Prime Minister Narendra Modi has thanked the villagers of Kongthong village in Meghalaya for composing a special tune in his honor and said that the government of India was dedicated towards promoting the tourism potential of the state. The Kongthong village which is known as the ‘whistling’ village is a part of the East Khasi hills in Meghalaya.
The special tune was composed by the residents of the unique ‘Whistling Village’ of India in honor of Prime Minister Modi and in appreciation of the steps that the Government of India had taken to promote the village as a prime tourism destination of the country.
Whistling Village of India : The Kongthong Village in Meghalaya
Located at a distance of just 60 kilometers from the capital of Meghalaya, Shillong, the ‘Whistling Village’ of India was nominated by the World Tourist organization UNWTO in September for the ‘Best Tourism Villages’ award. The beautiful village of Kongthong derived its special name of ‘Whistling Village’ from a unique characteristic of its people to identify themselves through a distinct ‘whistling’ tune specific to every individual born in the land of Kongthong. That is, each and every resident of the village of Kongthong has a ‘whistling’ tune version of their names.
The whistling tune known as Jingrwai Lawbei which means mother’s love song, is a special melodic tune composed by the women of the village for their children. As per reports, according to the traditions of the village, a mother composes the tune for her child within a week of birth. Remarkably, the villagers of this East Khasi Hills village have been using this whistling tunes for communication and sending messages among themselves as well.
Notably, the ‘Kongthong Village’ is composed of only 700 people and had been adopted by Bihar Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha of Bharatiya Janata Party. Rakesh Sinha had also recommended a UNESCO tag for the village.