Pure Grit. Pure Adventure.

Bikat means difficult. But with us, that’s not a warning—it’s a promise. Of stories worth telling. Of adventures worth chasing.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest updates and offers.

Interesting Facts About Northeast India | Bikat Adventures

Home

>

Blog

>

Interesting Facts About Northeast India

Informative

Interesting Facts About Northeast India

B

Written by

Bikat Adventures

22 Jun 2023

0 views

0 comments

The Seven Sisters and one brother state (Sikkim) together constitute only 8% of the total geographical area of India. This 2.62 lakh square kilometers has so much to offer in terms of its natural beauty, multitude of cultures, indigenous peoples, religions, national parks, mountains, rivers, weather patterns and so much more; a lifetime would not be enough to explore the lengths and breaths of this 8% of Indian subcontinent.

If we were to even begin to create a list of things that make the Northeastern states special, it would turn into an encyclopedia. But we do want to give you enough from our book of interesting facts and highlights from this region on the other side of the Siliguri Corridor to get you to give NER the attention it deserves. These states have as much capacity to invite intrigue for all their traditional, historical and cultural marvels as it does to invite awe for their natural splendor for which they are so aptly known.

1. Range of Himalayas

Since the outdoors and especially the mountains get us the most excited, let’s begin by a fact about the Northeastern Himalayas. Did you know that close to THIRTY FIVE percent of the Indian Himalayan Range lies in the Seven Sister States (+ Sikkim) of Northeast India! That's a massive stretch of the biggest mountain range in the world to be left unexplored. This very raw region full of hidden gems provides great opportunities to seek out sources of a mix of adventure and culture. From the bite-sized hills of Meghalaya to the high passes and unclimbed peaks rising up to 7,500M in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast has mountains of all sizes based on your mountain appetite. Whether you are a novice trekker looking for some getaway from the city bustle or a seasoned mountaineer looking for the next big challenge, the Seven Sisters can accommodate you and your outdoor needs just fine!

Having said this, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to you if we told you that approximately 70% of the Northeastern region is covered in hills and mountains. Especially the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim lie fully in the laps of the Himalayas. This high-mountain living also gives birth to a multitude of lifestyles and cultures unique to each high of the hill and low of the valley in the region leaving much to be explored and discovered.

2. International borders and cultural influence

The uniqueness of Northeastern culture is a well acknowledged fact. But why exactly is it so distinctive? The 7 northeastern states which are together called the Seven Sisters are connected to mainland India by a thin strip of land called Chicken’s Neck or the Siliguri Corridor. Nepal and Bangladesh lie on either side of this 22 km long passage. The 8th Northeastern state, Sikkim lies on the other side of the corridor connected more securely with mainland India. The states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Assam together only share 2% of their borders with mainland India. The remaining 98% lies huddled together between countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, China and Nepal surrounding them from all sides.

The NER shares an international border of 5,182 kilometres with several neighbouring countries –with Tibet in the north, Myanmar in the east, Bangladesh in the south-west, Nepal in the west, and Bhutan in the north-west.

The region, hence, is a boiling pot of multiple nations and their cultures from which it generously borrows. It is highly influenced by these varied beliefs along its borders – lending to its uniqueness. This is also the reason why the region seems vastly different from mainland India. Not only are these states distinctly different from mainland India but are also varied within themselves. These Seven States alone have over 220 ethnic groups and close to 200 different languages.

3. A land of many firsts and other such superlatives

Northeast is a land of superlatives blessed not only with the best that nature has to offer but also some of the most progressive societies that humans have managed to design. It has natural wonders which are far beyond imagination but also has people who work hard to maintain the right kind of balance with nature so as to live a sustainable life.

a. Arunachal receives the first rays of the sun

An 8 km trek up a hill brings you to a picturesque village called Dong which is perched at an elevation of 1,240M in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh. If you head up here at dawn, you can claim to be the first person to receive the first rays of the sun to enter the country! That is one hot claim to hold, wouldn’t you think!?

