Named after an endangered bird, Hornbill Festival is an annual celebration at Naga Heritage Village at Kisama, 12km from Kohima from Dec 1st to 7th displaying traditions, culture, costumes, valor and camaraderie. 16 various tribes across Nagaland come together in traditional warrior costumes carrying their hunting paraphernalia. Dancers from other 6 Northeast states perform like true professionals. Marathon, cycling, Northeast riders meet, World War II Peace Rally, flower/horticulture/photo exhibitions and shopping stalls - other crowd pullers. Indira Gandhi stadium at Kohima host the music festival on the evenings, the rock festival has 20 bands over 4days. To soak in the whole experience of Hornbill Festival, spend at least 3 days; make sure you reach before 9am on day one.
On Nov 30th, to get glimpses of behind the scene preparations, we visited Kisama village. The flawless rehearsal for inaugural ceremony was exemplary for the meticulous preparation by the event management personnel. Gala opening ceremony on Dec 1st is a must see. Iconic Naga log drum by Chang tribe, unity dance and Tetse sisters' songs justified the sobriquet of Festival of Festivals. Konyak tribe's gun salute was shocking followed by troupes of bagpipers. Naga chilli eating completion drew large crowds, winner hogged 14 chilies- rated one of the hottest in the world, 1001304 on Scoville Heat Unit which indicates the amount of capsaicin. A 7kg piglet was released to be caught by agile Naga men- a daily event.
Dancers from 6 states enthralled audience on Dec 2nd. Cheraw dance by Mizoram, Dhol Dholak from Manipur, Dahal Tungri by Bodo girls were dazzling. Pork fat eating contest was nauseating to watch, winner consumed more than a kilo in 60sec! Naga cultural dances by tribes evoking various emotions - ferocious head hunting, meditative healing
practices, festive harvesting and exorcist burial ceremony - every tribe provided a visual feast. Every village amon the 1400 village in Nagaland gets a turn to perform here, some may take 30years to come back to Kisama.
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Vivid pictures showcasing culture and heritage are abundant at the morungs, walk around and interact with the people. Many speak English and have been to South India. Mighty wrestlers flexed their muscles at the Naga style wrestling. Relish the blisteringly authentic Naga food at the morungs - khalora and rice beer were our favorite. While you are not admiring pastiche of bamboo architecture, indulge in shopping for a piece of household tool at the bamboo pavilion. You can't carry in your bag? Indian Post has a stall inside the village to ship it at a cheap rate. Notably Indian tourists are less in number compared to the foreign tourists, Hornbill is organized eyeing on the dollar and euro signs.
Your point about less Indian tourists - it is the foreign tourists who have always discovered the most exotic parts of India, whether it is Ladakh or Nagaland! Indian tourists are always grumbling about the lack of hotels & querying about "sightseeing" places!
ReplyDeleteI felt that I was actually there, going by your description of the Festival!
ReplyDeleteHow did you manage to get acco in Kisama itself?
Are the rates quoted by me "peak" rates or are they less at non-Festival time?
Hotel prices don't shoot up during Hornbill but gets booked months ahead. Homestays' prices are 20% more during Hornbill. Our finding at Kigwema village was a serendipity. The same place should be available at Rs.800 during non festival time.
DeleteLovely write up there Romin/Megha. Sorry that we couldn't meet you guys there but your help on providing us contacts for staying has been a big boon.
ReplyDeleteWe were there for the last two days of the festival and it was an experience of a lifetime. Would like to go there for next year's festival too. BTW, in the last two days there were many more Indian visitors than foreign ones :)