Our December 2025 issue goes to Nagaland for the Hornbill Festival, and asks you to treat it as a beginning: Kohima, village nights, food, permits, roads and portraits with permission.
Smoked pork, axone, bamboo shoot and the king chilli: a guide to eating well during the Hornbill Festival, at the Kisama morungs, in Kohima and in a village home.
A plain-language guide to Nagaland’s Inner Line Permit for the Hornbill Festival: who needs one, how to apply online, what to carry, and the rules for foreign travellers.
Issue 80, December 2025: every story in our Nagaland and Hornbill Festival issue, from Kohima and permits to Kisama, Naga food, village nights and respectful portraits.
A guest writer’s first Hornbill Festival: the War Cemetery at dawn, the Kisama morungs, a king chilli mistake, a village night and what a first-timer should know.
Dimapur to Kohima, Kohima to Kisama and the village roads beyond: how festival traffic, short days and road works shape a December trip in Nagaland, and how to plan around them.
How to photograph Dev Deepawali in Varanasi from the steps: light, composition, ethics, aarti, drones and the morning after.
Follow Dev Deepawali’s lamps away from the river into Varanasi’s lanes, shrines and doorways, with safety and photography tips.
Why the eve of Dev Deepawali is the best night to walk Varanasi’s ghats: preparations, space to move, and a dawn on the full moon.
Understand Banarasi silk: brocade, zari, handloom vs power loom, visiting weavers respectfully, and how to buy well in Varanasi.
