A Living Indigenous Sacred Landscape
Nagaland's sacred geography is defined less by built shrines than by the indigenous Naga sacred grove system — forest patches protected for generations under customary taboo as the dwelling place of village deities and ancestral spirits, representing an indigenous conservation ethic that predates modern environmentalism by centuries. Khonoma village, India's first green village, exemplifies this tradition in its most developed form.
The annual Hornbill Festival, held every December at the purpose-built Kisama Heritage Village, brings together all of Nagaland's major tribes in a ten-day celebration that functions as a deliberate, living act of cultural and spiritual preservation — a rare opportunity to witness authentic tribal sacred tradition performed by the very communities who hold it.
