Naga tourism takes a hit due to violence
Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival – a much-awaited cultural extravaganza – was called off because of violence in the region. This comes as local tourism was already suffering because of the pandemic.
Nagaland’s vibrant Hornbill Festival – a wonderous display of cultural pride and unity – is once again called off, this time midway through the 10-day long event, hurting the region’s fledgling tourism industry.
Last year the event was cancelled because of the pandemic. And this year, after just five days of colourful dancing and parading, it was called off again, this time because of violence in the region on December 4 in which 15 people died. Organisers called off the festival in solidarity with the victims.
But Nagaland’s Department of Tourism is worried both the violence and the lingering pandemic will impact the state’s much-needed tourism in the coming years.
“It will take time to rebuild. We’ll try our best to portray Nagaland as a tourist-friendly state,” said Kakihe Sumi, deputy director, Department of Tourism, Nagaland.
Figures from the tourism department showed the government had earned a whopping revenue of Rs 103 crore by investing just Rs 10 crore in the Hornbill Festival in 2016, providing many villagers a new income stream.
“The festival offers livelihood to several hundreds of locals who work as guides and do other jobs,” Sumi said.
Violence means tourists losing out too
And it is not just the locals who are dismayed by the cancellation of the festival, but hundreds of tourists who had come from afar to see the extravaganza have lost out too.
For years Purnima Arora had heard a lot about the Hornbill Festival and this year she decided to take her children to see it, making plans to spend a few days in the picturesque north-eastern state.
The 35-year-old widow had been saving money for many months so that her 10 and 11-year-old sons could witness the rich culture of the hilly state. The family flew from Delhi to Dimapur in Nagaland on December 5, taking a further three-hour road journey to Naga Heritage Village Kisama on the outskirts of state capital Kohima, where the festival was being held.
“I have no words to express the shock. I spent a whopping sum of Rs 25,000 to reach here after months of cost-cutting. But to my utter dismay, everything stands cancelled. It will take a toll on my wallet. My children are utterly disappointed,” she said as tears welled up in her eyes.
Arora is not the only one. Several thousands of tourists who had reached Nagaland from different parts of the country to attend the cultural extravaganza had to return disappointed after the government cancelled the festival because of the violence.
What is Hornbill Festival?
It is not just the tourism industry that is taking a hit from the region’s violence and the festival cancellation, but the community spirit too.
Nagas take pride in the festival and participate with much gusto. Splendid traditional dances, often of men with spears and other weapons, are performed to the accompaniment of tribal music.
Billed as the “festival of festivals,” the Hornbill Festival is named after the large and colourful forest hornbill bird. As it is predominantly seen in the north-eastern state, the bird is part of the folklore of most of the tribes of Nagaland. The state government started the festival in 2000 to promote the Naga culture and greater harmony between the different tribes.
The colourful and vibrant carnival is a mesmerising and unforgettable spectacle for visitors. The festival ran uninterrupted till 2019. It was halted last year due to COVID-19 protocols.
The 22nd edition of the festival began with much fanfare on December 1 and was scheduled to run till December 10 before the unfortunate incident brought down the curtains for this year. Men and women representing 16 tribes from 12 districts participated in the festival. The participating tribes included Chakhesang, Pochury, Chang, Konyak, Angami and Phom.
“Spirits, fertility, social bonding and purification are the key elements that form the essence of Naga festivals. The customs that each tribe follows translates into a festival,” said 26-year-old Kuntang, a school teacher from Chang tribe, participating in the festival.
“We also get a chance to meet various tribes and witness their culture during the annual carnival,” Kuntang added.
Shadow of the pandemic
With the shadow of the pandemic still looming large over tourists’ minds, the festival had a thinner crowd in the first five days before it was cancelled. The total visitors for the first five days this year stood at just 17,000. State tourism officials, who organise the festival every year, were disappointed.
“This year around 90% of the hotels are booked in Kohima and neighbouring areas, which is poor as normally we have 100% bookings during the festival. Even the home-stays had fewer guests this year due to the pandemic-induced fear,” Sumi said.
Hope Hornbill’s extravaganza will pull tourists back
Despite the poor attendance, many who were lucky enough to see the first five days of the festival were full of praise.
Veteran actor Bijay Anand, who had recently acted in Shershah movie, had flown from Mumbai to attend the festival for the first time on December 3. Although he had come for a single day, he became captivated by the performances and so decided to extend his stay.
“It’s amazing to witness such a grand extravaganza with people dancing to the tune of mesmerising music. The dresses are so colourful,” he said. “The performances are over for the day but they keep replaying in my mind.”
With such impressions, everyone hopes that the next edition of the Hornbill Festival would be back in its full glory, pulling in tourists to a region rich in cultural.
Gurvinder Singh is a journalist based in Kolkata.
