Nagaland is known as the “land of the festival” because there is number of festivals celebrated every year by different tribes that live here. These festivals show their traditional and cultural activities.

Read : Various festivals of Nagaland

Nagaland is a place that is extremely rich in vast species of flora and fauna and also a habitat of some of the deadliest plants and animals. Nagaland is also known as the Falcon capital of the world because it’s a home of the large diversity of different and beautiful species of birds. Nagaland not only make people amazed and dazzled by its natural aesthetic beauty but also gives a feeling of relaxation and peace, whoever visits this amazing place.

NAGALAND: Home of various Tribal communities

 Nagaland is a home of different Tribes. According to the ancient history of Nagaland, there are estimated to be 66 tribes including the sub-tribes but out of these, only 16 are considered as major tribes. The major tribes include Angami, chakhesang, Ao, Chang, Khemungan, Konyak, Tista, Zeliang, Phom, Pochuri, Lotha, Rengma, Sangram, Sema, Yimchunger, Poumai, Rongmei Naga, Maram Naga, Nocte, Tangsa, Tista, and Wancho. These all Tribes have their own language structure except a common language (Nagamese) that they speak to communicate with other tribes, but they are all common in following dress code, traditional laws, cultural practices, and eating habits. These tribes had their origin from the Indo – mongoloid family and major of these tribes follow Christianity as religion. Instead of living in urban areas, they prefer to live in rural regions in order to maintain their culture and tradition.

Culture and its origin

As mentioned Nagaland is a home of different tribes, cultures, and social structures that vary from one tribal community to another. The people of Nagaland lives on the top of the hill in houses having stone walls and heavy wooden gates with deep ditches dug around the wall. Because of Nagaland’s vibrant and dynamic cultural tradition, their dance and music forms are all different and unique.

Dance and music of Nagaland

In Nagaland, each tribal community has its own unique style of dance Zeliang dance, fly dance, cricket dance, cock dance, and bear dance are some of the famous dance forms that are performed by the tribal people of Nagaland mostly during festivals. These dance forms are mainly dominated by the male members of the community, dressed in traditional costumes and usually performed in groups in the closed circles. During the dance performance, they use props like shield or spear that are related to their culture.

 As tribal people used their native musical instruments, so they have unique melodious rhythm depending on various communities of the tribal people. Through these instruments, the music composed mainly based on religion, bravery, romance, and motivation.

Customs and traditions of Nagaland

Nagaland is known for its strong warrior background. They had a ritual of headhunting where warring tribes uses to take off the head of their enemies in order to establish triumph on a particular region a state after the war. But now this ritual has become obsolete.

Marriage culture in Nagaland

The Naga tribe follows a typical tradition with respect to the marriages. The marriages in the same community are not allowed in Naga tradition. It is considered as a social evil if there is any relationship between a boy and a girl within the same community. The marriage laws vary according to the different tribal communities. There are practices such as, in some tribal communities relations like prenuptial are allowed but only at a certain limit, while in some tribal communities the groom of one tribe has to pay a price for the girl in the form of Dowry and hence, in those communities the girls are given a lot of care and regard. Some communities like Sema, changs, and Lothas, the man can have multiple wives at the same time.

Costumes and dress code of Nagaland

The dress code also varies from one tribe to another tribe. The main attire or dress code of Nagaland tribes is shawls and skirts.

The Angami Tribe women usually wear a petticoat called neikhro, a sleeveless top called vatchi, and a white skirt called pfemhou. The Zemei women usually wear white-colored clothes and skirts with a very narrow black and red border, and men wear a black kilt, decorated with embroidered cowries in three or four lines.

There are different types of shawls worn by different people in Nagaland like Rongsu shawls are for people having a glorious heritage of Mithun sacrifice, Rongkhim is wearable only by the venerated warrior.

Food and cuisine of Nagaland

Normally Nagaland people eat rice as a common food usually accompanied by vegetables and meat.

The people of the Nagaland tribe are fond of meat, they usually prefer to eat beef, pork and chicken meat but sometimes they also prefer the meat of Mithun, dogs, fish, cats, spiders, and birds in accordance with their taste and occasion. They also prefer elephant meat including its skin on some occasions. To prepare dishes, they smoked the meat, dried it, and preserve it for a long time, they prefer steaming their food instead of frying. The people of Nagaland mostly use chilies in their every dish. Zutho (a rice beer), Ruhi, and Dzutse are some famous drinks preferred by the people of Nagaland.

Occupation and work of Nagaland

 Agriculture and animal husbandry are the most common occupation of the people of Nagaland that includes poultry farming, vegetables and fruits farming, and irrigation. There are also some other modes of income on which they generally rely on includes bamboo farming, cane farming, spears making, and weaving.

Some traditional village industries based on local forest products act as the backbone of this sector. The people of Nagaland have been blessed with dexterity, especially when we talk about women. Nagaland is rich in metals such as iron, brass, and tin that are used to make beautiful jewelry pieces in the form of armlets, neck Bands, bangles, and many more items.

Popular places of Nagaland

There are many different places which are very popular in Nagaland. The most popular places of Nagaland are Kohima and Dimapur includes lots of popular destinations like Kachari ruins, Rangapahar reserve Forest, Kuki dolong village, Baptist Church, japfu peak, Dzokou valley, Naga Heritage Village, Kohima war cemetery, etc.

You can’t explore Nagaland until or unless you visit it by yourself.  Visit this awesome and beautiful place and watch the unlimited sight full of adventure and amazement.