People & Culture

  1. Home
  2. People & Culture

NAGALAND is a land of festivals. All the tribes celebrate their distinct seasonal festivals with a pageantry of colour and a feast of music.

Nagaland has a rich linguistic tradition with as many languages as there are tribes, each exclusive to itself.

What is even more remarkable is that even within the language of a particular tribe, there are dialects mutually unintelligible. For instance, in some tribes like the Angami, every village has a slightly different variation even within the same dialect-this variance progressively increasing with the geographical distance. This makes inter-tribe and intra-tribe communication very difficult. In the circumstances, English has come to serve as the State language while Nagamese, a kind of pidgin Assamese, has become the common lingua.

Tribes of Nagaland
1. Angami 2. Ao 3. Chakhesang 4. Chang
5. Khiamniungan 6. Kuki 7. Konyak 8. Kachari
9. Lotha 10. Phom 11. Pochury 12. Rengma
13. Sumi 14. Sangtam 15. Tikhir 16. Yimkhiung
17. Zeliang      

All the tribes have their own festivals which they hold so dear. They regard their festivals sacrosanct and participation in celebration is compulsory. They celebrate their distinct seasonal festivals with a pageantry of colour and a feast of music.

Most of these festivals revolve round agriculture, it being the main-stay of Naga society. Over 85% population of Nagaland is directly dependent on agriculture and lives in a thousand and odd villages situated on high hill tops or slopes overlooking verdant valleys humming with murmuring streams. In this blissful setting Nagas enjoy the blessing of Nature with rare gusto striking the onlookers with awe and admiration. In most of the places agriculture consists of monocrop.

Although some religious and spiritual sentiments are inter woven into secular rites and rituals, the pre- dominant theme of the festivals is offering of prayers to a Supreme Being having different names in different Naga dialects. At these festivals, the spirit of Gods is propitiated with sacrifices by the Village Shaman for a bountiful harvest either before the sowing or on the eve of harvest.

The State is replete with festivities throughout the year, as all tribes celebrate their own festivals with a pageantry of colour, music and dance. A common feature is that the festivals revolve around agriculture, the mainstay of Naga economy. These festivals hark back to times prior to the advent of Christianity.

Sl.No Tribe Festival Month
1. Angami Sekrenyi 25 February 
Terhünyi 9 December
2. Ao Moatsu 2 May 
Tsungremmong 1-2 August 
3. Chakhesang Sökrönye 15 January 
Tsukhenie 24 April 
4. Chang Poang Lüm 13 January
Kundaglün 1 April
Naknyulüm 31 July 
5. Khiamniungan Khaozaosie - Hok - Ah 20 January
Biam 7 August
Tsokum 5 October 
6. Kuki Mimkut 17 January 
Chavang Kut 1 November
7. Konyak Aoleang  1- 2 April 
Lao - Ong Mo 28 September
8. Kachari Bishu 27 January 
9. Lotha Tokhu Emong 6 - 7Novemebr 
10. Phom Monyu 1 - 2 April 
11. Pochury Yemshe 5 October 
12. Rengma Ngada 27 - 28 November 
13. Sumi Tuluni 8 July 
Apikimti 4 - 5 November
Ahuna 14 - 15 November
14. Sangtam Tsohsu 12 March
Hunapongpi 18 August
Mongmong 3 September 
15. Tikhir Kuhlang - Nyi 18 January
Tsonglak-Nyi 9 October 
16. Yimkhiung Wangtsunuo 16 April
Metemneo 8 August 
17. Zeliang Mileinyi 11 March 
Langsimnyi 31 October
Site last updated on : 31-10-2024