Khonoma Village

Khonoma, an Angami Naga village near Kohima, is celebrated as one of India's first officially recognised 'green villages', its community having voluntarily banned hunting and adopted sustainable forestry practices to protect the endangered Blyth's tragopan pheasant and its surrounding forest habitat. The village also holds significant historical weight as the site of fierce Angami resistance against British colonial forces in the late 19th century, with a well-preserved fort and terraced stone architecture reflecting this history.

Khonoma's combination of environmental stewardship, historical resistance and traditional Angami architecture — including elaborately carved village gates and terraced house clusters — makes it one of Nagaland's most significant villages for understanding both the region's colonial-era history and its more recent grassroots conservation achievements.

Khonoma was the site of prolonged and determined Angami resistance against British colonial expansion in the 1870s and 1880s, and its more recent transformation into a nationally recognised model of community-led conservation reflects a continued strong tradition of independent local governance.

About 20km from Kohima, roughly 45 minutes by road.