Beauties with nose blocks: Apatani women of Arunachal Pradesh

The nose plug tradition of Apatani women of Arunachal Pradesh is an age old custom which has a dark past

The Apatani Tribe was never the only tribe living in Ziro Valley. They coexisted with many neighboring tribes with different customs and characteristics. But among all of the women, the Apatani ones were known as the greatest beauties.

With time, the men from other tribes started abducting and forcefully marrying the Apatani women. They were known as tribal raiders, and once they kidnapped a woman, she was never seen again

To prevent that from happening, the Apatani elders came up with an unusual solution.

Such face modifications aimed to make the woman unattractive and undesirable to the tribal raiders.

The wooden nose plugs called “Yaping Hullo” were not placed in the nostrils but pierced on each side of the nose. The initial pain was terrible, and so was the discomfort.

The tattoo of an Apatani woman, “Tippei,” is a thick black line that goes from the top of her forehead, down the entire face, and splits into 4–5 lines on the chin.

The tattoo is done by a thorny plant that is dipped in a mixture of soot and pig’s fat. The thorn is placed on the skin and then hit with a small hammer until the face is inked. The bleeding is abundant, and so is the pain.

In the early 1970s, the Indian Government imposed a ban on nose plugs. It was said that they made the Apatani women easily recognizable and therefore prone to discrimination.