The Hornbill Festivals is named after the large exotic bird as it forms in the state the Hornbill Festivals, the centre of many a local folklore. Nagaland comes to life from the kaleidoscope celebration of Hornbill Festivals often cited as ‘Festival of Festivals’ celebrating the colours of Nagaland. The Hornbill Festivals depict the rich cultural heritage and an activity of the 17 tribes of Naga is breaking all records of tourist foot fall.

The aim of this festival is all about connecting people, connecting lives, reviving old cultures, promote the richness of Naga heritage and actually preserving the old tribal cultures and tradition of Nagaland. Every year, Hornbill Festivals is celebrated from 1- 10 December which is held at Naga Heritage village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima. The festival brings about unity and better relation among the various tribes of Nagaland. This festival is gritting in its element and has a powerful representation witness the attire of the Naga culture through splendid traditional music, dance forms, headgear, paintings, handicrafts and other exhibits of the varied tribes and sub- tribes of the state.

                                                                                           MY EXPERIENCE AT HORNBILL FESTIVALS

This is a very popular festival of our Nagaland. With full of excitement and preparation we proceed our journey from Guwahati to Kohima , evening at around 8.15am from ISBT by Network bus (which cost  INR 750/- per person) and reached Nagaland gate (Dimapur) at around 6.03am. After reaching Kohima, the capital of Nagaland at around 11.30am we searched for share taxi (sumo INR 50/- per person) which was available near Kohima police headquarter to reach Kisama village (The venue of Hornbill Festival). It took 60 minutes to reach the camp site called “Camp Hornbill” at Kigwema which is the nearest distance  to Kisama, it takes 15 minutes to reach the venue.

On the first day, I wake up early in the morning and took bathed, we decided to planned for a visit to typical Naga Village i.e. Khonoma. On the way near Hornbill Festival, we had lunch at a restaurant called “Hotel Orami”. There you will get delicious food/ fast food i.e. rice with chicken INR 150/-, rice with pork INR 160/-, etc. It is very reasonable price apart from other restaurants.

On the first day we went to Khonoma village at 11.00am from B.O.C (20km distance) which took 45 minutes from B.O.C. A taxi was booked one day for a day trip to Khonoma (INR 1800/- for 4 person), a diversion to the left took us a single lane road to Khonoma. The road was in a horrible condition with path holes till the outer gate of Khonoma village as the road widening work was in progress. However, the slow movement of our taxi gave us opportunity to view beautiful landscape, deep valleys skirted by thick forest cover. We reached Khonoma at around 11.45am and parked out the car near Baptist Church, Khonoma village. The Church is located at the junction where the only two roads in the village meet. It was Sunday morning so everyone was coming to attain the church ceremony; it was our first time so to guide us we took one local guy. He came in 5 minutes and introduces himself to us. We started our village walk with guide by climbing a stone staircase approx. 180 steps just opposite the Baptist Church. The stone door of typical Naga paintings which have been installed at the gate leading to upper Khonoma to protect from enemies, there used to be wooden carved door but it was replaced with the stone door. It was so heavy that it couldn’t be moved. So, the stone door has been kept aside. The stone steps leading to the upper Khonoma village, most of the historic places are in this part of the village. The guide took us do many historical places like memorials, forts, traditional morungs (bachelors dormitory). Morungs plays a vital role in Naga society, in early times it has been served as a learning institute, basket weaving place, traditional shawls etc. There were hundreds of memorials in the village erected in honour of those who laid down their lives fighting for Nagaland. First, you will find president of the Federal Government of Nagaland. Behind the memorial is the view point of the valley which is perched on a hanging rock. The village walk took about two and half hour to complete. Our guide was so humble and generous and was very knowledgeable about the evolution of this village and their lifestyle to describe it in details. He took us to ancestral places to take photos and have some interaction with them. There we could also found 2 cell towers Airtel and BSNL, the unity and the contribution of the villagers makes the title keeping the village green. What impressed tourist about Khonoma village is the cleanliness in the entire village surrounded by the green forest. From upper Khonoma village, you will see a church located on the top of a hillock seen which is eye catching. Apart of the Khonoma village, the population of the village is around 3000 mostly inhabited by the Angami Naga Tribes. Almost all houses have tin roofs as against the traditional thatched roofs. In fact, the original traditional houses had been destroyed during war year and new houses were built after the war ended.               

