Ten-day Hornbill Festival which commenced on December 1 commemorating Nagaland Statehood Day culminated on Sunday with a colourful closing ceremony at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.
Culturally Yours: “Culturally Yours” – a cultural extravaganza presented by the Department of Art & Culture on Sunday at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama. Altogether, 17 outstanding cultural troupes presented to the visitors, a glimpse into the rich cultural songs, dances and traditions of the tribes of Nagaland.
According to DIPR report, on the last day of the festival, all the 17 cultural troupes enthralled the festive-goers with their performances. The cultural troupe from Sangtam tribe presented a folk song “The fruit of hard labour is sweet,” which signifies that the crops bear much grains and their fatigue fades away when they sing. The cultural troupe from Zeliang tribe performed a farewell dance, “Chehin Phinbe Lim” where, at the culmination of all celebratory activities, the young and old join in singing and dancing, reluctant to end the joyful occasion. “Shangpila” was presented by the cultural troupe from Chang tribe which is a girls and boys song, sung since the olden days. A popular folk dance, “Saipi Khupsuh” was performed by the Kuki cultural troupe; this folk dance originated when forefathers of the Kukis were living in Chin Hills in Burma (Myanmar) and is performed after a war victory or in honour of a hunter who brought home a big game. The cultural troupe from Garo tribe presented to the crowd a folk song, “Dim Dim Chong” which is performed by both girls and boys during Wangala, a post harvest festival of the Garos.
“Badey Badey Sow Low-o”, a folk song performed by the cultural troupe from Pochury tribe is sung during the feast, marking the happy occasion of cementing relationship with neighbouring villages. The Khiamniungan cultural troupe performed “Jamhang”, an indoor dance which is hosted by a well to do prominent person from the village who wants to share his blessings and wealth with the people during feast of merit. Shem Shupu, a ritual, performed by the Phom tribe takes place during “Lannyang Shem,” log drum pulling event, with the people praising the log drum saying ‘’May your echoes be heard to all humanity and may we all prosper under your echoes.’’ “Eloe loroe tona khyingroe rumphi khen,” performed by the cultural troupe from Lotha tribe is a processional song and dance by young males and females who dance and sing across the village, feasting on rice beer prepared by the village priest during the month of October.
A traditional sacrificial ritual, “Oü Yok Pe” was performed by the Konyak tribe in which, they sacrifice animals and vegetables to please the gods for abundant blessings. This ritual is usually done right after the Aoleang festival. The cultural troupe from Sumi tribe performed a farewell song, “Ashekha Kikini Lejole” which is sung at the end of any big festival or ceremony; it is a song of thanksgiving also. The Ao cultural troupe presented to the audience a drama, “Longmah Jenshir Otsu” which depicts the life of Longmah villagers during an extraordinary situation when the village produce thirty rich men who decide to offer the feast of merit. The Rengma cultural troupe presented “Tefu Kejen” (Cotton spinning), the cultural troupe from Kachari tribe performed “Boi Jabon”, the cultural troupe from Angami tribe presented “Lave-o” and the Chakhesang cultural troupe presented a performance, marking the Sükrünye festival.
Exhibition of Naga crafts: Ten-day exhibition of craftscape, a portfolio on the Naga crafts organized by Tribal Weave in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Art & Culture also culminated on Sunday.
According to DIPR report, during the short closing ceremony, chief functionary, Tribal Weave, Sentila T. Yanger, thanked the participants for taking part enthusiastically. She encouraged them to participate in the next Hornbill festival. Altogether six stalls participated at the exhibition.
HIPFEST photo contest: Parvej Akhtar from Kolkata and Kehunülü Theyo from Nagaland won the HIPFEST photo contest and HIPFEST Kids contest 2017 organised by the Department of Information & Public Relations in collaboration with Eastern Art Council on Sunday at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama.
Speaking at the culmination programme, director, IPR, Limawati Ao, appreciated to all the participants of the competition, both local and from abroad, who have contributed their photographs for the competition.
He said the competition would not have been possible without their participation and contribution. Ao encouraged the participants to come forward with their photos for the competition even in the coming years. He also thanked the department officials and organisers from Eastern Art Council for showing keen interest for the success of the competition.
During the programme, he also gave away the prizes to the winners of the competition as follows:
HIPFEST photo contest 2017
1st – Parvej Akhtar (Kolkata)
2nd – Priyojit Akoijam (Manipur)
3rd – Metsungnakba Longchar (Nagaland)
Consolation- Maong Longkumer (Nagaland) and Dr. Longri Kichu (Nagaland)
HIPFEST Kids Contest 2017
1st – Kehunülü Theyo /class 6 / G. Rio School/ Nagaland
2nd – Abi Mor/ Class 9 / Nagaland
3rd – Sinlo Seb / Class 4 / G. Rio School / Nagaland
Consolation- Rangala Songduimei / Class 4 / St. Anthony / Manipur and Thungja / Class 5 / Nagaland.
Naga chef season-5: The Naga Chef contest, season 5, which began on December 5, concluded on Sunday wherein Rokokhono Rhutso was declared the winner.
According to DIPR reports, ten contestants participated in the competition, vying for the coveted title and cash prize of Rs. 3 lakhs.
Khrusatolu Chuzho and Shiumai Phom came in second and third place respectively. Nisi Chase (14), the youngest contestant came fourth at the competition.
Naga Chef is an annual event organized by Synergy Group Enterprises in partnership with the Department of Tourism Nagaland. It is held to exhibit the different delicacies of the various tribes of Nagaland and to promote indigenous Naga cuisines to the rest of the world.