NE India
Sekrenyi
The Angami purification festival of song, ritual and feasting.
Pralaylahiry · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sekrenyi (or Phousanyi) is the most important festival of the Angami Nagas, celebrated over about ten days in late February, principally around Kohima. It is a festival of purification and renewal: the ritual bathing of the men, the sanctification of wells, feasting on ceremonial meats, and days of song, with the whole community coming together to cleanse the past year and bless the new one.
The most striking day is Thekra Hie, when young people gather to sing traditional songs and share rice beer, and the villages resonate with Angami harmonies — one of the great choral traditions of the Naga hills.
Photo: Pralaylahiry · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Know before you go
- Centred on Angami villages around Kohima; ask locally for the day-by-day programme.
- An Inner Line Permit is required for Nagaland.
- Nagaland is a dry state — the rice beer served is part of the ritual, offered by hosts.
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