Being the easternmost state of India, Arunachal Pradesh is known as the land of the rising sun for welcoming the first light from the huge, glowing sphere of hot gas that is the sun.

b. The many lessons from Mawlynnong, Meghalaya

Close to the border with Bangladesh in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya lies a village whose silent existence suddenly shot to fame in 2003 when the magazine Discover India named it the cleanest village in all of Asia. At the entrance of the village, the board reads Mawlynnong – God’s own garden. You walk in to clean roads, houses lined with flowers of all imaginable kinds and colours, bamboo dustbins at every step and not one shred of plastic for as far as the eye can see. Not even a stray leaf fallen off a tree dares to make it on to the roads of this village which sets impeccable standards for cleanliness and order. Fresh, green and quiet, 20 minutes in this village and your lungs feel as fresh as the fresh bloom of flowers that surround you. Inhabited mostly by people of the Khasi tribe, the shops here cater to the tourist population selling bamboo handicrafts and local cuisine. There is a pretty church in the heart of the village, the Church of the Epiphany, which stands tall as a symbol of faith of its people. Mawlynnong lies at a distance of 90 kms from Shillong – the capital city of Meghalaya.

With one of the highest literacy rates in the country (95%), this 1000 resident strong community is mostly agrarian with betel nut as their main crop. What is fascinating about this village is its matrilineal society which is a way of life of the Khasi people. The children take the mother’s last name and wealth gets passed on from the mother to the youngest of her daughters. Do you think there lies invisible ties connecting high literacy to these practices? I, for one, would like to believe so.

Either ways, the Khasi people of the village are truly a symbol of a synchronous relationship with the land and may as well be called pioneers for harnessing natural energy and resources. They build rainwater harvesting into their architectural design, create organic manure by collecting waste into pits and basically let no natural resource go to waste. Maybe there is a lesson or five for us to bring back from here.

c. Take a rain check?

Seventy kilometers from Shillong, in the East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya lies a village by the name of Mawsynram. At an elevation of 1,400M, the peculiar geographical setting of the village lends to it receiving an annual average rainfall of 467 inches, making it the wettest place on earth. The average precipitation averaged over the whole earth at 39 inches is about 12 times lower than the average rainfall received by this single village owing to its location. Although there’s only 15 kilometers between the villages, Mawsynram surpassed the previous record holder of the wettest place on planet earth, Cheerapunji, sometime in the recent past. According to sources, the village received THOUSAND inches of rainfall in the year 1985.

I have not found a good use of this idiom before, but this seems extremely fitting in quite literal terms - When it rains here, it really pours

d. The magnificence of Manipur

What is Manipur known for, you ask? Two things. The first of course, is the Ima Market which is the only market in the world run solely by women. Male shopkeepers and vendors are forbidden in these long, bright alleyways of the market stationed in the heart of the capital city of Manipur i.e. Imphal. Ima Market literally translates to ‘Mother’s Market’. Vendors here broadly range between the ages of 45-70 years old. It is also known to have a strange rule allowing only women who have been married at least once to set up stalls in the market

The second most intriguing feature of Manipur is the Keibul Lamjao National Park which is the world’s only floating national park. It lies within the Loktak Lake which holds a title of its own – that of being the largest fresh water lake in South Asia. Loktak Lake is an extraordinary lake which has massive circular masses of green grass floating over its surface, covering the entire length of the lake. These hollow, circular land masses are called phumdi which is basically a local term for a mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter in various stages of decay. They are literally floating islands which are used by locals to build huts for fishing and other livelihood purposes. The lake on the whole has a residency of over 4000 inhabitants. The largest single mass of phumdi covers an area of 40 km2. This mass is where the world’s largest floating park, the Keibul Lamjao National Park, is. This park is the only place you will find the Eld’s Deer or Sangai as it is known in the local language. It is the state animal for Manipur and the park was created to protect the species from extinction. It is also called the dancing deer and the government of Manipur organizes a festival just to celebrate the Eld’s deer. The festival is called Sangai Festival

This is not the end of all the fascinating things going on on this very fascinating lake. The lake houses, on one of its landmasses, a village called Karang. With close to 300 houses and a total population of a little less than 2000, this island village became the first island in India to adopt the idea of a cashless economy. The island became the first fully cashless island village in 2017, as declared by the Union Electronic and Information Technology Ministry.

