Earlier this year when we were planning a trip to the North Eastern part of India, all I had in mind was to visit some well-known locations (if possible) as the trip was not merely a travel-focused one, but more of a stay. I was staying at my friend's place experiencing the Maram culture from a close watch (of which I will talk in detail in a separate post later). After some 10 days, she told me that we will visit some of those villages and I readily agreed. I didn't even ask her the names or peculiarities of the places, but was all set for an exploration as visiting certain villages in this part of the country is a golden chance. An outsider is not permitted to enter there easily. Even if you are from another tribe of the same state, you may need permission to enter some villages. The case of Yang Khullen is also the same. We started in the morning in a Scorpio from Maram Centre and reached Yang Khullen by afternoon 2:00 p.m. It took almost 3and half hours to reach the destination which was just 58 Kms away, because of the "almost-no-road-routes" through the uphills.
Yang Khullen is a village on a cliff. It's situated at the westernmost tip of the Senapati district of Manipur. It's home to the primitive Zemei tribe. They are a Naga tribe which speaks the variety of Zemei language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman language family which is listed among the endangered languages. They belong to the indigenous Naga community called Zeliangrong. The name is an acronym which is used as an umbrella term for three major Naga tribes, (Zemei, Liangmai and Rongmei). They are a patriarchal society and follow patriliny.
Until we reached the deviation to the pocket road to the Yang Khullen from the main road, there were at least some signs of roads existed. The first expression that came out of me seeing the way ahead was, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!". The worst road I had travelled till then, as far as I remember, was to Suryanelli, in Munnar where it's said to be the officers are appointed as punishment transfers. But, seeing this road I realised, you could at least call the Suryanelli road, a road!!! As my friend exclaimed, "she had her heart in her mouth" by the time we reached Yang Khullen!!!
The place is supposed to be so green after the monsoons and throughout the season, but unfortunately, I visited during the driest time of the year and most of the roads were under construction. Also, almost all of those days were cloudy, which was least favourable to take photographs.
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| The path you see through the hill is that which you have to walk to reach the Khullen. |
At the entrance, you are welcomed, but not welcomed by a stone staircase which opens the village world to you. There's a signboard which reads women are not allowed to step beyond a point. Most of these villages have sacred points, where women are restricted. As the previous generations of these tribes were actively part in wars, these are locations which they preserve with lots of sanctity and even today they follow the tradition.
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| The entrance to Yang Khullen. |
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| The door has depictions of the tribal signs. |
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| The door and the entrance. |
The village has restrictions on photography. As per one of the members of the village, the Central Government is adopting the village as a heritage sight soon for its primitivity. He allowed as to click some photos under his supervision.
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| The Yang Khullen in a glance. |
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| The breathtaking view from the village. |
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| The stone steps and stone henges are a peculiarity. |
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| A zoom in view. |
The presence of Stonehenge in these villages are centuries old and they all are preserved by the villagers. They are part of their history and beliefs. Similar structures can be seen in many of those villages.
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| The Stone Henges. |
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| The road through which we travelled to reach Yang Khullen. A view from the village. |
These are some those "roads" through which we travelled to Yang Khullen.
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We don't know what's there ahead!
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| One slip and you are gone! |
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| The Mountain Roads. |
Keeping aside the zero-roads, the visit to the Yang Khullen was an experience. And, that is not something which I can explain by writing it down too. As we say, there are certain emotions which you cannot express and this was one of them. It might not look very colourful in the photos, but you go there someday, and you will know what I felt! I am sure I wouldn't have had the same satisfaction if I had chosen to visit the touristy places instead of places like these which have the real flavour of life. :)
Additional Information: For more reading on the community,
http://indpaedia.com/ind/index.php/Zeliangrong:_Social_structure
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