In news– Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha has recently presented his development report on Kongthong village in Meghalaya, India’s only whistling village to Prime Minister.
About the village-
- Kongthong is located in the East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya and is popular as the ‘whistling village’ due to its unique tradition of ‘Jingrwai Lawbei’(which means Mother’s Love song) under which mothers create a tune for their newborns.
- These tunes are often used as names. Kongthong people belong to the Seng Khasi Tribe and speak Khasi language.
- They call each other with these unique tunes
- The unique tune has two stages, first by the mother and second by the child. As the child grows up, they form their own tune to call their parents or the villagers.
- According to Census 2011, the village has a population of 567, out of which 275 are males and 275 are females, and a literacy rate of 55%.
- The village was adopted by the MP village under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
- In 2022, the Ministry of Tourism selected Kongthong village UNWTO’s (The World Tourism Organisation) ‘Best Tourism Villages’ award along with two other villages in the country.
Note:
- The World Tourism Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations mandated with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. It is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
- Established in November 1975.
- The official languages of UNWTO are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
- The UNWTO has 160 member states, six associate members.
- India is a member of the Executive council of UNWTO continuously for the last 19 years; during this period, India has been elected to the Chairmanship of the Executive Council twice.
Source: The Indian Express
