Giant Himalayan Lily of Liyai attracts visitors
Source: Chronicle News Service
Senapati, June 04 2022:
Giant Himalayan Lilies that are found in the Heudu range of Liyai Khullen village under Pao-mata block, Senapati district are attracting a lot of visitors from various places including from outside the state, turning the place a tourist hotspot.
The giant Himalayan Lily, locally known as Beivoli, has a lovely fragrance and is about 8 feet tall.
It blooms for around 2 weeks.
It is reported that outsiders and visitors from various places of the state started to visit the hill range 4-5 years ago.
According to the villagers, visitors started to visit the place on May 27, 2021 and till Saturday (June 4, 2022), the number of visitors has reached more than 500 visitors.
One could smell the fragrance of the flower as one gets nearer to the spot.
When the plant is fully grown, it is cut and dried to use as traditional trumpet.
The villagers said that blowing of the traditional trumpet is permitted only after harvest, and with coming of the seed sowing season, the trumpets made out of the dried giant Himalayan Lily will be kept out of sight until the next season.
Liyai Khullen is also the biggest village of Poumai Naga community in Senapati district.
The village has a population of over 13,000 with 5,445 voters.
Apart from the giant Himalayan Lily, the village has two very old Banyan trees which the locals call "The soul of the villagers" .
According to some researchers who visited the place, the two trees are more than 2,000 years old.
The village is also known as the origin of the Great Barak River.
There are 4 major ponds (spring water) in the village which are very old and one of the major ponds in the village is the "Tiger Pond.
" The villagers recounted elders' tale of spotting a tiger drinking from the pond and was given the said name.
A sacred boulder commonly known as weather forecast still exists in the village.
It is said weather for the day can be predicted through the boulder.
The common professions of the villagers are making barns and baskets and farming.
The villagers are famous for making barns as the people of the region only buy bams made from the village.
Cabbage and potato are two major vegetables grown in the village.
Some 4-5 truckloads of cabbage are exported from the village per day during its season.
Majority of the village's farmers harvest around 150 tin (steel container) of paddy.
Having felt the need to grow the food crop organically in the village, the villagers have banned any use of chemical for 20 years now.
The villagers produce only organic food from the village.
A fine of Rs 50,000 is imposed on anyone found using any chemical in the village.
To generate income, the village has started to tap its tourism potential but absence of proper road connectivity proves to be a major stumbling block.
The village chairman told this correspondent that apart from the giant Himalayan Lily and other important places in the village, there are still many unexplored sites.
He further informed that the villagers have been preserving the Barak Spring by planting more trees at its basement and banning felling of trees in the village.
As part of conserving the environment, the villagers have put a ban on all kinds of cutting down trees till 2030 in the common land.
The village has for years preserved the wild habitat by banning hunting of any wild animals or birds in the village forest, the village chairman added.
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