  What I have heard from our guide is that it has a history of fighting with the Britishers in the 19^th century and with the Indian army in the late 50’s. The village has two lane roads i.e. upper and lower circular road. I can clearly understand now as to why British army found it very difficult to capture Khonoma. The village itself is located on a hillock surrounded by valleys from all sides. The upper sides of the valleys have dense cover of forests. Each movement can be seen from the village and take position accordingly to ambush the advancing soldiers of the village. In case of emergency, the village could take shelters under the dense forest and frustrated the advancing soldiers with their guerrilla warfare. In those times, they used to live in the forest with wild apples, animals and birds as daily food.

Now, in 21^st century they have sacrificed their livelihood for the cause of keeping the village green and maintaining the ecological balance. If you get there, you will see the nostalgic view of Khonoma village on the left with stepped farms in the valley. More than 20 varieties of rice and vegetables are grown in this field surrounding the village. It has been already 10 years now, the village council has completely banned hunting of animals, birds, log cutting. All the entire villagers cooperate in this regard. It was very memorable and the pleasant weather made the stroll enjoyable for me but for kind information, if you are reading my experience journey I would love to suggest that better not to go on Sunday because you won’t be able to find any shops and restaurant opened on this particular day. Leaving behind the memory of a beautiful and historical village, Khonoma at around 3.00pm we started our return journey. While returning back we stopped by at Hornbill Festival, luckily we enjoyed the Tetseo Sister’s performance.

On the second day, with lots of excitement get ready and headed to the main road to attain- one of the largest celebration of the indigenous warrior tribes of our Nagaland. Before entering the gate you have to buy entry tickets which cost INR 20/-per person and it has been purchased separately for each day of the event. You can get it easily at the entry gate. If you wish to take a Camera/ DSLR to the event to capture the bewitching beauty of this vibrant festival, you will have to pay an additional amount of INR 50/-, there is also an information center located near the festival venue for any kind of help. You can also ask them for the brochure listing the festival events and other attractions in Nagaland. A schedule handbook listing all the event of the festival is also available at the entry gate of the venue. The programme starts at around 10.30 am in the morning, watching the rituals in a most authentic set up is awe- inspiring. It will give you a rare opportunity to experience the cultural troupe magnetism from close quarters. Presenting the 17 tribes that take part in the festival are Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Dimasa Kachari, Garo, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Kuki, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Regma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimchungru, and Zeliang. Each tribe has its unique dance, music, customs, and life style. Energetic traditional folk dance and musical performance which ensure during the gradual course of events is a closely knit representation of the Naga culture and the ethnicity are performed and enjoyed during the festival to bring out the competition spirit in people.

Once the event is over you can step inside the Morungs, there you will see a central fireplace with the elders sitting around it and indulging in conversation. You will find dried pork on a large bamboo tray, hung over the fireplace. The dipping juicy of the meat on the fire looks absolutely tempting. They cook the meals there itself, most of the Morungs have a dedicated place where you can pay and order food and relish the traditional cuisine. One of the most special dish- the smoked pork with local red rice taste heavenly. In Morungs, you will get log drums, which indicate the different sound from the wooden drums. This log drums is a very integral part of our Naga life. This is created out of huge tree ttrunk sometimes going up to 30 to 40 meters in length and 50 to 60 feet height. In ancient times, it is used for informing or alarming the villagers of enemies, fire or tigers with different sound. This log drum is not only restricted to create martial music but on all occasions from birth to death, from festivals to the death news and from announcing time of the elders meeting to declare emergency when the rival groups attacks . Many of you may think what Morungs is!!! In short, Morungs is a dormitory for youth say from 5-16 years who spend their night here. There is a separate dormitory for females in this age group. Youth keep a watch over enemies and declare emergency through biting the log drum on seeing enemies. Today those practices are passing into oblivionness.     

1. When you are in Nagaland, you can’t effort to missed Tetso Sister’s performance.

2. When you are in Nagaland, make sure you try the Naga rice beer and other appetizers as well as pork inert.

3. There are different stalls for shopping lovers too on the festival ground. One can buy for different handicrafts, souvenirs, handloom items, jewellers, traditional utensils, pottery, different orchids, paintings, flowers, herbal medicine, local Naga coffee stall, restaurant etc.

