Sacred Pine of the Apatanis: In Ziro valley

2014-08-12 1

The Six Sacred Pine trees outside Hari Village have a myth associated with the history of the Apatani tribe. It is famous folklore that when the clans of the tribe migrated here to the beautiful Ziro Valley, they brought with them bamboo and pine tree seeds. These six pine trees were sown in the sacred grove by six women and thus the trees are named after them.

The Apatani, or Tanii, are a tribal group of people living in the Ziro valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in India. However more Apatanis live outside this valley, making the total population approximately 60,000 all over the state.

There are no known written records of the history of the Apatani tribes, but throughout their history the Apatani have had a democratic system of running the society. The village council is known as the Bulyang.

One of their oral accounts speaks of their migration from the extreme north of Subansiri and Siang areas following the rivers of Kurung and Kumey. These oral accounts are usually presented in the form of folk tales such as the miji and migung. These accounts on many occasions are supported by landmarks which still exist on the migratory paths of the Apatanis. At the small village of Yangte in Kurung Kumey district, for example, is a stone beside which the Apatanis held a high-jump competition on their way to the present habitat. Therefore, these oral accounts have substance but need corroboration by anthropological and scientific evidence.

The miji is a collection of religious chants performed by priests who preside over the sacrifices of mithuns, cows, chickens and pigs during various rituals. A religious song, which may be sung from ten minutes to twelve hours, accompanies all these ritual performances which describes the previous interactions with the spirits or gods, locally known as wui, the content of which explains the origin of the myths among others. The migung is more realistic; it is narrated in prose, and the stories within it explain the origins of the Apatani people.

Ziro is a census town in Lower Subansiri district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It has been a favorite town for World Heritage Site for a number of years now. In a meeting of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on December 12, 2012 it was shortlisted for inclusion in Tentative List for further nomination to UNESCO for inscription in the World Heritage Site.

Source: Wikipedia

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of HD imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of tens of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM / SR 1080i High Definition, Alexa, SR, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at rupindang @ gmail . com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com.