ABOUT NAGALAND Nagaland, state of India, lying in the hills and mountains of the northeastern part of the country. It is one of the smaller states of India. Nagaland is the only Christian state in India. It is bounded by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the northeast, Manipur to the south, and Assam to the west and northwest and the country of Myanmar (Burma) to the east. The state capital is Kohima, located in the southern part of Nagaland, up in the mountains. Area 6,401 square miles (16,579 square km). Pop (2008 est.) 2,187,000.

Naga people The Naga people are various individuals or ethnic groups associated to the North Eastern part of India and northwestern Myanmar. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority of population in the Indian state of Nagaland and Naga Self-Administered Zone of Myanmar; with significant populations in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India; Sagaing Division and Kachin State in Myanmar.

The Nagas were known to be both very superstitious and notorious headhunters as well. The Naga speak various Sino-Tibetan languages, mostly distinct to each tribes. In addition, the Naga have also developed Nagamese Creole, which they use between various indigenous communities and villages, which each have their own dialect of language. The Naga tribe is divided into various tribes (see list of Naga tribes), whose exact numbers and population is unclear. The Naga tribes practised headhunting and preserved the heads of enemies as trophies through the 19th century and as late as 1969.[3] Generally, the traditional customs of the Naga, as well as their lifestyle, are very similar to those of the Wa people further to the Southeast and the numerous parallels between the societies and traditions of the Naga and the Wa have been pointed out by anthropologists J. P. Mills and J. H. Hutton.[4]

A man could not marry nor was considered a ‘real man’ until he had first taken the head of another man.

Christianity in Nagaland The predominant religion of Nagaland is Christianity. The state's population is 1.988 million, out of which 90.02% are Christians. More than 98% of the Naga people identify themselves as Christian. [1] The 2001 census recorded the state's Christian population at 1,790,350, making it, with Meghalaya and Mizoram, one of the three Christian-majority states in India and the only state where Christians form 90% of the population. The state has a very high church attendance rate in both urban and rural areas. Huge churches dominate the skylines of Kohima, Dimapur, and Mokokchung.

Every year at the HornBill Festival the tribes gather in traditional dress to dance, sing and contend in games between the tribes.

It was in the early part of October 1871, Supongmeren from Molungkimong village was baptised at Sibsagar and enrolled as an American Baptist Church member. He became the bridge between the American Baptist Missionary E.W. Clark, Evangelist Godhula and the headhunting Ao Nagas. Kosasanger Council of Molungkimong Village (Dekahaimong) dispatched 60 warriors to escort Dr. E.W. Clark. It took almost three days from Sibsagar to reach Molungkimong. Clark arrived on 18 December (Wednesday) and baptized 15 new converts on 22nd (Sunday) December 1872 at a Village drinking well called 'Chungli Tzubu' which was permitted by the Village council. Another miracle for Clark after which they had a worship service and celebrated the first Lord's supper. Thus, on this day, the first Naga Church was founded with 28 Baptized members. They were Dr. Clark, Godhula and his wife, Supongmeren, 9 converts baptized on 10 November at Sibsagar, and 15 converts baptized at Molungkimong on 22 December 1872.

Nagaland was one of several regions of north East India that experienced Christian revival movements in the 1950s and 1960s. The "Nagaland Christian Revival Church", formed in 1962, grew out of the initial phase of this movement.[2] It had its origin in a village in Kohima district where, in 1962, an event known as "The Great Awakening" started[citation needed]. The revival emphasized believers having a "personal encounter with Christ", the witnessing of "signs and wonders" (such as miraculous healings), and having a missionary outreach to non-believing or nominally-Christian Nagas.[2] The result was that Nagaland became an overwhelmingly Christian state.