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Matdngdng -- The "Bigfoot" from Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Northeast India

Bruce G. Marcot

original post: 2006
last updated: 20 June 2008

The Forest Man of Northeast India

I was told about the "forest man" -- the "bigfoot" of northeast India -- locally called Matdngdng when I was in Meghalaya, India, in April 1998 in the remote Garo Hills country, and again when I was in upper Uttar Pradesh, India, during November 1998 and back in the Garo Hills during December 2005. The term Matdngdng is a Garo Hills tribe word (yes, this is how they spelled the name). My write-up is the first time I've ever seen it documented.

Here's the basis for this. I was told about this legend by a number of people in India, including:

Shri Ajai Saxena, a research wildlife biologist with the prestigious Wildlife Institute of India in Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh, India
Dr. Ashish Kumar, a wildlife researcher with the same Institute, who has been doing wildlife studies in the Garo Hills along with Mr. Saxena
Shri Tony Marak, a Garo himself from the town of Tura in the Garo Hills
Shri Anup Srivastava, a wildlife biologist, a Garo, and director of Balpakram National Park in the Garo Hills

Marak and Srivastava confirmed the "spelling" of the word. I denote "spelling" in quotes because the Garo language itself has no native written form. It was an unscripted language at least until non-Garo missionaries translated the spoken language first into Bengali script, and then into English script.

Description of the Matdngdng

I queried my Garo Hills tribal friends at length on this. Here's a little composite of what they said according to stories they have been told:

- the stride is up to 1/4 mile (nope, this isn't a misprint; one field-going biologist there who strongly believes in the creature said he found one track on a riverine beach, then another 1/4 mile away, and concluded the stride from this ... an example of needing to be a bit more circumspect in drawing conclusions from limited evidence, perhaps)

- the creature is covered with long dark hair

- the creature is so tall that it has to sleep standing up, leaning against a tree (I didn't understand the logic of this either, and neither did one of my Wildlife Institute of India colleagues, but it's part of the myth).

Tracks and Interpretations

I have presented a photo I took in Garo Hills, India, of a supposed track of Matdngdng, and my interpretation of the track, on my Bigfoot web site, starting at:
http://www.spiritone.com/~brucem/bigf1.htm

Updates

A BBC article describes the local interest in the supposed creature:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7457894.stm
The article names the creature mande barung. In Garo language, the phrase "mande barung" means "a wild man living in the jungle." (My source: D.S. Nengminza, 1994, The School Dictionary Garo to English, Eight Edition, Garo Hills Book Emporium, Tura, India, p. 140.)

My Indian researcher colleague, Dr. Ashish Kumar, had conducted much field research in the remote parts of Garo Hills of western Meghalaya state, northeast India, the supposed abode of Matdngdng (or Yeti). Dr. Kumar had this very interesting insight to offer:

At that time, it was concluded that foot prints and other signs of presence
of Yeti were made by terrorists in order to keep villagers and local
people away from their hides inside the forest area.

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