TSÜNGREMMUNG: The Harvest Festival of the Aos

Since time immemorial, the Ao forefathers have revered and worshipped gods and paid tribute to them for their blessings. The Ao Nagas, just like any other Naga tribes of northeast India, is an agrarian society who gives much emphasis on agriculture, land and society. Agriculture is the main occupation and land is the god; culture and traditions is the everyday norms for societal governance and amity among the people. As such, the Ao forefathers celebrated two important festivals in a year related to agriculture – one was the sowing festival called Moatsü and the harvest festival called Tsüngremmung. Moatsü is celebrated in the month of May, when the sowing season starts. And Tsüngremmung is celebrated in the first week of August every year, when the fields are ripe and ready for harvest. Tsüngremmung is also a time for thanksgiving to God for an abundant blessing in the lush fields. The Longsa Tourism Committee presents you’re a journey to an ancient calling of the forebears through this article. Significance: The essence of Tsüngremmung is sanctification of the self and society for obtaining blessings from God. It has a strong bearing on community building as the entire village comes together to work, earn, save and eventually share, in the feasts that accompany the festival. Preparations for the festival actually start during the cultivation season, when the Zünga (age groups) work the fields to collect for the Zünga Yongya (age group feasts), held during Tsüngremmung. Tsüngremmung thus evolved as festival where, along with feasting, oral traditions and knowledge were passed from one generation to another, through song and dance and community life enhanced through sharing. August 1: Süngbenmung This day is dedicated solely to preparations for the upcoming celebrations because work on the second day is considered taboo. The works are divided according to Zünga (age groups), Kidong (clans) and Kimang (family) involving: Gathering of firewood; Collection of vine (stem of sword bean creeper) by Züngalepzük (the middle age group) from the jungle for the ceremonial tug-of-war between men and women; Pounding of rice; Preparation of meat and food; Cleaning of village and decorating of houses with the leaves of Longditsüngba Chungpet. August 2: Yatimung The main day of the festival on which no labor is done – it is believed that the sounds of rice being pounded and wood being chopped chase away the much sought after blessings. The entire community participates in various traditional as well as cultural activities: Ceremonial pulling of the Shangzü followed by singing and dancing; Ceremonial tug of war between the men and women with the stem of the sword bean creeper; Folk dance performances by the different groups; Group-wise feasting; distribution of rice and meat to the poor; the festivities continue through the night with Kimak, where friends and relatives visit homes and sing songs of history and love while they are served rice beer and meat. August 3: Aien Lenpi On this day, the entire community comes together to clean paths leading to the village, in preparation for socio-cultural interactions with the neighboring villages after the harvest season that follows Tsüngremmung. Young men who are soon to be married send out meat to signify their impending departure from the Arju (dormitory) At the end of the feast, a bonfire is made around which young men dance and in accordance with tradition, throw leftovers into the fire. Kimak continues on this day. The origin: In the days of old – when men abided close to God – there lived a man named Merangshang. He was hard working and devoted much of his time to working his field. The field adjoining his was cultivated by Tsüngremshang. While Merangshang toiled endlessly, he observed that Tsüngremshang worked only occasionally and yet, at harvest time, his field yielded abundant grains. Observing this amazing phenomenon, Merangshang befriended Tsüngremshang and asked him his secret. Tsüngremshang revealed that he could communicate with God and that during the cultivation period he would purify himself and just before harvest time, he performed a ritual to propitiate God, asking for His blessings. Merangshang also decided to follow in his neighbor’s footsteps and the following years, they observed the same worship, and both received abundant harvests. Merangshang passed on this knowledge of propitiating ‘Longditsüngba’ (translated as God the provider) for an abundant harvest, to the rest of his village. Slowly, it gained a growing number of practitioners and soon the entire village stared coming together to offer thanksgiving in the form of a festival that came to be known as Tsüngremmung (named after the man who started the ritual). Eventually the entire Ao tribe began observing this festival. As the years passed, the flowering of the white blossoms of ‘Songsaben’ below Chungliyimti was taken to herald the festival. Since the blossoms were first sighted from Longsa village, Tsüngremmung was therefore celebrated first at Longsa and only then observed in the other Ao villages. So the festival is also referred to as Longsamung. About Longsa: The Ao Naga village of Longsa is situated Southeast of Mokokchung adjoining Zunheboto and Tuensang districts. Set amid rolling hills, which reflect the azure of the cloudless skies above, the village affords visitors breathtaking vistas of its green surrounds. A colorful and vibrant people, the men and women of Longsa deeply treasure their ancestral legacy as is evident in the way they live their lives …with a strong sense of pride. Longsa is one of the most prominent villages in the Ao country. It has produced a lot of luminaries and leaders who have immensely contributed in various fields. Seeing the immense potential of Longsa village, the Government of Nagaland declared Longsa as a Tourist Village in the year 2006. Ever since, Longsa has remained in the world map as a tourist destination for visitors from world over with more and more tourists visiting the village every year. The village land is interspersed by about 10 streams and rivers, among which Dikhu and Tsütsüng are prominent landmarks. These rivers not only make the soil fertile and the climate pleasant but also make for popular picnic spots. Longsa is famous for its Chilli, maize and ginger crops. A tea estate, patchouli distillation unit and jute and allied fibers developmental projects are some of the industries that are flourishing here. Getting there: Option I: Fly to Dimapur in Nagaland and drive to Kohima. The Nagaland State Transport (NST) operates a chopper service from Dimapur to Mokokchung every Monday and Saturday. The chopper flight from Dimapur-Mokokchung takes only 25 minutes. From Mokokchung, there are available taxis and buses to Longsa which is about one hour drive. From Kohima, take National Highway 61 and drive to Mokokchung. From there, catch the Mokokochung - Tuensang Highway which passes through Longsa. (Dimapur is connected to Kolkata by Indian Airlines and by rail to major Indian cities) Option II: Fly to Jorhat in Assam. Turn off NH 37 at Jhanji and take NH 61 to Amguri – Mokokchung and onwards to Longsa by the Mokokchung-Tuensang highway. (Jorhat is connected to Kolkata by all major airlines. Koltakta is connected to all metros and major Indian cities by air or rail)

Sd/- Tourism Committee, Longsa (Mokokchung)