Nepal · Fiber Processing / Weaving
Allo (आलो) — Rokchokhi (Rai term)
The extraction, spinning, and weaving of fiber from the Himalayan giant nettle (Girardinia diversifolia), locally called allo, into cloth, cordage, and functional objects — a wild-harvested fiber tradition distinct in raw material and processing chain from every other Nepali textile record in the archive (pashmina goat fiber, cotton dhaka, wool carpet, Sherpa yak wool, cotton backstrap weaving). Allo has been extracted, spun, and woven for centuries by the Magar, Tamang, Gurung, nomadic Raute, and especially Rai communities of Nepal's mid-hill and high-altitude forests, used for clothing, sacks, bags, headbands, mats, fishing nets, and rope. So central is the plant to Rai material culture that an old Rai saying holds 'Rokchokhi maandi, Roduchim uso-toksno' — 'Without allo we can do nothing; in Rai culture, we must have allo.' The fiber's readiness for spinning is judged through a combined wood-ash boiling and white mica clay treatment, with the weaver reading tactile softness and fiber separation as the quality gate before spinning can proceed.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not Listed
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