On the
frontiers of Indo Myanmar border, clutching its claws on the mighty mountain
ranges of Nagaland there lies the unique creation of mother nature, the
Thanamir village. The lush green village is located in Kiphire district at the
base of the highest mountain of Nagaland i.e. Mt. Saramati and serves as last
stop for trekkers attempting to Summit Mt Saramati. We arrived there after
hours of travel from Pungro town through
serpentine muddy roads enjoying the light brown scenes of the corn cultivations
all along the length of the road. As we arrived in the village we were welcomed
by the ingenuous villagers and allowed us to stay in the village guest house .
The village guest house was one storeyed traditional house shaped out of wood
and it looked majestic from inside as well as outside. We were stationed at
first storey and through the small wooden windows we can see the small towns of
Kiphire district playing hide and seek beneath the clouds and the mighty ranges
near Saramati on the side.
Thanamir village is famous for its apple
cultivation and also known as the Apple village. In order to promote apple
cultivation and tourism the village hosts the Apple festival every year. We were
given a tour of the village by the local guide and villagers and we tasted
apples and collected fresh vegetables for our meal .We roamed the entire
village and people were so kind and innocent that sometimes it become hard to
believe that such a rich cultural heritage exist so far into the borders.At
times our companions tried to clicked the photos of the lovely children playing
around and to our utter surprise,they ran away hither and dither and thus we
had fun chasing and playing with these innocent little creatures who did not
have much exposure to cameras and modern equipments.
This part of the world is inhabited by the
Yimchunger and Konyak tribe. Thanamir village is a colony of thatched houses
with a centrally located community field , vegetable gardens at the backyards
of each house ,mithuns grazing the field.The villagers still embraced in their
hearts century old traditions and customs guarding them against erosion from the
influence of modern human civilizations.The ancient colony has numerous houses
whose wooden walls are lined with hundreds of skulls of wild animals hunted
down since ages.From skulls wild mithun to musk dear to squirrels and many of
them which I had no idea the wall stood as a museum of proud hunting
traditions.The elders of the village roam around wearing hats with pointing
hornbill beaks and feathers.There is a morung located downhill in the
village which housed a traditional Naga
log drum.The log drums are integrals elements of Naga village culture .All announcement
of village meetings, news of any inhabitants death or warnings of any external
danger are given through the medium of log Drums and accordingly the residents
respond.The drum is curved out of a single mammoth log and its inside is made
hollow.There are several dumbbell shaped wooden pieces and villagers beat on
the faces of the log with definite repetitive patterns and the combine sound
resonates through the village.Out of inquisitiveness we started beating its face
with rhythm and it was real fun.
Since Thanamir is known as apple village ,the
story of its cultivation is worth mentioning.During the first half of 1980’s Assam
rifle stationed a check post in the village.One of the village resident Youngphukhiung befriended a
Nepali Jawan named Naik and gifted him wild boar meat .Naik then handed him
four Kashmiri apples .Yim planted three seeds in his backyard and soon a
sapling grew and in 1984 the tree bore the first apple .This tree is still
there in the village and is known as “Mother apple Tree”.We went near that
blessed tree which was fenced .It was old and weak but nevertheless still bore
fruits
Wildlife conservation has gained momentum here
and the age old horned skulls of animals hunted by the forefathers of the
village inhabitants are still show cased and serve as proud belonging of a
hunting clan.
The insulated fine finished wooden structure
of the village kept was warm.We spread our mattress over the floors of first
storey and the sounds of foot steps over the wooden slabs constantly reminded
us of our remoteness from the usual concrete confinements. Through the window the
sparkling lights of the distant villages
over the towering mountains looked like tiny constellations in silent dark
sky of kiphire.Far east there was the summit of Mt saramati guarded by extremely
dense forests of rhododendrons and the next we shall be climbing over her body
hoping that she shall accept us in her tranquil couch.
Thanamir is also the second LED village in
Nagaland after its neighboring village Fakim .They are making use of natural light, paint interior white to reduce need for
lighting, use energy efficient CFL, LED and solar charged lights instead of
tungsten bulb, switch off lights when not in use and spreading this message to
family, friends and relatives.
Though thanamir serves as
base camp for Mt saramati and hosts apple festival there are more places of
amzing wonder near the village which we promised to visit in near future.from
the tales ,stories and informations gathered from the guides these are some of
the places :
Fakim Wildlife Santuary in the eastern hills close to the Myanmar
rises to almost 3000 meters and receives heavy rainfall in June- July every
year housing various flora- fauna,
avifauna and plants, many of which have a medicinal value.
Tizu River with its
beautiful soft white sand, flows into the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar snaking
between Pungro and Meluri Sub-divisions is an ideal location for anglers.
Limestone Caves in Mimi,
Salomi and Khongjiri;
Giant rock bee honey
harvesting near Mimi and Khonjiri villages;
kholar festival at Pungro .
The serpentine muddy road from pungro ,the
light brown corn fields adjacent to the road ,the green mushroom like dense
forest in the jungle and the mighty saramati mountain on the frontier shall be
imprinted in our hearts as long as we stay exist.
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