Ziro

Ziro, a small picturesque town situated at an altitude of 5000 feet with Pine and Bamboo groves, villages, a craft centre and high altitude Tarin Fish Farm is an ideal place for relaxation. Ziro is a huge rice valley surrounded by mountains with the circuit house perched on a hillock in the middle of the town.  Local lore suggests, at one time, Ziro seemed like the farther outpost for the Indian Army in the 1960s. Hewnce the name that suggests remoteness, rather a final frontier. Considered to be a virtual Shangri La, Ziro earned a UNESCO World Heritage tag forthe unique culture of its people. the Apatanis

Places of interest:

Talley Valley:  Tally valley is located 30 Kms away from Ziro.  Tale in Apatani dialect is the name of a plant and to many other tribes the word means paradise. The local population grow paddy in tarraced fields all over the valley. The Apatanis, the main tribe of this region grow rice by terrace farming and their indigenous irrigation system is unique amongst the Arunachal tribals. The Apatani village comprises of long rows of houses with a fertility totem in front of each house. They use an indigenous herbal salt that’s rice in iodine whick is quite unique. As a real nature lover, for every tree they fell, five fresh saplings are planted. The Apatani women are very skilled in handicraft and handloom as one can be see from the wonderfull JIKHE pattern, woven jackets and intricately patterned JILANG shawls. The men are expert in metallurgy and bamboo craft.

Apatani Villages: The Apatani is one of the main tribes in Arunachal Pradesh. The Apatanis mainly residing in the Ziro region of Central Arunachal Pradesh grow rice by terrace farming and their indigenous irrigation system is unique amongst the Arunachal tribals. As a real nature lover, for every tree they fell, five fresh saplings are planted.

Hong village is the largest village in the Apatani plateo. There are more than 10000 people living in 700 houses at Hong village. Hong, Hari, Hija, Duta, Bula, Tajang, Bamin Michi and Mudang Tage are eight distinctive Apatani villages situated at Ziro Valley. In every village, there are some male community halls called ‘Lapang’. The Apatani village comprises of long rows of houses with a fertility totem in front of each house. They use an indigenous herbal salt that’s rice in iodine which is quite unique.

Apatani people are famous for tattoo on their forehead and nose plug. Basically, Apatani people are animists who worship all natural gods. Dony-Polo, i.e, the Sun and the Moonis their supreme god. Apatani people are known for paddy cum pisciculture. The Apatani women are very skilled in handicraft and handloom as one can be see from the wonderfull JIKHE pattern, woven jackets and intricately patterned JILANG shawls. The men are expert in metallurgy and bamboo craft.

They celebrate Myoko Festival in the month of March for the welfare of their community and dree festival in July for bountiful harvest, community wellbeing and to keep away the pest.

Shiva Lingam: The calm hills of Kardo hold one of the largest shiva linga with a height measuring 25 feet and 22 feet in circumference. The Shiva linga excavated in the recent past is located near the Hapoli Town.

District Museum: The district museum at Ziro exhibits a variety of handicrafts and textiles, musical instruments, weapons of the past ages used by different tribesand sub-tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. It displays an exclusive collection of art and craft, jewellery, variety of tribal headgears etc reflecting the traditions of ancient tribal culture.