KOHIMA, 8 Dec: Thousands of men, both old and young, on Thursday pulled a huge wooden traditional Naga village gate during the ongoing Hornbill Festival near Kohima.
Draped in traditional Angami Naga attire and undeterred by rain, the men pulled the gate, measuring 10.11 feet by 5.8 feet, for over 3 kms on National Highway 29 from Merh lietsa to T Khel model village in Seithogei.
The event was organised by Ts tuonuomia Khel Council of Kohima village.
Many elderly men, womenfolk and children dressed in traditional attires also walked alongside the ‘gate-pullers’, occasionally yodelling and cheering.
The occasion was graced by Ambassador of the Republic of Peru to India, Javier Paulinich, besides Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
In the olden days, almost every village of the Angami Naga tribe had its own boundary and gate to safeguard the habitation from enemies and unwanted intrusion. (PTI)
“Village gates are also erected along routes through which villagers go to their fields or travel outside their villages. Kohima village has 15 such gates,” T Khel council chairman K Neibou Sekhose said at the start of the ceremony.
At Seithogei, beside the T Khel model village gate, 16 stone monuments named ‘unity stones’ have also been erected, symbolising the unity of the 16 districts of the state.
Paulinich inaugurated the T Khel gate, while the CM unveiled the ‘unity stones’ in the presence of Easter Command General Officer Commanding in Chief, Lt Gen RP Kalita.
Rio thanked the people of the 25 villages who took part in the gate pulling ceremony and said that Hornbill Festival gives an opportunity to showcase the state’s culture and traditions to the world. (PTI)