrub called Suga Sang (botanical name Daphne Paperacea). The bark is boiled, beaten into a paste and converted to pulp manually using customary equipment. It involves drudgery as no chemicals are used in the process.
A sample of this bark was taken to KNHPI Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), to test the paper quality made out of it, and the result was outstanding. A sample of it was sent to Germany for market study and the response was enthusiastic records KNHPI.
The locals say that the Buddhist Monks better known as Lamas used to make the Mon Shugu to document the rituals practised by them in the monasteries. Although the use of Mon Shugu was also found in other regions of the northeastern region, the craft went into oblivion after the invention of papermaking machines. The records of the Buddhist Monastries in Tawang indicate that the use of Mon Shugu was started during the 1860s.
