Pulhoer, variously spelled pulhoor, pulhord, pulhour, or pulhor, is an ancient

traditional A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

straw footwear of

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

, bearing similarities to

chappal Flip-flops are a type of light sandal-like shoe, typically worn as a form of casual footwear. They consist of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap known as a toe thong that passes between the first and second toes and around ...

or slippers, but unlike sandals, pulhoer is plain, lacks heels, and therefore differs from sandals. One type of traditional kashmiri straw footwear is also known as khraav. The shoes were/ are homemade by Kashmir artisans by weaving straw rope in a particular manner. They were widely used by

Kashmiris Kashmiris () also known as Koshurs are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (union terr ...

in ancient times especially during

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

season. The pulhoer straw footwear was one of the traditional tools for dealing with the cold of Kashmir's winter, like (still are) also the kanger, the portable heating-pot, and the coatlike garment

pheran Pheran () or Phiran is the traditional outfit for both males and females in Kashmir. The pheran consists of two gowns, one over the other. The traditional pheran extends to the feet, which was popular up to the late 19th century C.E. However, ...

. They were primarily used by people to protect their feet from snow due to

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

and unavailability of modern footwear in the region, but since there was a lack of modern garments, people also used them for protection against thorny bushes and pebbles in forests; however they are unstable or unusable in the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

due to flow of rain through their pores.

History

The exact place and date of origin of the pulhoer straw footwear is not known. It is part of the traditional

culture of Kashmir The culture of Kashmir encompasses the spoken language, written literature, cuisine, architecture, traditions, and history of the Kashmiri people native to the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The culture of Kashmir was influenced by th ...

, having been extensively used there before

industrialisation Industrialisation ( UK) or industrialization ( US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive reorganisation of an economy for th ...

. Following

productivity-improving technologies The productivity-improving technologies are the technological innovations that have historically increased productivity. Productivity is often measured as the ratio of (aggregate) output to (aggregate) input in the production of goods and service ...

mechanization Mechanization (or mechanisation) is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text, a machine is defined as follows: In every fields, mechan ...

and economic improvement, pulhoer began to disappear from the region. The tradition still exists in remote areas.

Structure

Pulhoer are entirely made of straw, which makes them unusable in the wet season. ''Khraav'', another type of ''pulhoer'', are also made of straw, but have soles made of wood or pareve, preventing slipping on

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

References

{{reflist Culture of Jammu and Kashmir Sandals

History

Structure

See also

References