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A women cultural troupe performs at Kisama in Kohima on Monday. The third day of this year’s Hornbill Festival saw cultural performances from the 17 tribes of Nagaland. [/caption]
Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 3 (EMN): The central event of the third day of Hornbill Festival 2018 was based on the theme ‘Cultural Connect,’ presented by the department of Art and Culture, Nagaland. The event was held at the Kisama Main Arena.
One cultural troupe each from nine tribes performed in the morning session from 10 am to 12 pm; in the evening eight troupes, comprising eight tribes, presented their respective dances.
During the morning session, the Angami troupe led the cultural connect by performing their Phita dance. Phita is a warriors’ dance traditionally performed only by the men. Dressed in their full traditional attire, the performers’ rallying cries reverberated across the gallery much to the delight of the spectators.
The Chakhesang tribe were the next to follow with the blowing of their traditional trumpet, while the Chang troupe exhibited their age-old traditional practice of pulling the log-drum. The Garos continued with their Wangala dance while the Khiamniungan troupe presented ‘Ho-e Tsu,’ a folk song.
The Konyak, Lotha, and Phom troupes performed their Leaphet, an indigenous bamboo dance; Ekhyo Shari, a victory dance; and Nau-ü Asho, known as the chant of the babysitters, respectively.
Before the start of the second session, a traditional fire making competition was held at the Kisama Main Arena with representatives from all 17 tribes participating in the competition. Lichabi from Sangtam community emerged winner; he lit the fire within one minute and 40 seconds. Lhoupe Tepfu from Chakhesang community, who lit the fire in eight minutes and 24 seconds, was the runner-up.
The traditional fire making competition was conducted by the department of Youth Resources and Sports (DYRS), Nagaland. An official from the DYRS informed that a bamboo stilt race competition will be held on Dec. 5, a tug of war competition on Dec. 7, a cock fight competition on Dec. 8, and a traditional shot put competition on Dec. 9, which will take place at the Kisama Main Arena.
The evening session that started at 1 pm saw another round of traditional dances and practices from eight tribes of Nagaland. The Pochury troupe presented their Athso Theserie, which was a folk dance. The Kachari men and women displayed their traditional game known as the Goda Jang Konsa Dobani, which was played using sticks.
Rengma troupe performed a cotton-spinning song, the women engaged in spinning cotton manually sang romantic songs, which was said to have sang in remembrance of their boyfriends. The Sangtams presented a beautiful butterfly dance, while the Sumi men folk performed a war dance, known as Aphilo Kuwo.
It was followed by the Yimchunger women displaying their Khüyih King-Achihkhi, a traditional game. A cultural dance, known by the name of Jangcha Lam was performed by the Kukis; the session culminated with Herie Lim, a hornbill dance from the Zeliang troupe.
The next seven days of the Hornbill Festival in Kisama will be conducted at the Kisama Main Arena. The event will continue with traditional dances from the 17 tribes of Nagaland. Officials from the department of Art and Culture, Nagaland informed that though the cultural troupes will be the same every day, the dances would be different each day. The morning session starts at 10 am, while the evening session begins at 1 pm daily.
The third day of this year’s Hornbill Festival recorded 11497 visitors. According to information from the state’s Tourism department, there were 347 foreign tourists, 2482 domestic and 8668 local visitors.