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Apatani & Ziro Valley

  • 25 Mar 2019

Why is it in News?

From 20-30th March, Myoko Festival is celebrated annually in the Ziro Valley by the Apatani Tribe.

About Apatani Tribe:

  • The Apatani, or Tanw, are a tribal group of people living in the Ziro Valley in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Apatanis have followed the tradition of facial modification/ tattooing by plugging their nose with wood (This plugging of nose is called ‘Yaping’). This was done purposely to make women look unattractive to males of other tribes.

Religious Practice:

They worship the forces of nature i.e. Sun and the Moon.

Occupation of Apatani People:

  • The Apatanis are primarily into farming. They are famous for the sustainable and efficient methods that they have been following to cultivate rice. The farm lands are built on flat lands and therefore, wet rice cultivation is followed along with pisciculture. They don’t use any machines or chemical fertilizers.
  • Seeing their sustainable method of coexistence Apatani cultural landscape has been put in tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sitein 2014 .

About Ziro Valley:

  • Ziro Valley lies tucked in the lower ranges of the Eastern Himalayas in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India.
  • It comprises of about 32 km2 of cultivable areas out of 1058 km2 of plateau, undulated by small hillocks.
  • Apatani tribes reside in this valley of Arunachal Pradesh.

Source: en.unesco.org, TH