Why am I saying this? There are two unique things in the valleys of Nagaland that are perhaps nowhere else in India or even the world.
One is certainly the ‘waves’ of small green hills covered entirely with short bamboo trees. From a distance, Dzükou Valley looks like a child has painted hills with green color.
The other is the Dzükou Lily.
Before traveling, I probably didn’t do enough homework or research about the place. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have realized the true value of a rare flower like the Dzükou Lily two weeks after my visit.
The shy, drooping pink flower, facing away from the sun, might not be recognized by anyone after 100 years. Scientists say that the flower has been decreasing in the valley over the past several years. Efforts are being made to conserve the Dzükou Lily, just like the Royal Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, Brahma Kamal of Uttarakhand, or Malabar Lily of Tamil Nadu. Scientists from Manipur tried to cultivate the Dzükou Lily in Kohima or other soils but failed. As of now, science says that to see this flower, one has to come to this particular valley in Nagaland on foot during the monsoon. No other place has been able to cultivate this flower yet. It blooms fully only for about one and a half months in June-July.
There’s another story behind this lily. While looking for the scientific name of this flower, I learned that Manipur researcher Hizam Bikramjit first identified it in 1992 and wrote in detail about it in the Mumbai Journal of Botany Science. In scientific terms, Bikramjit is also the discoverer of this flower. His mother’s name was Chitrangada. He named the flower Lilium chindrangade after her.
When I learned about this flower, there was almost no chance of seeing it again because there’s so much left to see in a short life. Going to the same place again wouldn’t sit well with the wallet. But, to see this flower again, I might walk through the monsoon roads once more, huffing and puffing…
This article is written by Pinky Adhikary. Translated into English by Inu Etc
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