Originally published on medium.com
Unusual political boundaries have isolated North-East India from rest of the world (and rest of India) for many years. This is perhaps one of the reasons that has allowed this region to retain and celebrate a good part of its indigenous culture without significant influence from outside.
Performances at the Hornbill Festival, Kohima.
The Hornbill Festival in the hill-state of Nagaland is perhaps the most eclectic and elaborate of all the cultural events in the region. It offers a glimpse of North-East India’s rich culture, even though it showcases life and rituals from just one of the seven states in the region. This is a celebration of customs, cultures and everyday life of the seventeen communities that inhabit the hills of Nagaland. For ten days every December, the slopes of Kisama Village reverberate with gentle murmur of folks songs alternating with cries of hunters displaying their skills in the arena.
Every December, we conduct a week long mentored photography tour that offers excellent opportunities to learn the nuances of photographing people and cultures. The tour also helps you experience the rich culture of North-East India from up-close. We travel with a cultural guide having an in-depth knowledge of North-East India, its history and culture. It’s an awesome journey that offers unparalleled photography opportunities and unique people encounters. To be a part of this tour, visit “Photography in North-East India and Hornbill Festival” and find out more details.
Naga people at a performance during Hornbill Festival.
What makes Hornbill Festival an endearing experience is in the way the festival is not limited to an on-stage ensemble that isolates itself and doesn’t connect with its audience beyond the performance. During the days of the festival, each of the seventeen communities setup their own corner at the festival venue that permits personal interactions between visitors and the performing artists.
Performers in their morung at the festival venue.
Morungs, roughly translated as dormitories, are places where a community’s performing members come to rest between performances and occasionally conduct small ritual activities. In Naga tradition, a morung is a community building in a village that serves as a dormitory and a place for schooling young men. A morung also doubles up as a place of gathering for the community, from where villagers conduct meetings or announce events in the village.
Here is a summary of all posts on North East India series I had been writing till now.
IMAGES FROM NORTH EAST
* Arunach Pradesh(Eaglenest National Park, Tawang)
* Assam and Meghalaya(Guwahati, Nameri, Kaziranga, Shillong, Cherrapunjee)
ENTERING THE NORTH EAST
* Beginning of the series
* From Bangalore to Guwahati
* Impressions of Guwahati
* Umananda temple and Peacock Island
Brahmaputra flows at Guwahati
EAGLENEST NATIONAL PARK
* Travelling to Eaglenest
* About Vacation For Conservation
* First Day at Eaglenest
* The days at Eaglenest
* Haathi Trail
* About Eaglenest National Park
Rhododendrons at Eaglenest
TAWANG
* From Eaglenest to Tawang – I
* From Eaglenest to Tawang – II
* Tawang Monastery
* Snow and Lakes beyond Tawang
* Around Tawang
* Returning from Tawang
Inside Tawang Monastery
WILDERNESS OF ASSAM
* Nameri National Park
* Arriving at Kaziranga National Park
* At Kaziranga National Park
* About Kaziranga National Park
A One Horned Rhino at Kaziranga
MEGHALAYA
* Lazing in Shillong
* Cherrapunjee
Nohkalikai falls, Cherrapunjee
MORE
* On travelling in the North East India
* Assam’s degrading environment
Travelling in the North-East in the summer of 2006
Guwahati >> Eaglenest >> Tawang >> Nameri >> Kaziranga >> Shillong >> Cherrapunjee
+Previous: At Kaziranga National Park
+Next: Lazing in Shillong
+Go to the beginning of the series
Kaziranga National Park is a UNESCO world heritage site, and is well known for One Horned Rhino which have now become endemic to the region.
Previous posts on Kaziranga
* Arriving at Kaziranga
* Two days at Kaziranga
Although Kaziranga is not the only place where you see the Rhinos, it is the place where you see them in plenty, and a sighting is almost guaranteed. You can find Rhinos in a few more parks in Assam. Rhinos, though are the prime attraction of the park, there are other animals in plenty, such as the elephants, wild buffaloes, deer(swamp deer, chitals, barking deer). The park even has tigers, though sightings are not common. When it comes to birds, Kaziranga is the habitat of Bengal Florican, a rare, critically endangered species.
A few decades ago, the numbers of the Rhinos were rapidly declining due to rampant poaching, and the future looked bleak for them in Kaziranga. But good park management and a ‘shoot to kill’ approach against the poachers in the later years has brought life back to the park, and the Rhinos have thrived, with plenty of food and water available in the grasslands on the banks of Brahmaputra.
THINGS TO DO, AND PLACES TO STAY
Elephant rides in the park are one of the biggest attraction, since it lets you get very close to the Rhinos. Although the safari elephants are in good numbers, you may not be guaranteed a ride due to rush in the peak season. You can also go on a jeep safari in the park. Accommodation around the park is also limited. There are very few hotels or resorts, and a few government run lodges are the main places to stay. Book ahead during weekends and seasons. Wild Grass Lodge, a mid-range accommodation has earned itself a good name.
HOW TO REACH
Kohora is the village just outside the National Park where all tourist amenities and the park office are located. Kaziranga is a six hour journey from Guwahati. Buses from Guwahati to Jorhat and Dibrugarh go via Kohora.