THE INFORMATION

Getting there

Mechukha, headquarters (at 6,000ft) of Mechukha Sub-Disvison, is a picturesque valley overlooking the high Himalaya 35km from the Indo-Tibetan border in West Siang district. Mechukha is now being pushed by the tourism authorities as the next big destination in the Northeast.

 Ø  Via Dibrugarh airport or railway station: Hire a car or take a shared taxi from Dibrugarh to Aalo (432km), district headquarters of West Siang. This is an all-day journey and will involve loading the vehicle on a ferry across the Brahmaputra. After an overnight halt at Aalo, hire a car/take a shared taxi to Mechukha (182km).

 Ø  Via Guwahati airport or railway station: Take the Pawan Hans chopper to Itanagar (Naharlagun). Then hire a car/take a shared taxi from Itanagar to Aalo (321km), and thence to Mechukha.

Where to stay:

Homestays and smalls hotels are available besides govt run tourist lodge and circuit house.

Homestays:

Gayboo’s Traditional Lodge

(9402996667). 

Almost Heritage 

(9436672849).

Tariffs range from Rs 800-2,000 for doubles.

What to see & do:

Trekking, River Rafting, Angling and visit to the 400 years old monastery perched on a hillock. Day hikes to Dorjeeling and other nearby villages and 2-day hike thro ugh pine forests and river banks leads to the Pasang Sonam Tso Lake.

More information is available from the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Aalo (03783-222221), the office of the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mechukha (9436421544), the Circle Officer at Mechukha (9436258555), and arunachaltourism.org.

 Serpentine road from Aalo to Mechukha

Mechukha valley

 (Pai-Libo women in traditional attire during a cultural event at Mechukha)

View of Targelling village

magnificent waterfall

rivulet stream

Mechukha Sub-Division at a glance

Situated on the foothills of Eastern Himalayan range, Mechukha Sub-Division, with four administrative circles viz. Monigong, Tato, Pidi including Sub-divisional headquarters Mechukha of West Siang District is one of the few less explored and untainted areas of the country.

With cascading waterfalls, serpentine rivers, lakes, crystal clear rivulet water running on stony riverbed, stunning snow capped mountains and hills and lush green forests, the area has natural preconditions for development of various form of tourism particularly adventure, rural etc.

The prime tourist attractions include: Trekking, River Rafting, Angling, Cultural Safari and visit to the 400 years old monastery perched on a hillock at Mechukha, sub-divisional headquarters.

Besides, the area is also embellished with numerous ancient statues and abundance in lots of exotic plants to make it truly an amazing tourist destination.

Earlier, there were only 7 tourist circuits in Arunachal. Lately from the year 2008 the number of tourist circuits in Arunachal was increased to 11. And thus the area was brought into the tourist circuit map of Arunachal as Mechukha.

The main inhabitants of area are Memba, Adi (Ramo, Pai-Libo and Bokar) and Tagin tribe, who are living in the area since long time back. The Membas are the believers of the Buddhism and speak Memba while the Ramos, Pai-Libos, Bokars and Tagins are believers of Donyi-Poloism, however, many of them have converted to other religions also, and speak their own dialects.

The sub-divisional headquarters Mechukha is just 35 km (approx) away from the Indo-China international boundary and 182 km northwest of Aalo, district headquarters.

Important passes:

1.         Lolla Pass: Lolla Pass is located in the Mechukha circle and the actual distance from Lolla Pass to Mechuka is around 35 Kms out of which 14 Kms up to Yorlung has been black topped and is in all weather road condition. The further construction of the remaining portion is being undertaken by BRTF on a war footing.

2.         Dumla Pass: Dumla Pass is located in the Monigong Circle and actual distance from Dumla Pass to Monigong is around 40-45 Kms. Border Trade is quite feasible in Dumla Pass since Saplegong, one of the major town in Tibet Province of china is about 45-47 Kms away from this Pass.

Exotic landscapes

 Horse grazing in the field (Mechukha)

                                           

Exotic waterfall 

View of snow-capped mountain of Mechukha

                                         View of snow-capped mountain of Mechukha

'Podi-Barbi', a festival that reverberates from the hills

By Sanjay Mosing

The ‘Podi-Barbi’ is a harvest festival celebrated by the Adi (Ramo, Pai-Libo and Bokar communities) of Mechukha sub-division on 5th December every year. Basically, the festival is celebrated as a thanksgiving to the Mother Nature for the abundant harvest of crops in current year and also to pray for another bumper harvest and hunting season for the coming year.

During this day, men and womenfolk clad in traditional attire enjoy the festivities with fun and merry making. Like other festivals of people of Tani origin, the sacrifice of domestic animals during the festival is another feature of the celebration and the ritual is performed by local priest known as Nyubu.

According to the legends, ‘Podi-Barbi’ refers to a small ‘Cicada’ like migratory insect that makes loud tweeters sound and migrates from far-flung places and arrives at the region at the time of harvesting season. Since, the primitive people were not aware of any calendar by which they could know the exact time of harvesting, used the arrival of these tiny insects as reminder of harvesting season. The festival is celebrated during the harvesting season, when the insects make their appearance in the region.

After completion of rituals, men and womenfolk distribute wine and other delicacies to guests and invitees. Local wine (Opong) made of millet and maize is vogue during this day. Traditional songs known as “Jaying and Bari” is common among the elder people and the youths perform traditional dance on entertainment mode. However, with the advent of modernization, modern songs and dances are also combined solely for entertainment these days.

People of the area are basically dependent on agricultural products like maize, millet and rice along with vegetables, which is still in practice. Maize has been the staple food for ages as growing rice in the mountainous terrains is almost impossible. But the introduction of Public Distribution System (PDS) by the government has drastically changed the food habits of the people of the area in recent years. Now they are totally dependent on PDS and prefer rice to maize as staple food. However, they have not abandoned the old practice of growing maize, millet and other vegetable items for themselves and domestic animals.

Culturally and traditionally the people are very rich, but due to lack of proper exposure to outside world most of the people even in the State hardly know about the Ramo, Pai-Libo and Bokar communities of Mechukha sub-division.

(Writer is a journalist and presently working at Echo of Arunachal as Sub-Editor)

Adii (Ramo, Bokar and Pai-Libo women in traditional attire during Podi-Barbi festival)