The Hornbill Pageant, Nagaland’s iconic cultural and tourism honest that’s yearly held from December 1 to 10, has developed right into a celebration showcasing the varied and vibrant cultural and conventional heritage of the tribes of Nagaland.
In its twenty fifth 12 months, the competition was conceived at a time when the state was slowly returning to normalcy, following the signing of a ceasefire settlement between the Naga armed group Isak-Muivah-led Nationwide Socialist Council of Nagalim and the Centre, after having been by way of insurgency for over 5 many years.
The long-drawn insurgency had not solely hit regular life with each day hours of curfew throughout the state, it had additionally badly impacted tourism.
“A number of of us traveled with the then chief minister of Nagaland SC Jamir to worldwide tourism occasions and Nagaland was not identified anyplace,” recalled Thangi Mannen, former state tourism secretary. She stated the competition thought was conceived as an occasion to advertise the cultural richness of Nagaland. Jamir noticed it as an occasion with the potential to turn out to be a “window to Nagaland”.
The competition was named after the Hornbill chicken given its affiliation with the socio-cultural lifetime of the Nagas by way of folklore, dances, songs, and utilization of the magnificent chicken’s feather as motifs on ceremonial attires and males’s headgear.
Additionally Learn:10-day Hornbill Pageant to start in Nagaland from December 1
Within the first few years, the competition was a five-day occasion held at Khouchiezie, a good floor within the coronary heart of the state capital Kohima. The state authorities acquired a plot of land from the southern Angami villages of Kigwema and Phesama, situated about 10 km from Kohima, and turned it into the primary venue for the rising occasion in 2003.
The picturesque sloping hillock was named the Naga Heritage Village, Kisama, a mix of the 2 donor villages. Tribal morungs (huts) of all of the 17 recognised tribes have been constructed on the venue, every positioned strategically that altogether they characterize the form of the map of Nagaland. After the competition was shifted to Kisama, the federal government prolonged the competition period to seven days. Over time, the competition turned widespread, attracting guests from completely different districts, states in addition to international vacationers, prompting an extra extension of the competition to 10 days.
The annual carnival is commonly known as the “competition of festivals” within the northeastern state. It marks the fruits of all of the Naga tribal festivals held in keeping with the state’s rural calendar, offering a better have a look at the Naga tradition and lifestyle. It promotes the varied Naga ethnicity and model Nagaland by way of conventional artwork, meals, dances, music, tribal rituals and indigenous video games, crafts, highlighting Naga textiles and designs.
The competition now attracts vacationers from throughout India and overseas; In 2023, the state tourism division recorded 1.5 lakh footfalls. The state authorities invests ₹5-6 crores yearly on the competition. Based on an impartial examine, a Report on Financial Evaluation of Hornbill Pageant, the Hornbill Pageant in 2023 generated roughly ₹131 crore. The state authorities has permitted ₹100 crore to improve infrastructure in Kisama for 2024-25.
The competition has over time hosted the nation’s prime political dignitaries together with the president and the prime minister of India, international diplomats as additionally movie stars. The continuing version is showcasing a collaborative cultural expertise with the US, UK, Japan and Peru as worldwide companions whereas Sikkim and Telangana are the accomplice states.
