Welcome back to our blog everybody.
Our conversation about Shillong, my hometown, continues.
Although, Shillong is a small state in India, there are many touristic places that might catch your eye. Shillong is known to be a hill station. This means that it is located at a higher elevation than nearby plains or valleys. Consequently, there are many different waterfalls that can be found within Shillong.
The tourist attractions in Shillong all have a back story to them. These stories have been passed from one generation to the next through word of mouth. These stories help us believe that nature is a living being itself.
With that being said, here is a taste of some of the stories along with the tourist attractions.
Today, I will be talking about NohKaLikai falls.
The name “NohKaLikai” translates to “Jump of Ka Likai”. Likai is the protagonist in the story behind this tourist attraction. The word “Ka” is a prefix given to the females in the Khasi language.
Likai was a young mother who lived in a village near the waterfalls. She was widowed at a young age so she had to earn for the family. She had a baby girl to who she could not give her full attention. Through the persuasion of other women from the village who insisted that she needed a father figure, she decided to get married to a new man.
This new husband got jealous of the attention Likai would shower her child with. His jealousy caused him to do something horrific.
One day he made a great meal for his wife. Likai came home from a long day of work and was starving. She looked around for the baby but could not find her. She assumed that her baby was at the neighbor's so she settled down and ate her husband’s cooked meal.
I hope you can see where this is going.
The husband was so envious of the child that he cooked the baby for the meal he fed to Likai!
Unaware of this act. Likai continued on with her night. However, after a while, she saw a tiny finger that she knew belonged to her daughter. She wrapped her head around what had taken place. Petrified and enraged, she ran till she reached the edge of the fall and finally jumped to her own death.
To this day, this legend remains the reason why NohKaLikai falls is named the way it is. People admire the waterfalls with this legend in mind.
This story was one of the tragic ones however, Shillong continues to have several beautiful tourist attractions.