Jatinga village of Assam, a small village in the District of Dima Hasao, is surrounded by natural scenic beauty. The village has lush green forests and lofty mountains, with a population of around 25000 people.
‘Jatinga’ means the pathway of rain and water according to the Naga tribe. However one must not be deceived by the serene and quiet atmosphere which meets your eye when you reach the village of Jatinga. Hidden behind a mist of mesmerizing calmness lies a strange and eerie phenomenon.
A mysterious and extremely bizarre incident that takes place every year without fail. During the winter months migratory birds gather here from faraway places. This offers a golden opportunity to many ornithologists and bird lovers to get the satisfaction of watching birds belonging to different species not seen in India like the tiger bitterness, kingfishers, pond Heron, Little egret, Indian Pitta and many other types of birds.
Jatinga Village, Where Birds Kill Themselves
But the reason that has made Jatinga famous or rather infamous is called “the bird suicide phenomenon”. The phrase may sound unbelievable but this strange phenomenon takes place every year between September to November in the evenings around 7.00 pm to 10.00pm without fail when these migratory birds kill themselves for no reason at all.
At first they start flying here and there erratically and then when darkness envelopes the land, they crash against trees, buildings and rocks as if under some magical spell. And this does not happen everywhere but is restricted to a particular stretch of land which is named by some as the “Bermuda Triangle for Birds”.
This strange incident was first noticed by the Zeme Nagas in 1900s who called it “harakiri”of the birds. The Nagas then abandoned this place out of fear of something evil which might also cast its spell on them. After a few years another tribe named Jaintias found this village uninhabited and settled here.
The strange phenomenon continued to take place but instead of looking at it from a negative point of view, the Jaintia’s regarded this as a blessing from God and were thankful for the food they got in the form of these dead birds.
Researchers Still Clueless
However attempts by researchers and ornithologists continued to be made to search for a reasonable cause behind the mass suicide of birds. Local people believed that some age-old curse was responsible for this.
Some researchers thought that this maybe caused by the fog, cold high velocity wind and darkness which confuses the birds and just like moths fly towards fire, these birds must have tried to fly towards the artificial lights of the village and as a result crashed against the buildings and electric poles.
Some have referred to this phenomenon in Jatinga village of Assam as murder but given the color of suicide. This is because sometimes the local people, taking advantage of the disorientation of the birds used to hit them with bamboo sticks thus causing their death. Whatever be the reason behind this strange occurrence, it continues to take place every year at the same time and has drawn this insignificant little village into international limelight.
To attract tourists a festival called Jatinga Festival is organized by local authorities during that specific time of the year when ‘bird suicide’ occurs. However both ornithologists and the Government are taking steps towards curbing these mass deaths through awareness campaigns, night time vigil and putting restrictions on the use of artificial lighting in this area, etc.
All these efforts have been instrumental in reducing the number of bird deaths significantly but have not succeeded in putting a stop to it.
Such is the mystery and enigma of Jatinga where no definite reason has been found even to this day regarding this strange phenomenon.
