Kohima Hornbill Festival Naga Tribal Nagaland

Kohima in the Kohima district of Nagaland is the state capital and the site of the famous Hornbill Festival held annually in the first week of December at the Naga Heritage Village in Kisama, which brings together all sixteen Naga tribes for a week of craft, music, dance, and cultural exchange that has become India most celebrated tribal cultural fair. The Hornbill Festival is named after the great hornbill bird Buceros bicornis which is the most prized decorative feather in Naga warrior ceremonial headdress. The festival showcases the entire spectrum of Naga material culture — warrior shawls from sixteen tribe-specific patterns, morung woodcarving, tribal bead necklaces, stone-pushing sport, rice beer brewing, log drum performance, and traditional wrestling. Cooperative tribal artisan societies from all Naga districts bring craft to sell at the festival market. The Nagaland government Hornbill cooperative enterprise manages craft emporium stalls at the festival with direct connection to tribal village cooperatives. Kohima also marks the site of the pivotal World War II Battle of Kohima in 1944.