Pua Kumbu
Pua Kumbu is a traditional patterned multicolored ceremonial cotton cloth used by the Iban people in Sarawak, Malaysia. Legends on the origins of Iban weaving. There are many legends about the origin of Pua Kumbu, all revolving around the characters of Menggin and Dara Tinchin. The story starts with Menggin, an Iban hunter who shot a beautiful bird with his blowpipe. As he ran to retrieve his game, what he found was a woven skirt instead of a bird. He kept the woven skirt as he had never seen one before. However, he did not know that it  belonged to Dara Tinchin Temaga, eldest daughter of a "petara" known as Singalang Burong. She was looking for her "kain" everywhere. When she met Menggin, he returned the skirt. In return, Dara married Menggin, although she was already married. She brought him to her home, the other world, the land of the Gods. They also had a son, Sera Gunting. After a year, Dara’s first husband returned home. She asked Menggin and Sera to return to the Iban world and for their journey to wear a jacket known as "baju burong" and her "kain" that she had woven. From  that day onwards, the jacket and "kain" have been passed down to many Iban women so they can weave the same designs and remain close to the Gods. And that is how the weaving of pua kumbu began. Dyeing and weaving process. The process starts with preparing the yarn for the weaving, which consists of the following: Weaving. In order to prepare for the weaving process, the yarns are unfolded and carefully arranged on a wooden frame. Before the actual weaving begins, the side sections of the unfolded yarn known as anak or ara are carefully arranged. "Nenun" or weaving  is done using a backstrap loom placed in a convenient spot within the longhouse. The final stage involves finishing of the top and bottom edges with a crowfeet pattern. Dyeing. All of the raw materials for the natural dyes are harvested from the rainforest. The Iban have traditionally made use of a large number of plants to produce a range of rich beautiful dyes. The rengat plant produces an ‘indigo’ colour in many different tones. The "akar penawar landak" is used to obtain yellow color dye. For the Engkudu dye, if "kapok" or quicklime is added the colour will turn  brown. The yarn is dipped into the combination, turned until it is well saturated and left to soak before it is dried under the sun. After the dye process yarns are further prepared by tying sections to build up the design. In the media. Filem Negara Malaysia produced a 16-minute documentary about Pua Kumbu in 1993 and has been aired on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and TV Pendidikan.