The lake truly is a world of its own.

Oh! And I almost forgot, Manipur is also where the sport of Polo was born. It is locally known as Sagol Kangjei. Sagol meaning horse and Kangjei meaning a sport similar to hockey. It is still played in Manipur.

e. Let’s talk sustainability

Northeastern states set high standards for us in all areas of development. In 2016, Sikkim became the first organic state in the world. An agrarian economy for the most part, Sikkim banned chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They implemented 100% organic farming as early as 2003. The state was also cited to be a crime-free state with the best governance. The government had a major role to play in turning the massive 138,000 hectares of cropped area into organic land by providing resources, subsidies, awareness drives and recognition for behavior change and monitoring through imposing heavy fines. The state is now bearing fruit of these hard labours in the form of increased production of crops, a healthy environment and healthy people.

f. Assam is more than just its tea gardens

The massive tea gardens of Assam are well-known, but the state has so much more to offer. From the one-horned rhinos in the Kaziranga National Park to its exquisite handicrafts, ethnic groups and the Muga silk, Assam is also the gateway to the rest of Northeast India. Guwahati, which is the capital city of Assam, is the entrance for all the 7 states that lie on the other side of the Siliguri Corridor.

Assam is home to the largest inhabited river island in the world – Majuli Island in the Brahmaputra River and also the smallest inhabited river island in the world – Umananda Island which is also known as Peacock Island. The state also houses the world’s largest weaving village in Sualkuchi Village. It is believed that each household in this village is directly connected to weaving the Muga Silk which is a kind of silk that is unique to this region – not produced anywhere else in the world. It is produced by the Garo community in Assam and is famously called the Golden Silk named so for its colour.

g. Notable economic formats

Jonbeel Mela is a three-day festival celebrated by the indigenous communities of Assam and Meghalaya where they set up a fair to practice the age-old tradition of barter system. All the exchanges of goods in the festival follow this method of trading goods and services without the use of money. This is celebrated as a way to promote a sense of community, harmony and brotherhood between the tribes. The roots for this idea lie way back in history but the spirit of the communities in keeping this alive sure deserves a great deal of appreciation.

Parts of Mizoram practice what they call Nghah lou dawr. This basically is a concept where shops are operated without a shopkeeper. Shop owners lay out their goods in their thatched bamboo shops with signboards for the prices of each item. They leave out a cash box besides these goods for people to drop the money in with no need for a shopkeeper to keep watch. These tiny shops are a common feature along the highway in Seling which is 65 kms from Aizawl – the capital city of Mizoram.

This concept which has been in practice for a long time, was a need-based invention where shop owners in the Mizo community were also farmers who needed to work their days in the farm leaving them short-handed to handle the shop. What was born out of necessity today stands as a symbol of promoting trust and faith between people – the very ideals that hold cultures together.

4. The heights and depths of Northeast India

The Seven Sisters and Shillong are definitely known for their heights i.e. the Northeastern Himalayan Range and the Brahmaputra River which together offer a wide range of outdoor adventure opportunities. But one more thing that the Northeastern states boast of are massive cave systems which are known to be some of the deepest and longest in the world. Of the many in the region, Krem Liat Prah in Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya is known to be the longest cave in Asia and one of the longest in the world at an explored length of a whooping 30,957M. Manipur also has some complex cave systems which are difficult to navigate and explore.

5. The singing village of Meghalaya

Kongthong Village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya is known for more than its picturesque setting and living root bridges. It is known for something strangely extraordinary. Each native in the village is said to have a name which is a whistling lullaby. The locals are known to call out to each other by whistling this lullaby which is unique to every resident – just as names go! Humans are fascinating creatures, for sure!

These are only some of the many captivating things about the Northeastern states. There is so much life and colour in every inch of this magnificent land. The stories, myths, interesting facts all together with its people and landscapes are what lend to the overall beauty of this region; always leaving you wanting for more.

Share