My Nagaland

Nagaland a state in the far north-east part of India, is the home for tribal people of nagaland. Kohima is the capital the hilly state with eleven district . But dimapur is the biggest and the most populous city.Nagaland, the 16th state of Indian union, was established on December 1,1963. During world war 1, the British recruited several hundred Nagas and sent them to France to work as aides at the front. While in Europe, the Nagas, who had always been fractured by tribal differences, began to think that they should work towards becoming unified in order to protect their common interests. On their return to their homeland in 1918, they organized, and thus began the Naga nationalist movement .

dzukou  valley in nagaland famous for its unique flowers
and beautiful valleys and mountains 

Hornbill festival 

hornbill festival

Hornbill Festival was launched by the Government of Nagaland in December 2000 to encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of the state. Organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments, Hornbill Festival showcases a mélange of cultural displays under one roof. This festival takes place between the 1st and the 7th of December every year.

The week long Hornbill Festival is held at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima. All the tribes of Nagaland take part in this festival. The aim of the festival is to revive and protect the rich culture of Nagaland and display its extravaganza and traditions.

The Festival is named after the Hornbill, the globally respected bird and which is displayed in folklore in most of the state’s tribes. The week long festival unites one and all in Nagaland and people enjoy the colourful performances, crafts, sports, food fairs, games and ceremonies. Traditional arts which include paintings, wood carvings, and sculptures are also on display. Festival highlights include Traditional Naga Morungs Exhibition and sale of Arts and Crafts, Food Stalls, Herbal Medicine Stalls, Flower shows and sales, Cultural Medley - songs and dances, Fashion shows, Beauty Contest, Traditional Archery, Naga wrestling, Indigenous Games and Musical concerts. Additional attractions include Konyak Fire Eating demonstration, Pork Fat eating competitions, Literature fest, Hornbill Global Film Fest, Hornbill Ball, Choral Panorama, North East India Drum Ensemble, Naga King Chilly eating competition, Hornbill National Rock Contest, Hornbill International Motor Rally and WW-II Vintage Car Rally

Kohima

Kohima the capital city of Nagaland -Kohima  is the hilly capital of India's north eastern border state of  Nagalandwhich shares its borders with Burma. It lies in kohima district  and is also one of the three Nagaland towns with Municipal council status along with dimapur and Mokokchung.Kohima is the land of the Angami  tribe. The name, Kohima, was officially given by the British as they could not pronounce the Angami nameKewhima or Kewhira ( for "the land where the flower Kewhi grows"). It is so called after the wild flowering plant Kewhi, found in the mountains. Earlier, Kohima was also known as Thigoma. Kohima is located south of ^{kohima district} and has an average elevation of 1261 metres (4137 feet). The town of Kohima is located on the top of a high ridge and the town serpentines all along the top of the surrounding mountain ranges as is typical of most Naga settlements.

HISTORY

The British incursions into the Naga territory beginning in the 1840s met with stiff resistance from the independence loving Nagas who had never been conquered by any empire before. The stiffness of the resistance can be gauged by the fact that it took nearly four decades for the British to conquer a territory that is less than 10,000 square kilometres (the eastern region was left free). Kohima was the first seat of modern administration as the Headquarters of Naga hill district (then under Assam) with the appointment of G.H. Damant as Political Officer in 1879. When Nagaland became a full fledged state on 1 December 1963, Kohima was christened as the state capital.

In 1944 during World War II the Battle of kohima along with the simultaneous Battle of imphal was the turning point in the Burma Campaign. For the first time in South east asia the Japanese lost the initiative to the Allies which they then retained until the end of the war. This hand-to-hand battle and slaughter prevented the Japanese from gaining a high base from which they might next roll across the extensive flatlands of India like a juggernaut. Kohima has a large cemetery for the Allied war dead maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The cemetery lies on the slopes of Garrison Hill, in what was once the Deputy Commissioner's tennis court which was the scene of intense fighting, the Battle of the Tennis Court. The epitaph carved on the memorial of the 2nd British Division in the cemetery 

“

When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today

”

has become world-famous as the Kohima poem. The verse is attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875–1958), and is thought to have been inspired by the epitaph written by Simonides to honour the Greek who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC.^[4]