Sanam Puri And Zuchobeni Tungoe’s Nagaland Wedding Was A Love Story Built From The Ground Up

A week before the wedding, there was no wedding to speak of. Just open land in Niuland, 30 minutes outside Dimapur, that had never held so much as a marquee, let alone 3,000 people. There was no road map for what singer and former Miss India Nagaland Zuchobeni Tungoe wanted to build on it. So she became the planner herself, while her mother quietly handled the 100 small tasks nobody else had thought of.

It’s a strange place to start a love story, but this one didn’t start in the ordinary way either. Vocalist Sanam Puri grew up in a Punjabi household in Delhi but had long felt drawn to the Northeast. While searching for a female voice to complete a composition, he discovered Tungoe on Instagram. She agreed to collaborate, and "Saath Rahe Tu Mere" was released on the day they got married.

Once they’d fallen in love, where to marry barely felt like a question. “Nagaland was always going to be where I got married,” Tungoe said, “because for me it was less about a destination and more about bringing my entire close-knit community together.” Existing venues offered ballrooms but little room for a personal wedding, so she and Puri built their own on family land instead. "The celebration lasted two days: a traditional night that doubled as a rehearsal, followed by the wedding itself," said Puri.

A month before either, the two families had already sat down for Hanlamvü, a Lotha custom in which the groom’s side formally presents a gift to the bride’s family—historically livestock—a quiet transaction that, more than the ceremony itself, is what marks a groom as kin. Food also took centre stage, with Naga favourites like banana leaf-steamed rice and bastenga alongside Punjabi and continental dishes. On the traditional night, folk dancers performed a routine specific to Lotha tribe—a sight so removed from her adult life that even she found herself watching it like a first-timer.

The Wedding Coordinates

Pin Drop

Dimapur, Nagaland

The Clincher

The barren land they raised into a full venue

Destination Advantage

Zuchobeni’s entire close-knit community could gather together

Local Touch

Lotha folk dances and Naga feast spreads

Main-Character Moment

The Lotha folk dance

Take-Us-Back-For

Warmth from the community

Looking for more such exciting and meaningful stories? Grab our issue on Amazon.