Title: The story of Puliebadze
Language: Angami
Description: This folktale comes from the Western Angami community of Jotsoma Village of which I belong. ‘Puliebadze’ is a mountain peak standing at an elevation of 2,296 m overlooking the capital city of Nagaland, Kohima, it is the centerpiece of Pulie Badze Wildlife Sanctuary. And through this assignment I would like to delve deeper into the historic folktale of this mountain peak which stands tall today . Pulie belonged to the Nakhro clan of Jotsoma Village . He resided at Phezhu Jotsoma (present day Science College, Kohima). As a young man who was seeking for marriage he married a woman from Kohima Village . After his marriage he had this long wish of hosting a feast called ” Chümetsie chükecü ” which is supposed to be a feast held after a fruitful harvest which also includes rearing domesticated animals for the feast for which they gain a title after the feast is held . On his pursuit for the title he worked hard alongside his wife for the harvest but when the crops were about to ripen he noticed that an animal was destroying the crops . On his mission to find this animal he sharpened his dao and spear so finely to the point where the grass were finely cut when he threw his spear on the bed of grass . Satisfied with his preparation he set out to slay the animal at his field where he was patiently waiting for it to appear . It was past midnight at suddenly he could hear rustling sounds between the crops to which he discovered was a big snake . Upon seeing the snake he threw his spear at the snake but it got away with the spear well lodged in its body.
On returning home he narrated his story to his wife and soon after he fell very sick . Several rituals were performed for his recovery to which failed to cure him as he had killed a mountain spirit and he eventually passed away . After Pulie died the villagers went in search of the snake and found the snake laying dead inside a hole of the foothill with the spear still intact to its body .
On the day of Pulie’s death , his father went up the peak and mourned for his son crying out , ” Pulie, who couldn’t hold the feast” , to which Pulie’s spirit responded,”Ho.., Ho..”. Upon hearing this Pulie’s father followed the voice of his dead son to the extent where it could be heard clearly and erected a stone platform as a seat for his son to he residing over there and from thereafter the hill became to be known as ‘PULIEBADZE’ .

Format & Duration: Audio – 5 mins
Date of Recording: 13-Aug-2023
Date of Upload: 07-Nov-2023
Performer: Neibouno Peseyie
Creator: Aneize-e Nagi
Publisher: Tetso College, Dimapur
Note: NA

Cite this work

Nagi Aneize-e. 2023. The story of Puliebadze. (https://neiipa.in/audio/the-story-of-puliebadze/) NEIIPA,Tetso College. Accessed: (20-Jul-2024)