Indira Gandhi Rashtirya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) has a wonderful treasure of housing patterns in its open air exhibitions providing insight to understand life and culture of various Indian communities living in different geo-climatic zones.

The Tribal Habitat  is one such exhibition enabling visitors to understand the socio-cultural life of north east Indian  communities.

The IGRMS launched a new series to display online the exhibits  with the aim of digitally connecting everyone with them due to lock-down during the current COVID-19 epidemic.

 Under this series, today “ Morung –The Konyak Naga Youth Dormitory ”- a  traditional dormitory from Mon district of Nagaland, Exhibition of IGRMS has been presented online with its basic information and photographs and videos.

Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that the main objective of this series is to highlight the aesthetic features of traditional lifestyles, local knowledge and culture’s continuing relevance with modern society.        

Surya kumar pandey Assistant keeper  told that the Konyak Naga is one of the dominant Naga communities largely concentrated in the tropical forest region in the Mon district of Nagaland. Situated in the extreme northern proximity of the state with a rugged mountainous terrain and thick forest cover; the region shares its international boundary with Myanmar to the east and the state of Arunachal Pradesh in the north.

One of the very dominant cultural identities of the Naga tribe is the institution of a Youth Dormitory that plays an active role to the preaching of social values, morals, marital laws and martial accomplishments required for the prosperity of a village or a community.

Although, the common nomenclature of the Naga Youth Dormitory Morung, it also has its local terms and varients depending on the distinct cultural population.

The Konyak Naga prefers to call their Morung as ‘Paan’. A village may consist of more than one youth dormitory depending upon strategic location and geographical distribution of the village into lanes called ‘Khel’ and it largely functions as a guardhouse of the warriors.

The members of a dormitory may comprise of more than one clan and they are managed by a council of Morung elders and volunteers with full autonomy.