By road
~443-450 km from Guwahati
Northeast India · Arunachal Pradesh
Ziro Valley, Arunachal Pradesh
Apatani rice terraces and a music festival · ~443-450 km from Guwahati
Getting there
By rail
Naharlagun, ~95-105 km
By air
Lilabari (North Lakhimpur) Airport, ~100-123 km, or Jorhat, ~93-98 km, both with limited flights; Guwahati (~443-450 km) has the widest connections
Best time to visit
September for the Ziro Festival of Music; March-October generally
Don't miss
Apatani villages of Hong and Hija
Talley Valley WLS
Meghna Cave Temple
Things to do
Village walks with Apatani elders
Festival camping
Paddy-cum-fish farm visits
Where to eat
Sources: wikimedia, Photo: Ashwani Kumar · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Layers, rain shell, Inner Line Permit, festival tickets early
A quieter corner
Talley Valley's untouched forest sanctuary a day-trek away
About Ziro Valley
- Hills
Where it is
Ziro is a high valley in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district, a broad bowl of rice fields ringed by pine- and bamboo-covered hills at about 1,700 m, some 115 km from the state capital, Itanagar.
History
The Apatani people have farmed the Ziro valley for centuries, growing wet rice on plots watered by channels from the surrounding hills without farm animals or machines. In 2014 the Apatani cultural landscape was placed on India's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status, and since 2012 the Ziro Festival of Music has drawn visitors to the valley.
People
The Apatani speak their own Tani language and follow Donyi-Polo, the worship of the sun and the moon, as well as Christianity. They celebrate Myoko in March and Dree in July, and some older Apatani women still bear the traditional facial tattoos, a custom no longer practised.
Known for
- Apatani villages such as Hong and Hija
- Terraced rice fields and pine groves
- The Ziro Festival of Music
- The Dree and Myoko festivals
- Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary
Did you know?
Apatani farmers raise fish in their flooded rice fields and harvest both from the same plots, a paddy-cum-fish system noted for its productivity and care for the land.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.