Looking beyond: File picture of tourists enjoying the view at Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga, Sept. 24: Visitors to the famed Kaziranga National Park next year would not only carry home the sound and sight of the wild but also a slice of the Karbi way of life.

Implemented by the Karbi Anglong district administration and funded by the Centre, an ethnic Karbi village will be set up allowing visitors to sample the way of life of the community, which believes that the park gets its name from a Karbi mythological heroine — Kajir Ranghangpi.

Though more than 50 Karbi villages surround the northern part of the national park, the project will be monitored by two Karbi-dominated villages — Chandra Singh and Phawn Ingti — located on the fringes.

A sum of Rs 2 crore has been released for the implementation of the first phase. As and when completed, the project will not only help visitors become familiar with the community but also help in the economic uplift of the local residents.

The salient features of this ethno-adventure project will be more than a dozen hamtuns (Karbi homes), an amphitheatre where the traditional culture of the community would be displayed, a restaurant where the emphasis would be on traditional cuisine, a centre where an outsider would be shown how the community uses herbs for treatment as well as fashion shows.

A team of trained youths will guide a tourist in tracking and exploring the adjoining hills.

“We plan to involve all the people of the two villages in an organised manner. Local boys would guide the tourists while the girls and the elderly women would be involved in cultural shows. The hamtuns would be used as guesthouses where tourists can spend a night among the people. Cultural programmes and exhibitions of jewellery, clothes, food items, herbal medicines would be held everyday during the tourist season,” a source said.

“You cannot talk about Kaziranga without mentioning the Karbis. But the tribe is still largely ignored. Though the popularity of the park is increasing by the day, not much is known about the people who are so much a part of Kaziranga. So, this is a welcome project for our disadvantaged people,” a local youth, Bidorsingh Ingti, said.

“We will involve the local villagers for the safety and security of the visitors. However, special security would be arranged if it is found necessary,” said Karbi Anglong deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu.

The concern for security stems from the fact that the anti-talks faction of the Karbi militant outfit is active in the area.