Batak Ulos Ceremonial Ritual Cloth

Multiple-use ritual cloth from Simalungun District, North Sumatra. The textile consists of 5 strips all woven separately and then joined together into one large piece. The multiple techniques used include warp ikat,  warp brocading, and weft brocading.

It is worn as a shoulder cloth or a skirt. All variants of this textile are ritually presented in the following situations- given by the parents to their daughter pregnant with her first child, presented by the bride’s parents to the bridegroom’s parents during the wedding ceremony or used to cover the body of a grandparent.