The Hornbill

The Hornbill is a bird. As of now I am unaware why this bird is associated with a low key, almost unheard of festival happening in far north east.



The festival takes place at Kisama & goes on for a week (1st Dec- 7th Dec). It is during this time Kohima experiences highest number of footfalls with hotels running out of rooms due to advance bookings.

4- wheelers are available from Kohima city to Kisama at economical prices. A personal advise would be not to go alone for Hornbill. Not because of any safety concern, but it's easier to get a vehicle when in groups & of course, fun increases in direct proportion to the group size !


It's an awesome amalgamation of cultural dances, local handicrafts & a variety of fruits at Hornbill. This can be a takeaway for other regions in India like Delhi, where there is no one festival where cultural dances are shown for the public. Performances take place through the year at different locations but nothing under a single roof. Food festivals have started coming up which is a great positive !

Back to Hornbill, we bought oranges, which unfortunately tasted more like lemons!! Anyways, on a sunny day during super cool winters, everything appears to be bliss , so we ate all what we bought, there & then.

Pretty Dancers waiting for their turn
One of the many performances

Bamboo products are dominant - something you will never find in any other part of the country. There is even a dedicated pavilion for it. Bamboo is used both in handicrafts as well as an eatable, as a main course dish or as a pickle. (Later, as fate would have it, I bought some bamboo pickle from Bhutan, that's altogether a different story i am yet to pen down, stay tuned!!).

A bamboo figure


The Konyak Nagas have a dedicated hut for them which became visible as we climbed upwards in search of food.
The Konyak Nagas before the dance performance

A brief dive into the history, Konyak nagas are known for being skilled in warfare & are excellent craftsmen. I overheard that they developed rifles before the British reached Nagaland. They are distinguished by the unmistakable tattoos on their bodies & trophies won through hunting that are worn as a part of the dress.

I also heard about the beautiful Ao tribe that attracted the Brtish

Highlight of the festival was a local beer made up of rice, which is traditionally served in bamboo glasses. I barely remember the price, maybe 50-60 per glass.

Bamboo glass in which I drank rice beer


We spent roughly 5 hours at the place & every moment was worth it.

I visited Kohima once more & stayed at Hotel Japfu. It is recommended to stay here as facilities are good & the view from the top of PR hill is awesome.

An evening vegetable market springs up downhill. Don't be surprised to see frog-sellers among other vegetable sellers. Yes, frogs are a local delicacy & are sold live & fresh, with few of them jumping out of baskets every now & then!