Morungs at Hornbill Festival 2025 go digital with QR-linked tribal archives

KISAMA — For the first time across 26 editions of Hornbill Festival, all tribal morungs at Kisama have been digitised through an interactive QR-code–based information system.

Tamseel Hussain, founder and CEO of Pluc.TV (People Like Us Create TV) Network Ltd., said that the vision behind the initiative is to enable technology companies to enter morung spaces and help preserve indigenous culture for global audiences.

“The world needs to know the practices that indigenous communities have,” he said.

The state’s Tourism department and Pluc.TV signed an MoU on October 31, 2025, to collaborate on the digital initiative.

Describing the project as the “beginning of the revival of morungs”, Hussain said that they simply used technology and storytelling to make the morung experience accessible.

The idea, he explained, was to create a simple tool that delivers morung information directly to people’s phones: visitors only need to scan the QR code, which leads to a dedicated website where they can read about each tribe and even ask questions.

Hussain explained that the content was provided by the hoho leaders of the respective tribes.

The team worked with tribal leaders for nearly a month and a half to ensure credibility of the information—covering culture, festivals, food, weapons, expectations and more, along with videos and images.

“The idea is to revive culture, support tribes, generate economic benefits, increase tourism, and yet remain conservation-first,” he shared, adding that the values of the Naga people should be accessible beyond the Hornbill Festival.

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The biggest takeaway, he said, is that a simple tool has now placed tribal stories, culture and values directly in people’s phones. Throughout the year, Pluc.TV plans to continue engaging with users who interact with the morung pages.

Tourism Minister Temjen Imna Along acknowledged Pluc.TV’s contribution in digitising all the morungs and involving influencers and vloggers/bloggers to share authentic narratives of the people.

At a time when “negativism” is widespread, the minister expressed hope that this enterprise will help tell the stories of the Nagas to the rest of the country and the world.

Shambhavi Kanodia, Communication Strategist at Pluc.TV and one of the core coordinators for the project, said that her experience working with various tribes revealed a deep sense of unity that she has not observed in many other states.

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She shared that while casteism and discrimination persist elsewhere, “here the people are all one.” Hiring across tribes, she added, is commonplace—something unusual in other regions.

“It brings people together. Massive unity. I love that about the people,” she said.

Rampau Zeliang, secretary of the core committee for Zeliang morung, shared that the digitised system has been extremely helpful for both volunteers and visitors.

“Whenever visitors come, we explain whatever we can. If they need more information, we direct them to scan the QR code,” he said.

According to him, managing crowds becomes challenging, and the QR system helps enthusiasts get detailed information with ease. Feedback from visitors has also been positive.