Dr. Walunir
It is interesting to learn that the Government of Nagaland is “contemplating to develop pilgrimage tourism basing on historical importance in Nagaland”. (Media Report). Identification and development of tourism spots on such lines will no doubt boost tourism in the state. The rich cultural heritage of Nagaland in relation to religion can also be perpetuated across the world. To his end the government “has also made request for a religious pilgrimage at Molungyimsen” (Media Report) which is actually underway on paper and ground.
However, the prioritization and identification of villages and spots seems questionable. The Government, under this project, has not named Molungkimong Village where Dr. Clark set foot for the first time in Naga Soil on 18th December, 1872 and thereafter established the first Church on 22nd December, 1872 with the baptism of fifteen converts. (Rev. S. W. Rivenburg, Historical Sketch of the Ao Naga Mission, in ‘The Assam Mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union: Papers and Discussions of the Jubilee Conference held in Nowgong, December 18-29, 1886’, published by the Assam Mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union, Printed by J. W. Thomas, Baptist Mission Press, 1887, Calcutta. p. 81).
The ‘pilgrimage tourism’ project underway also negates the historical importance of the Rongsensü Lenmang also called Chubakatiba Lenmang (Ao-Ahom Trade Route) through which Ao Ancestral traders carried out barter system of trade with the Ahoms till the present day Assam. Through this very path (Sibsagar to Molungkimong) Dr. E. W. Clark came up to the Naga Hills with the Gospel escorted by sixty warriors of Molungkimong and thereafter baptized the fifteen converts on 22nd Dec., 1872. In commemoration of this historic Gospel journey, this route is also named as ‘Gospel Path’.
How did Nagaland Government miss out a village of such historical importance in the ‘Pilgrimage Tourism’ map of Nagaland? The Department of Tourism, far from being ignorant, is either misinformed or misguided of foremost historical importance. Whatever be the reason, it would be unjustified if the Government write off essential segments of Naga history in the name of tourism and development.
The present ‘Pilgrimage Tourism’ may also frustrate present day pilgrims if they realize after their designated pilgrimage that they had trod historically misconstrued path and had missed out spots and places of greater historical and religious importance.
Whatever humans do to reconstruct and stage history, the real history will stay and so will the evidences. For people who know, Molungkimong, nestled in a hilltop at an altitude of about 940 meter above sea level, was formed around 1303 and has seen the times of Ahom King who named it as ‘Dekahaimong’. It has also been called ‘Mepetsuyim’ (Misty Village) by many Aos of yore, especially traders who trod the Rongsensü Lenmang (Ao-Ahom Trade Route) that ran through this village.
Pilgrims who come to Molungkimong village visit the historical monuments that bear witness of Naga history – the ‘Gospel Path’; the First Village Gate in Naga Soil which welcomed the Gospel bearer; First Baptistery in Naga Soil in which Dr. E. W Clark baptized the fifteen converts on 22nd December, 1872; the Monument Commemorating First Chapel in Naga Soil wherein Dr. E. W. Clark ministered the first Lord’s Super; Dr. Clark Monument constructed at the plot where he stayed whilst at Molungkimong. These spots and monuments have been recognized and commemorated at different occasions by Molungkimong Village Council, Molungkimong Baptist Church, American Baptist Mission, Ao Baptist Church Council and Nagaland Baptist Church Council as landmarks of Naga Religious History.
The pilgrims to Molungkimong also drink the water of the pond where the fifteen converts were baptized in the icy-cold pond in that destined cold December morning. Others walk through the first Naga village gate that welcomed the Gospel bearer escorted by the warriors with awe at the wondrous works of God that melted the hearts of the fierce warriors who otherwise would have taken any stranger’s head. Some pilgrims also find time to pray at the First Chapel monument and imaginatively partake of the first Lord’s Supper administered by Dr. Clark to the group of converts. People also find time to contemplate in the monument constructed where Dr. Clark stayed while at Molungkimong - the spot where Dr. Clark stood and raised his hands to the hills around and pleaded to God with tears for the warring villages that one day they would see the Light. This village and the holy places here are not meant for pomp and show or religious tag but for those who really have a longing to meet God and revisit his miraculous work done through His servant nearly 140 years back. It is a history written by God’s own hands which no man can write off. Undoubtedly, Molungkimong village and the historic places therein had always been in the ‘Map of God’.
Dr. Walunir
Senior Lecturer
Amity Institute of English Studies
and Research
Amity University
