A bid to bring back cosmos to Pfutsero

Pfutsero is a small, hilly rural town perched on a mountain in the southern part of Nagaland. At a height of 2,133 metres, the town is the recorded highest-altitude settlement in Nagaland and hence the coldest one. The majority of the inhabitants are from the Chakhesang tribe, one of the 17 officially recognised tribes of Nagaland. 

The town is surrounded by various villages, and people from these villages frequent the town to access facilities such as banks, two occasionally functioning ATMs, and a government hospital and college. They also come for the cosmos flowers that the town is known for. 

Cosmos are self-seeding. They shoot up in late spring; bloom in the fall in shades of white, pink, orange, and maroon; shed their seeds; and spring up again the next year. They sprout and bloom almost anywhere—on dusty roadsides, in the cracks of retaining walls, in the fertile soil of our flower beds, in the spaces between the walls of our neighbourhood. They are self-sustaining flowers and since they flourish all over, Pfutsero came to be known as the Cosmos Town.

However, in the last couple of decades, the town has experienced many changes such as growing population, new houses, roads, shops, and other facilities that have led to the decline of the cosmos. 

Drawing on the nostalgia of what Pfutsero used to be in the 1980s, we—a group of 34 members from Kalos Society formed in 2005—organised Cosmos Kaleidoscope, an initiative aimed at reseeding Pfutsero. We are all residents of the town, and have organised and facilitated many events, programmes, and projects such as the Pfutsero Experience, free health camps, a programme for senior citizens, community screening of FIFA, concerts, marathons, and the annual relief programme.

In 2020, we collected approximately 20 kilograms of cosmos flower seeds from the few scattered cosmos flowers in the town and neighbouring villages and distributed them among the residents. This project was based on community participation. Each of the 11 wards was given a certain number of seeds, and they were tasked with the responsibility of reseeding cosmos and maintaining cleanliness in their own respective wards. When the cosmos blooming season arrived in the month of October 2020, we held a programme comprising many competitions, such as photography, painting, writing, and singing, along with an exhibition of different flowers. 

Since then, the town has witnessed a surge in cosmos flowers. We learned that community participation works when, as a group, we invite people to participate, and incentivise them by organising fun, hands-on programmes. This makes people take ownership of the work, both on the individual and collective front. 

Over the course of the year, Kalos observed the community’s participation in the call for cleanliness and cosmos reseeding, and the best four wards were awarded cash prizes.

The cash prize also comes from the community. We do not pursue funds from the government, CSRs, or any organisations. Well-wishers, churches, town administrators, and town business associations occasionally contribute financially as well as during events and programmes. We intentionally stay self-funded. Within the group, some provide monetary assistance while others contribute through skills and connections.

In subsequent years, we did not continue organising the Cosmos Kaleidoscope. Even though the idea of a cosmos festival was conceived by us, it became a collective dream; other youth groups also adopted it and organised a cosmos festival in the next couple of years without our intervention. The cosmos seeds were then taken to nearby villages and places like Kapamodzu which, in the last few years, have become a big tourist attraction.

Cosmos will return to adorn Pfutsero again and we are hoping to organise a cosmos festival this year.

Kupelhi Losou is an active community organiser, social worker, and civil society leader from Pfutsero.

As told to Kuvethilu Thuluo, IDR Northeast Fellow 2026–27.

—

Know more: Read more about how a farmer in Assam grew a forest to save a flower. 

Do more: Connect with the author at kupelhi123@gmail.com to learn more about and support his work.