Aoleang Monyu, the spring festival celebrated in the first week of April, belongs to which Naga tribe?

Aoleang Monyu (also called Aoling) is the most important festival of the Konyak Naga tribe of Nagaland. It is celebrated every year in the first week of April, usually from 1 to 6 April, mainly in the Mon district, the homeland of the Konyaks. It welcomes the spring and the new year, and marks the beginning of the sowing season.

Aoleang is celebrated after the clearing of the jungle for jhum (shifting) cultivation and before the sowing of seeds. It is a time to pray to the gods for a good harvest, to celebrate the new year and to enjoy feasting and merrymaking. Each day of the festival has its own activities and rituals. The festival begins with the preparation of food and rice beer, the collection of firewood and vegetables, and the slaughter of animals for the feast. The people then offer prayers and sacrifices to the deities for blessings. The festival includes traditional songs, dances and games, and the people wear their colourful traditional costumes, ornaments and headgear. A special feature is the dance of the men, who carry traditional weapons such as spears, daos (machetes) and, in the past, guns, and wear headgear decorated with feathers and horns.

The Konyaks were once famous as fierce warriors and headhunters, and the men who had taken heads in battle were given facial tattoos as a sign of their bravery. Headhunting was abandoned in the 20th century, and the last generation of tattooed Konyak warriors is now very old. The Konyaks are ruled by hereditary chiefs called "Anghs". The village of Longwa in the Mon district is famous because the international border between India and Myanmar passes through it, and the house of its Angh lies partly in India and partly in Myanmar.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Ao tribe celebrates Moatsu.
• ✗Angami tribe celebrates Sekrenyi.
• ✗Sumi tribe celebrates Tuluni.