- Govt. Site on Jatinga, North Cachar HillsAs fog comes on a moonless night. When the wind blows in direction right.
Jatinga turns into an island of search light, and birds appear like ghosts from nowhere.
Jatinga, famous for the phenomenon of birds ‘committing suicide’, is situated on a spur of the Haflong ridge, the head quarter of the North Cachar Hills district in Assam. It itself is an offshoot of the main ridge of the Borail range. It centrally lies at the junction of the roads leading to Haflong, Silchar and Lumding. Here the mist and fog lie like a veil around the beautiful face of the damsel from September to November.
During these late monsoon months, mysterious behaviour of birds occurs. However, some other conditions are also necessary for the phenomenon to take place. The air must be cloudy, foggy or misty. If there were slight rain, it would be even better. The wind must be from south to north. It should be moonless dark nights. And the best time is between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Curiously, most of the doomed birds do not attempt to fly away after they land near the lights. They look disheveled and dazed, perhaps owing to the shock of the whole shocking experience. Such birds get easy pray to the villagers. Some of the birds moving around the light sources are brought down by a forceful swing of the bamboo poles. Catapults are also utilized to bring down the birds in flight and those resting on the trees and bushes near the light sources.
However, contradicting the popular belief, birds do not commit suicide. Under conditions not so far in Toto elaborated, these birds are caught in the fog and wind, are disoriented and seek solace of the light sources put out by the villagers. They hit against trees or other objects and are injured in their flight towards the light source.
An off-the-beaten-track destination, it is a beautiful valley surrounded by hills of the Borail ranges, and really proves to be a magnetic and mysterious experience for not only the tourists but this place is also an ornithologist’s delight. Of the hundreds of species of birds found (and die) there are the exotic and rare birds like the Tiger Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret, Pond Heron, Indian Pitta and Kingfishers.
You can reach the mystic place tugged in the North Cachar Hills either by road from Silchar or train from Lumding or Badarpur Juction till Haflong and take a local bus or just hitchhike.
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