Bara Basti or Kohima village Bara Basti, also known as Kohima village is considered to be the point of origin of Kohima. Bara Basti, literally translates into ‘big settlement’ and is believed to be the second largest village in Asia, situated on a hilltop in the north-eastern part of Kohima. Known for its abundance of natural beauty, tradition, culture and handicrafts, the village is inhabited and dominated by the Angami tribe. Legend has it, that it was established by a man called Whinuo or Kewhira. The village is divided into four ‘khels’ (L khel), (T khel), (P khel) and (D khel). A ‘khel’ is a distinct unit of the Naga. It’s an institution that brings several clans in the village together. An individual’s membership in the khel is decided by birth or by heredity. No village decision can be taken without consensus between all the Khels, thus making it an effective institution in village governance. All villages have a ceremonial gateway, carved with images of human heads, animals, birds etc., The gateway also features the symbol of prosperity - the mithun. Houses in the village have upright crossed horns of the mithun. Nagas hang the heads of the hunted animals at the entrance of their houses as trophies that indicate the status of the owner. In ancient times, head hunting was prevalent in Naga society. Naga heroism was born of their head hunting practices. In proportion to the number of heads hunted a warrior gained greater respect from the villagers. It is the number of heads that signified one’s level of bravery. Over time, the traditional Naga huts have been replaced by modern brick houses. The Nagas are known for their artefacts and handicrafts. They carve objects and handicrafts from teak, gaman khasu, and bonsu rai wood procured from the nearby forests. These artefacts are associated with religious beliefs and practices, and mostly feature mithun, hornbills and human figures. Handicrafts from the Bara Basti are exported overseas - they comprise mainly of wooden carvings and kophi or cane baskets. The women are master weavers and weave beautiful shawls and wraps. Whether welcomed by a mithun head or not the Bara Basti people boast a proud tradition of bravery, community and heritage. Although some of it has disappeared over time, Kohima is still instilled with the proud spirit of the Nagas. 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 50, 000+ 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… Please subscr