Cultural extravaganza on the third day of the Hornbill Festival, once the sun goes down at Hornbill and the place is in darkness, you have a couple of things you can do. You can get warm and meet people around many campfires that are set up at night, and rock out at the song performance that take place in evening. You can watch from the sidelines but I would get in the crowd and dance just to keep warm.

From around 2pm on ward, the sun hides behind the hills and the festival ground is in shadow making it totally freezing, make sure put on warm layers. As I stayed at ‘Camp Hornbill’, Kigwema for the duration of my 3N/4D stay. The campsite was so welcoming and people serving were really lovely. Little bite adjustment is needed as I had to use clothes as a pillow and due to the circulation of my feet had to borrow two thick blankets from them. I cannot handle sleeping in the cold, the facilities were a squeaky clean outdoor toilets and bath room with running water, provide hot water, daily meals and a campfire area at night to get cosy. On late night, I was feeling of wanting to stay for more days as I couldn’t able to see the rock pulling. If you go you will understand what i meant to say.

On fourth day, wake up at around 7.30 am, take bath with warm water and move out from Kigwema and reach kohima share taxi stand which cost INR 350/- per person to reach Dimapur railway station. Meantime we went to Hongkong market to buy clothes for an hour which you will get at wholesale price; we took train and return home late night. It was the best memorable journey to Nagaland.     

1. Kohima World War 2 Cemetery:

Situated at the heart of the city is the Kohima cemetery. It is a war memorial dedicated to the 1420 fallen soldiers of the 2nd British Division of the Allied Forces and an additional 917 British Indian soldiers. It is set up at an exact place where the Battle of Kohima was fought and won by the Allied forces. You will know the cemetery offers a beautiful panoramic view of the city in the core of Kohima. It is famous for its world as Kohima Epitaph.

2. Mao Market:

If you are very much found of discovery traditional way of food, you can visit this market. It is the largest local market in Kohima city located between the Bethel Hospital and the fire department. All the products at this market are from local farm. You will find vegetables, local herbs, fermented bamboo shoots, king chillies, red meat such as pork, beef, tapoles, silkworms, etc.

3. Viswema Tribal Museum:

Viswema tribal museum is a new museum that was inaugurated in the Viswema Village on May 24, 2019. It takes about an hour to reach this place from kohima city. This museum has a collection of dresses and materials worn and used during the olden days. This museum is conceived with a purpose to collect old accessories and dresses for preservation.

4. Trekking Destination –

 Dzukou Valley:

  This valley is well known for its natural environment, it is situated at an altitude of 2452 metres above sea level. Dzukou valley ranks under the top 3 destination in Northeast India for adventure seekers. This Garden of Eden is around the year destination and can be visited in any season. But the best time to trek Dzukou valley is during the monsoon because the temperature remains moderate at this time. Also, in the rainy season, the endemic Dzukou lily carpets the surface and turns the rolling hills into a valley of flowers. In December, Dzukou experience a frozen sub zero temperature. It is an easy to moderate trek and takes about 4 hours to reach the summit. One can start from either Jakhama ot Viswema village. The most difficult part is to climb the steep stairs for the first one and half hours but after reaching the top of Dzukou. It is such a beautiful creation of God that you have to witness it by yourself by planning a visit there. Camping is allowed only at the base camp and it also has dormitories and few private rooms for travellers. The place is community run spaces so do not expect any luxury facilities or accommodation.

Japfu Peak:

It is the second highest peak of Nagaland and a moderate trek for an experienced trekker. The trail starts from Kigwema and leads to a quiet steep forest. It is considered as a birder’s paradise. It is covered with dense forest without any view. After walking for hundred meters you will be astonished with the view of the valleys, hills, and villages.

It is highly recommended to use a local guide service and also carry packed food and water while trekking Japfu Peak. Halfway to the Jafu Peak lie the tallest Rhododendron tree in the world. It was discovered in the year 1993 by a local hunter from the nearby village. This tree grows till 6 to 10 feet but this tree was 108 feet long when it was measured in 1993 and it is still growing.

Content Writer : Wapangla