Started in a small way in 2000 by clubbing all the smaller Hornbills happening across the state, the annual Hornbill at Kohima has grown in size and stature over the last 24 years to become one of the marquee festivals of the entire northeast region of the country. The state government expects around 8 lakh people to descend in Kohima through the 10 days of festivities this year, scheduled at Kisama Heritage Village between December 1 and 10.
“Hornbill is known as the festival of festivals. All other festivals of the region have taken a cue from it. 18 tribes come together in Kisama Heritage Village to celebrate Hornbill. Even each and every visitor coming to the city during that time will be doing a Horbill,” said Temjen Imna Along, Nagaland’s minister for tourism and higher education.
Along feels that festivals like Hornbill, which resonate with the people, society and culture of the state, are the best tool to promote tourism and need to be taken to places. “We must take our culture and festivals to the rest of the country. That’s how we want to promote tourism and invite people to come to our state,” said Along, proposing travelling Hornbills. He recalled the days when the USSR and India used to have travelling festivals – the festival of the USSR in India and the festival of India in the USSR, respectively, in the 80s.
Talking about the Hornbill festival, the minister said that the bird hornbill has a lot of significance in the life of Nagas, and the tribes take a lot of inspiration from the bird in terms of its faithfulness, dedication and commitment. Being the silver jubilee year of the festival, the festival will be celebrated with added fervour and gaiety, he said. “There will be a lot of new events this year. The winner of the Battle of Bands will be playing at the festival,” he said.
The minister said that there are so many myths and misconceptions about the state. The culture and festivals of the state must be taken to the rest of India so that these misconceptions are removed. “We have so much to offer beyond the heritage village. Places like Dayang, Mokonkchung, Khangkhui, etc, are still virgin and not exposed to the outside world,” he said.
The festival witnessed a footfall of 1,54,057 visitors, an increase of 13,758 from the previous year, the state tourism department said. The total includes 1,14,860 locals, 37,089 domestic tourists and 2,108 foreigners. The number of foreign visitors increased by around 100 per cent – from 1,026 in 2022 to 2,108 this year.
He said that with the strong support of the government at the centre, the state has established lasting peace in the state. “We feel that this is the ideal time to grow industries like tourism. The state is fresh and best suited for experiential tourism. The only thing is that we want the visitors to respect the unique culture of the tribes,” the minister said.When asked about the accommodation facilities in the state, the minister said that the state has homestays available in plenty apart from the mainstream hotels. “Capacity building is happening at a very fast pace in the state,” he said. The minister said that the government wants potential investors to come in and curate good experiential products. “We are a compact state with valleys, mountains, and vast forest cover. Tourism can be built better than many other states,” he said.
While investors are welcome, Along said that the government’s focus is not to promote and encourage investments which empower a few individual investors but such investments which empower the people of the state.
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