Photo-story: rich cultural heritage of North-East India & Hornbill Festival

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.

hornbill festival
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.

hornbill festival
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.

hornbill festival
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.


Categories: photos

Prayers at a Monastery in Majuli

We had arrived in Garamur Satra–one of the many Vaishnavite Monasteries in Assam’s Majuli Island–late in the morning, just in time for the morning prayers. The day was beginning well as the sun shined bright and dispersed the winter chill that had settled in through the night. Inside the Satra, its spacious temple and prayer hall were nearly empty as two monks arrived to perform morning prayers. It was quiet, aesthetic and peaceful–a combination of all this that emanated energizing vibes.

Monastery in Majuli, Assam


The North East India Travelog

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

Peacock Island, Guwahati
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
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

Tawang Monastery
Inside Tawang Monastery

WILDERNESS OF ASSAM

* Nameri National Park
* Arriving at Kaziranga National Park
* At Kaziranga National Park
* About Kaziranga National Park

Rhino, Kaziranga
A One Horned Rhino at Kaziranga

MEGHALAYA

* Lazing in Shillong
* Cherrapunjee

Nohkalikai Falls
Nohkalikai falls, Cherrapunjee

MORE

* On travelling in the North East India
* Assam’s degrading environment