Khamasom is a generic reference to four villages located north of

Ukhrul Ukhrul/Hunphun ( Meitei pronunciation:/ˈuːkˌɹəl or ˈuːkˌɹʊl/) is a town in the state of Manipur, India. Ukhrul is the home of the Tangkhul Nagas. It is the administrative headquarter of the Ukhrul district. There are also four sub-div ...

in Ukhrul district,

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The four villages are Khamasom Khayangkho, Khamasom Walely, Khamasom Phungdhar, and Khamasom Phungrei. The settlement is approximately 38 kilometers from Ukhrul and partially connected by National Highway 202,

Imphal Imphal ( Meitei pronunciation: /im.pʰal/; English pronunciation: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (also known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the fo ...

Kohima Kohima (; Angami Naga: ''Kewhira'' ()), is the capital of the Northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. With a resident population of almost 100,000, it is the second largest city in the state. Originally known as ''Kewhira'', Kohima was founded ...

road via

Jessami Jessami is a village in Ukhrul district, Manipur, India. Jessami is a border village in the extreme north of Manipur State and borders with Meluri, a border village of Nagaland State. Being nearer to Nagaland, the town used to get electricity fr ...

. Khamasom is flanked by Sihai in the south,

Huishu Huishu village is situated on the northeast fringe of the district headquarter, Ukhrul district, Manipur, India, and is bordered by Myanmar to the northeast, Poi village to the north, Chingai and Awang Kasom Ngahui to the northwest, Kuirei vi ...

in the northwest

Nungbi Khullen Nungbi Khullen, locally called Loree, is a village north of Ukhrul in Ukhrul district of Manipur state, India. It is part of the Chingai subdivision. National Highway 150, connecting Imphal-Kohima via Ukhrul and Jessami, passes through it. About ...

in the west and Myanmar in the east. The inhabitants speak Khamasom dialect which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family. The four villages are under one chieftain.

Total population

As per the 2011 census, Khamasom Khayangkho has 388 households with the total of 1996 people of which 1070 are male and 926 are female. Of the total population, 214 were in the age group of 0–6 years. The average sex ratio of Khamasom Khayangkho village is 965 female to 1000 males which is lower than the state average of 985. The literacy rate of the village stands at 76.94%. The male literacy rate stands at 78.40% while the female literacy rate was 59.94%.

People and occupation

The village is home to the people of the Tangkhul Naga tribe. The majority of the inhabitants are Christians. Agriculture is the primary occupation of the inhabitants. The village is well known in the district for its scenic beauty. Khamasom has a vast forest stretching up to the international boundary with Myanmar and the stretch is rich in flora and fauna. Recently, the village was in the news for a sighting of a flower that resembles a deadly snake which the locals called Khamasam van; meaning Khamasom flower for being native only to the village.

Vegetation

Khamasom village is known for its richness in forest vegetation. The mostly found trees are Pine, Oak, Aldar, Wild Cinnamon, and many others. Khamasom is arguably the only village in northeastern India that has a thick virgin forest in the Indo-Burma border stretch. One unique feature of the natural vegetation is that Khamasom has two locations - Nginu (means 'small meadow) and Ngirue (means 'big meadow in Khamasom village local language) - within the thick jungles where the rarest lily flowers thickly bloom in the month of May and June every year. Arguably, one can state that Khamasom Lilies are growing more and more in numbers while Shiroi Lily is diminishing due to improper care given to the Shirui Kashong by people, either tourists or native villagers. The occurrence of wildfire in the hill could be one main reason. But in the case of Khamasom, these two locations - Nginu and Ngirue are thickly forested areas, so no human destruction observed in the areas so far. In order to reach the locations, a visitor has to walk for a whole day and another whole day to walk back to Khamasom Khayangkho habitation.

References

{{Ukhrul district Villages in Ukhrul district