Cultural Diversity of North-East India

The North East India comprises of many tribes with diverse cultures mingling into the mainstream of India's national life. If any one wants to see the unity in diversity, it is in this far flung enchanting part of India wherein natural beauty and calm atmosphere far from the maddening crowd and ignoble strife, a composite culture has emanated from the symphony of cultures of different tribes.Though their cultures may be crude in modern sense of the term,there are charms and beauties reflecting originality and deep pathos of hearts of the tribal people.

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are eight states located in the North East of the country and command special importance in India, not only because of their location but also their cultural and historical uniqueness. The landscape, the range of communities and geographical and ecological diversity make these states quite different from other parts of the country. Every tribal groups of these states has its own unique tribal culture,folk dance,music, art and craft,food, dress patterns etc.

These states have distinct cultures and multiple ethnic groups and are a fine example of unity in diversity. The variety of ethnic groups, languages and religions reflect the multi-cultural character of the states. The region houses over 200 of the 635 tribal groups in the country, speaking a variety of Tibeto-Burman languages and dialects. States like, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland are predominantly inhabited by tribals with a certain degree of diversity among the tribes. States like, Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim are inhabited by people of various religious denominations like, Hindus, Christians and Muslims and a combination of local tribes and communities.

Some of the pictures of different types of festivals from all the states of this region are given below.
                                                                                     

Bihu festival (Assam)

Lui-Ngai-Ni festival (Manipur)

                                       

Losai festival (Arunachal Pradesh)

                                                                                     

Chapchur-Kut festival (Mizoram)   

                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Wangala festival (Meghalaya)

                                                                 

Hornbill festival (Nagaland)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Kharchi festival (Tripura)

                                                                                             

Losoong festival (Sikkim)

  

                                                       

North East is truly a wonderful region. The North-Eastern states present a picture of modernisation in a relatively difficult and disadvantaged region and deserve to be recognized for their historical and cultural uniqueness, successes and achievements in a complex and diverse society.