雀鳥的節日｜印度那加蘭邦犀鳥祭 編寫日期｜2026/2/22

世界各地都有各種奇奇怪怪的節慶活動，以雀鳥為主題的也非罕見，南亞地區的印度那加蘭邦就有犀鳥祭，巧合地「不遠處」的馬來西亞砂勞越同樣都有犀鳥節，不過兩者並沒有任何關係。這個對雀鳥和集郵愛好者極具趣味性的節日僅印度曾經為此發行甚至在慶祝會場開辦臨時郵局，馬來西亞一點也沒有有點令人失望了。

Festival of bird｜Hornbill festival of Nagaland

Great hornbill is active in the north of Southeast Asia, including the entire South Central Peninsula, the northern part of the Malay Peninsula to northeast India, Sumatra in western Indonesia, and the near-ocean zone of western India.

雙角犀鳥(Buceros bicornis)活躍於東南亞靠北的範圍，包括了整個中南半島、馬來半島的北部地區直至印度東北部、整個印尼西面的蘇門答臘， 東南亞與南亞國家都曾經有發行過雙角犀鳥郵票，但不意外其他沒有紀錄的國家也來揍一下熱鬧，這個自非洲南面贊比亞䓫出的信封最右上角兩枚郵票正是雙角犀鳥。 Southeast Asian and South Asian countries have issued Great hornbill stamps, but it is not surprising that other countries without records also came to beat the excitement. The two stamps in the uppermost corner of this envelope from Zambia in southern Africa are the Great hornbill. 與及印度西部近海洋的地帶。雖活動範圍算是廣闊，惟棲息地喪失導至能夠令牠們安全活動的地方大量減少，而不是人類虐剎犀鳥，在現今雙角犀鳥被列為易危狀況。 因其地緣關係犀鳥卻成為馬來西亞沙勞越(Sarawak)與及印度那加蘭邦(Nagaland)的犀鳥祭的主角，然而這兩者並不如中國玉林荔枝狗肉節異常殘酷，純為一飽自己口腹而大肆殺害動物。在沙勞越的依班族，他們視當地生活的犀鳥為吉祥的使者，即神聖不可侵犯的物種，然而縱使如此在昔日最重點活動卻是獵殺以頭部作祭品，在官方嚴令禁止後這個傳統已經消失。 印度為紀念那加蘭邦建立50週年發行的郵票，信封印有雙角犀鳥圖案但並不是首日封。 Stamp issued by India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Nagaland, the envelope printed with a picture of Great hornbill but it is not a first day cover. 沙勞越依班族的犀鳥祭主角因物種的活動範圍而非雙角犀鳥，所以我就不太長篇介紹了。至於印度那加蘭邦的犀鳥祭卻是真的以雙角犀鳥作主角，但不同部落卻有著不同的傳統活動，在印度官方統籌下變成統一的風格並固定在每年的12月1日至10日舉行，除了傳統的技藝活動如摔跤、射箭、舞蹈，或者製作手工藝品銷售，竟然還有選美環節甚至流行音樂表演，這個由傳統聯誼節日演變成多元文化活動旨在延伸以後不會消失。 在1963年建立的那加蘭邦至2013年剛好50週年，印度郵政局為此也發行了一枚郵票，圖案正是犀鳥祭圖騰，一般來說每個部落都會有自已設計和雕刻的圖騰，但必定會出現最少一隻雙角犀鳥。

Although their habit area of activities is considered vast, habitat loss has resulted in a significant reduction in the places where they can safely move. Rather than being abused by humans, the Great hornbill is now classified as vulnerable.

Due to their geographical relationship, hornbills have become the protagonists of the hornbill festivals in Sarawak, Malaysia and Nagaland, India. However, these two are not as cruel as the Lychee Dog Meat Festival in Yulin of China, where animals are killed purely for the sake of filling their own stomachs. The Iban people in Sarawak regard the hornbills living there as messengers of good luck and a sacred and inviolable species. However, in the past, the most important activity was hunting and killing their heads as sacrifices.

馬來西亞在2024年發行的犀鳥郵票其中一枚是雙角犀鳥，牠們主要生活在馬來半島的北部。 A hornbill stampsset issued by Malaysia in 2024 features the Great Hornbill, which mainly lives in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula.

This tradition has disappeared after the official ban.

The protagonist of the hornbill festival of the Iban people in Sarawak is not the Great hornbill due to the species’ range of activities, so I won’t introduce it in a long way. As for the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland, India, the Great hornbill is really the protagonist, but different tribes have different traditional activities. Under the coordination of Indian officials, it has become a unified style and is held from December 1st to 10th every year. In addition to traditional technical activities such as wrestling, archery, dancing, or making handicrafts for sale, there are also beauty pageants and even pop music performances.

犀鳥祭上使用的頭飾。 The warrior cap used in the Hornbill Festival.

This traditional social festival has evolved into a multicultural event and is intended to be extended and will not disappear in the future.

From the establishment of Nagaland in 1963 to the 50th anniversary of 2013, the Indian Post Office also issued a stamp for this purpose. The pattern is the Hornbill festival totem. Generally speaking, each tribe will have its own design and carved totem, but there must be at least one Great hornbill bird.