INDIA: MONKS, TRIBES & RHINOS VII

Posted January 20, 2008

My God what a day! We left Ziro at about 7 and drove through some beautiful scenery on the way to the village of Raga, a heartland of the Hill Miri tribe. We got out and walked around for a little before being invited into a family celebration in a local house where some members of the family had come home from as afield as Kashmir to attend. We gladly accepted and were promptly given seats by the fire and bamboo glasses filled with a potent drink made from mustard seeds called Poinia, and offered some Mithun, a ferocious-looking wild mountain cow.

We learned that they were having a Puja (prayer ceremony) that occurs only once a year, sometimes less depending on the positioning of the stars. We were not at all prepared for what came next… we witnessed the live sacrifice of a wild pig, a pregnant Mithun, a goat (whose head was lopped off with an axe), some chickens and a dog. There was blood everywhere and I have to admit I felt more than a little shell-shocked!

As they stuffed leaves into the pig and prepared the Mithun liver, we drank down more Poinya and some Polo (a millet-based drink). We needed it! The Donyi-Polo priest sifted through the chicken liver pieces to foretell what fortune the coming year would bring. Our “glasses” were kept topped up at all times and we were treated as guests of honour. We sang and danced along with their songs and even got them to sing along with a verse of “With or without you” and “The Blaydon Races”. We toasted with “Hijic”, the local word as well as “Slainte”.

We left a little the worse for wear and whole lot richer for the experience. We promised to send them some photos and we were each given a Donyi-Polo necklace taken from around their own necks. We drove on through the fog and the darkness and reached Daporijo where we slept like babies. Without doubt I have never experienced a day quite like that!

– Dave

I thought visting the Apatani village would never be topped. How wrong I was! On arrival into Raga, we were kindly invited to attend a family ‘puja’ ceremony. After being offered Poinia served in a simple but beautiful bamboo ‘cup’, I did my best to avoid eating the local ‘mithun’ meat. Nothing though prepared me for what happened next...

I felt something brush against my back, only to notice two men carrying a large wild pig strung upside down from a bamboo pole. I tried to watch as they lunged into the pig as it squealed in agony. Being a ‘fishatarian’, it was too much for me and I had to leave the room. Then I saw what was coming next. The next victim, an elegant muscular mithun, was being dragged to a sacrificial area, followed swiftly by a panic-stricken goat, chickens and even a dog! I kept a distance and found the experience too overwhelming and stomach-churning.

It was amazing for me to think that in a mainly vegetarian land which considers the cow sacred, in this remote part such traditions still occur. However despite the brutality of these sacrifices, I was still able to feel the genuine warmth of the local tribe people. This was possibly the first time an ‘outsider’ had been able to witness a very personal ceremony, and they wanted to share their culture with us. They believe that by offering these animals to God, they would be rewarded with a good harvest and healthy and prosperous family. We shared more drinks, sang each others local songs and even did some impromptu bhangra (Punjabi song/dance)!

It was a day full of confused, conflicting, upsetting, heart-warming and exhilarating emotions, which perfectly sums up this great and fascinating country.

– Rahul

This blog is part of an Off-The-Beaten-Track Travel Diary. Click on the links below to navigate through this journey.