Kohima, Nagaland, India
Every year, in the first week of December, Nagaland hosts the Hornbill Festival, an iconic, and by far the most famous festival in the North East. It is meant to showcase Naga culture and the various tribes and is held in the village of Kisama, about 10 kms south of Kohima. A theme park type of structure has come up in Kisama, and that's where I went, even though this is not festival time and much of the charm of the place is missing minus the festival. This place comes alive only for a week in the year. Each of the tribes present their traditional morung building (morung is a sort of community building). During the festival, Nagas from the tribe are present, wearing their traditional dresses and showcasing their way of life. It must be a colourful spectacle, but traditional garb is simply a showcase for tourists – nobody wears feathers, or has spears or anything like that in daily life. But it must be very interesting, even if a tad touristy.
Events are held everyday during the festival – rock concerts, dances, whatever
. Other events are being tagged along to the festival . There’s also a Hornbill Rally for cars and two wheelers (Sundar - want to team up and we’ll enter next year ?? !). It must be a gala extravaganza. If you have only a week , can only fly in and fly out and want to get a sample of the North East, come for the Hornbill festival. You have to plan early though – flights and accommodation get sold out months in advance.
It might be a good idea for Nagaland to turn this into a permanent theme park. The structures are all there – they just have to get people , throw in some facilities and they’ll get lots of tourists. It isn’t to my taste- I would rather go to the real villages, but it can be a good tourist draw.
The hornbill, incidentally, is Nagaland’s "state bird". A majestic bird, it has almost been driven to extinction, because the Nagas hunt it. Its rarely seen in the wild; the few specimens are those bred in captivity.
Kohima itself, is a typical Indian small city
. Its crowded, dusty, grown haphazardly and having traffic jams. But, because it’s a hill town, its reasonably agreeable.
Nagaland has been a very nice state to visit. I have only spent 5 days here and missed Mon, but it has been a good feel for the state. It’s a small state, with a very distinctive culture. The Nagas are fiercely independent and proud of their culture. They face the same troubles of corruption, militancy and low economic opportunity as in other states in the region, but the issues and the way forward are uniquely Naga. I wish them well, and will read news of the Nagas in future with a particular affection.
Time to move on. To a very different state. Manipur.
The Hornbill Festival
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Kohima, Nagaland, India
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Comments
2025-05-23
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Sandhya Sriram
2015-03-01
Did you time it that way that you wanted to be around for the Hornbill festival?
and you would have a few more for company who would now think of Nagaland with a different warmth, a warmth of a place that you know and a people that you recognise.
thank you for creating this beautiful connect
and looking forward to your Manipur trip.
Dreaming of the abode in the clo
2015-03-01
Ok, now I am thinking ahead ... by quoting back to you a lengthy comment you--yes, you, my friend--left at my blog on November 25, 2012 ;)
" I went there in 1987 - was it so long ago:( . Parts of Meghalaya were very pretty and parts, even in those days, bore every resemblance to the haphazard ugliness of small town India. A major problem was water shortage - in Cherrapunji, which was the wettest place in the world, water was in short supply. In hilly terrain, with no capacity to store water, the water all drained away into the valleys below.
But the beauty of the place and the people, must still be there. The Khasi, Garo and Jaintia, the tribes that are the majority of Meghalayans are very hospitable, nice and to my eyes those days, when I wasn't that much traveled , "exotic".
You should go to the Seven sisters. Nagaland and Meghalaya are beautiful. Parts of Assam are too. Manipur is exotic. Mizoram, even more so. Tripura, I wouldn't go to. Arunachal -- waaaah; the one place in India I would really like to go to , and haven't."
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indigoite
2015-03-02
@Sandhya - No I didn't go at festival time at all. That is in December. I only went to the venue of the festival - it was of coure empty, but wanted to highlight the festival for future travelers.
@Sriram - Did I write that ??? And how come you remember that ???
Anne in Salem
2015-03-02
Why are the designers (?) of the small Indian towns so opposed to an organized arrangement of roads? The city views you capture look so haphazard and unorganized. Perhaps to discourage visitors from getting too close?
The morungs are exquisite. The carving shows the passion and dedication of the workmen for the subject and for the art. It is a pity that such a center of learning and sharing is utilized but a short time each year.
On to more adventures entirely unknown to me. Be safe.
Ravi Rajagopalan
2015-03-02
Anne: The City of London is also quite higgledy-piggledy. Most old European towns are similar. Big exceptions - Paris after Baron Haussmann took the bulldozer out, most German cities after the Allies had finished, towns like Bratislava after the Soviets had done with them. These are very old habitations.
Suja
2015-03-02
Love the look of the traditional dwellings!! So artistic...
I am excited to be travelling to Manipur with you! I had a class mate at school who was from Manipur and I have seen her perform their traditional dance. The movements are so exquisite! The music seemed to have a Bengali touch. That's true of Assamese music too. You remember 'dil hoon hoon kare' from Rudaali? The multi-talented music director and singer Bhupen Hazarika was from Assam. Will you be trying to take in some traditional music/dance performance while in the Eastern states?
indigoite
2015-03-02
@Anne - Indian towns (and cities) are not designed. Period. They just evolve and grown, often shambolically.
Want to thank you especially for wishing me to be safe. There is some risk in what I am doing, albeit small. I have no doubt at all that my being safe is contributed by your wishes. Thanks so much.
@Suja - Alas, no opportunity at all in enjoying the music of the region. Arunachal does not have a musical tradition. Nagaland does, but it has lost it. ts all mostly rock music now. In Imphal I am missing a theatre festival by 2 days. There is very little info on what events are going to be scheduled when - so I can't even plan a trip around them. I hope in the days to come I might get lucky at some place or the other to where I am going.
Vincy Joseph
2015-03-04
the pictures are so nice Ramesh. The traditional structures are worth a mention the church though small stands proud amongst the hills, I also particuatly liked Kohima at night.
When I started readig this post I was also thinking that you had planned and timed the travel to be part of hornbill festival. missed the december part in the initial para.
All these structures are made of leaves / palms and natural resources available locally. which also means these do not last long. wonder how they manage the maintenance. wondering.
indigoite
2015-03-04
@Vincy -No I couldn't do it - time to go to the Hornbill festival. I don't think I would have enjoyed it hugely though - Crowds, somewhat of a manufactured show and high prices are not my sort of a thing :) Prefer the quieter visits.
Asha
2015-03-04
This looks like Nagaland tourism's business tactic to attract people to Kohima. But, i sure liked this concept. While many of our cultural traditions are fading, this must be a nice way of showcasing the culture to tourists and gennexts. Like you say thsi must be a permanent feature...like dakshinchitra. No?
indigoite
2015-03-05
@Asha - Yes, and I am all for it, considering how little their culture is known in the rest of India. They should make it a permanent feature - trouble is there are so few visitors to Nagaland. On the day I was there there were 5 visitors, one of whom was from Bangalore !!