Abode of Buru

Inter-tribal conflict was commonplace those days. Once all the tribes surrounding the Ziro valley made a plan to exterminate the inhabitants of the valley. Accordingly on the appointed day, the warriors converged on the valley from all sides. When they reached the ridge, one of them looked down into the valley and found it already flooded.


“The flood has done our job,” he announced.

“Let us return to our villages and celebrate,” the other said.

So, the news went around the ridge and the warriors returned to their villages. The mists in the valley which till today makes the Ziro valley look like a lake had helped avoid a potentially bloody battle!

The place we know today as Ziro valley was the home of many animals including a prehistoric reptile locally called buru. When the Apatanis settled down in the Ziro valley, a conflict ensued. The last of the burus was killed by a talo, now known as myamya not very long ago. When the talo returned home after killing the buru, the owner of the talo was still busy pounding rice powder (yatang) to smear the talo. Enraged at not having been received properly after such heroic feat, the talo cut the child of the owner, who was sleeping in the house, into two. In revenge, the owner threw her pestle – hunyi, at the talo, breaking it. The talo with its wound, is preserved in Kalung village to this day.

Buru had captured the imagination of adventurers around the world. Just before India attained independence, Lord Mountbatten dispatched an expedition to locate the buru under the aegis of London Daily Mail, but the reptile remained hidden in the mists of legends. The expedition is recorded in Ralph Izzard’s “The Hunt for the Buru”. The book recalls in vivid detail the treks through hazardous swamplands filled with snakes and leeches, thumbnail-sized ticks and wild boar.

The video above is from Dusu Katu, 9.5 km from Hari village one of the ridges which gives an excellent view of Hapoli township, Siiro village and Maniipolyang on a clear day. It is, of course, a ‘lake’ in the morning.

Ziro - An Aerial View

Driving up the serpentine road from Kimin, one hardly expects so placid a plateau as Ziro is. Not so long ago, Ziro could be reached after seven days of trekking from Kimin through pestilential forests. Imagine the joy and satisfaction one would have had once they were looking down at the valley from the surrounding hills.

Yonder across the hills is the road to Kurung Kumey district. One can have a good view of Tadu Dobi, the legendary place of romance. The Ziro Putu, the landmark of the whole area stands prominently in the middle of the valley.

New ZPMs of Ziro-I

I was curious about the results of Panchayat election, the counting of which was taking place yesterday. I called a friend and found out the following result for Zilla Parishad Members:
Diibo- Bamin Siri (bt Michi Shalla)
Hari - Hage Shalla Yassung (bt Hage Tara Asha)
Hija - Nada Dumi bt (Dani Dumi)
Kalung-Reru - Nani Tani (bt Subu Kojee, Subu Lento and Kuru Tai)
Hong Nichii - Hibu Uma (bt Punyo Kathe)
Niiti - Tilling Dolley (bt Tilling Tadii)

Those Days!

Daminda is the hallmark of Apatani dances. Though this art form has been modified to a great extent to meet the changing tastes of the audiences, the dance still retains its original charm. This is one of the rare pictures taken during early forties.

Apart from hiirii, there is conspicuous lack of performing arts by male members of the community. The picture shown here looks like an enacted one, may be of ropi ritual.

Mithun

It is said that man and mithun were brothers. However, mithun was the lazy one and slept all day long while man toiled in the fields. All attempts to make the mithun work failed.
"You have to work, brother," man told the mithun.
"I don't feel like working. Let me take rest," the mithun said.
"If you don't work," man said, "will you eat grass?"
"I would eat grass rather than work," the lazy mithun retorted.
"In that case," man yelled at the mithun, exasperated, "We cannot live together. Go your own way."

The mithun realised the gravity of the situation, but still did not offer to work. He requested the man to let him live in the village, but man was adamant. "No way. You have to go away," he said.
"Where will I go, my brother?"
"You can go to the jungle as you wanted to eat grass!"
"I love you," the mithun said with tears in his eyes. "I cannot live without seeing you."

Man was touched, but was not ready to live with the mithun unless it worked. Seeing the man unmoved, mithun begged, "I will go to the forest, live there and eat grass. Can you please come to my place sometime to see me?"
"If I do that," the man said, "What will you do for me?"
"I will go to the places you cannot and even die for your cause."
Man agreed to this condition. Till today, he owns the mithun and goes to the jungle with salt to feed his estranged brother. In return, the mithun is sacrificed during festivals like Murung and Subu. They are sacrificed during other rituals as well.

On the occasion of Murung or Subu, the priest chants all day long telling the mithun, "We are sending you as a messenger to the other world where man cannot go. Don't hold me guilty since it was your own words. I am simply fulfilling the wishes you made in the days gone by."

No wonder the Apatanis consider the mithuns sacred and they are sacrificed only during very special occasions.