Thursday 22 June 2017
Wednesday 21 June 2017
LAST Photos of Payum Village, Arunachal Pradesh, captured on film
On 13th January 2016, I went on a trekking to a remote village called Payum, Arunachal Pradesh. My friend and classmate Atun planned to get some information on Bori Burial Rituals from the village for her M.Phil dissertation .
It was her forefather's village and she is of Bori (Adi) tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. After 5 long hours of mountainous trails and crossing 2 rivers via hanging bridge and climbing steep slopes, we reached Payum which is located on top of a mountain on the Himalayan range.
My working camera Olympus EPL2 broke down so I took along my film camera Nikon FM2n and few Fujifilm Colorplus 200 and Kodak Gold 400 film negatives.
I also used a Canon prosumer camera borrowed from my brother-in-law and we relied on our phone cameras for the usual shots and documentations.
Only recently I got the films developed with the help of my husband from Ahmadabad, per film costing Rs.150 to develop.
These photos might be the last surviving photos of Payum village before it burnt down to ashes on March 2016, due to negligence from a drunken village man in whose house we had dinner. It makes me very sad to think about it.
http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/arunachal-pradesh-45-houses-gutted-in-siang-fire/934768
The village was scenic and people were very warm and hardworking.
These photos further becomes more precious.
I used the Canon to record most of the village story but below are few photos from the film negatives. It is a collection of few personal portraits and a glimpse of the place before it was gone forever. Nevertheless.... I'll remember Payum in good memories and thank my friend Atun for taking me there.
The above photo was taken just before trekking to Payum... This village had electricity, not Payum. From here it was 5 hours foot trekking which sounds not much but the trek was very tiring
We crossed 3 hanging bridges like this which is very common this side of the world. Such bridges are made of metal wires, wood, bamboo and rope. These connects the mountains which usually has deep gorges and high river below.
Atun
Atun's Aunt also came with us for a day to help us carry few luggage... This was the 2nd hanging bridge we crossed.
We crossed small screams and water falls and took a lot of photos in the area as it was really beautiful and calming... Such spring areas are welcome treat for tired and thirsty foot travelers...
The above was the 3rd bridge we crossed which was not really in a working order so we crossed the river on foot which wasn't really that deep. Due to poor maintenance many a times people fall into the gorge and drown in the rivers below when such bridges break...
Wild bananas are very common in this region
Village ladies we came across...
We were nearing Payum by now...
The villagers are very hardworking... They go to the other side of the mountain early in the morning to farm and return late in the evening... Difficult life but happy people...
They carry such heavy loads climbing such steep mountains...
Small breed of pigs that are found in these region. I find this local pig variety very cute...
Traditional method of separating rice grain from the husk. It was my first time to see this method... Ingenious and simple idea...
Stones arranged in this fashion separates one compound from another
90 yrs old man...
Lady and her house
There is still no roads to Payum but Christianity has reached even this remote Himalayan village
Dogs following us everywhere
Bear skin hanging dried in the sun. The poor villagers hunt these endangered animals to sell it to Govt. officials to make ends meet.
Govt. should provide them alternate source of income to save the endangered animals.
Snow capped Himalaya
Granaries lies on the outskirts of the village. This must be because in case of fire breakouts in the village, people at least have food to eat.
A typical Bori thatched bamboo house
Government set up such water pipes in the village. Earlier people fetched water from far away stream/ rivers.
Dogs, of course!
Atun and me went to fetch firewood from the jungle. We didn't know any better so collected twigs and old wood. A neigbour later took pity on us and gave us better firewood! Bless him!
A kind neighbour cutting firewood for us when he realized we didn't have much firewood and the twigs that we collected are not usable much...
On the way to Mongin camp, a farmer left his traditional bag hanging on a tree...
Airfield in Mongin camp in Payum circle has an abandoned airfield and some abandoned army camps and Government schools which are rotting and unused....
These cute dogs followed us everywhere....till Mongin camp
Abandoned school buildings in Mongin camp
Goodbye...
It was her forefather's village and she is of Bori (Adi) tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. After 5 long hours of mountainous trails and crossing 2 rivers via hanging bridge and climbing steep slopes, we reached Payum which is located on top of a mountain on the Himalayan range.
My working camera Olympus EPL2 broke down so I took along my film camera Nikon FM2n and few Fujifilm Colorplus 200 and Kodak Gold 400 film negatives.
I also used a Canon prosumer camera borrowed from my brother-in-law and we relied on our phone cameras for the usual shots and documentations.
Only recently I got the films developed with the help of my husband from Ahmadabad, per film costing Rs.150 to develop.
These photos might be the last surviving photos of Payum village before it burnt down to ashes on March 2016, due to negligence from a drunken village man in whose house we had dinner. It makes me very sad to think about it.
http://www.outlookindia.com/newswire/story/arunachal-pradesh-45-houses-gutted-in-siang-fire/934768
The village was scenic and people were very warm and hardworking.
These photos further becomes more precious.
I used the Canon to record most of the village story but below are few photos from the film negatives. It is a collection of few personal portraits and a glimpse of the place before it was gone forever. Nevertheless.... I'll remember Payum in good memories and thank my friend Atun for taking me there.
The above photo was taken just before trekking to Payum... This village had electricity, not Payum. From here it was 5 hours foot trekking which sounds not much but the trek was very tiring 
We crossed 3 hanging bridges like this which is very common this side of the world. Such bridges are made of metal wires, wood, bamboo and rope. These connects the mountains which usually has deep gorges and high river below. 
Atun
Atun's Aunt also came with us for a day to help us carry few luggage... This was the 2nd hanging bridge we crossed.
We crossed small screams and water falls and took a lot of photos in the area as it was really beautiful and calming... Such spring areas are welcome treat for tired and thirsty foot travelers...
The above was the 3rd bridge we crossed which was not really in a working order so we crossed the river on foot which wasn't really that deep. Due to poor maintenance many a times people fall into the gorge and drown in the rivers below when such bridges break...
Wild bananas are very common in this region
Village ladies we came across...
We were nearing Payum by now...
The villagers are very hardworking... They go to the other side of the mountain early in the morning to farm and return late in the evening... Difficult life but happy people...
They carry such heavy loads climbing such steep mountains...
Small breed of pigs that are found in these region. I find this local pig variety very cute...
Traditional method of separating rice grain from the husk. It was my first time to see this method... Ingenious and simple idea...
Stones arranged in this fashion separates one compound from another
90 yrs old man...
Lady and her house
There is still no roads to Payum but Christianity has reached even this remote Himalayan village
Dogs following us everywhere
Bear skin hanging dried in the sun. The poor villagers hunt these endangered animals to sell it to Govt. officials to make ends meet.
Govt. should provide them alternate source of income to save the endangered animals.
Snow capped Himalaya
Granaries lies on the outskirts of the village. This must be because in case of fire breakouts in the village, people at least have food to eat.
A typical Bori thatched bamboo house
Government set up such water pipes in the village. Earlier people fetched water from far away stream/ rivers.
Dogs, of course!
Atun and me went to fetch firewood from the jungle. We didn't know any better so collected twigs and old wood. A neigbour later took pity on us and gave us better firewood! Bless him!
A kind neighbour cutting firewood for us when he realized we didn't have much firewood and the twigs that we collected are not usable much...
On the way to Mongin camp, a farmer left his traditional bag hanging on a tree...
Airfield in Mongin camp in Payum circle has an abandoned airfield and some abandoned army camps and Government schools which are rotting and unused....
These cute dogs followed us everywhere....till Mongin camp
Abandoned school buildings in Mongin camp
Goodbye...
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