Assam

Often referred to as the Land of “Blue Hills and Red River”, Assam is a land of diverse natural beauty. Assam is the gateway to North East India and has been described as the Sentinel of Northeast India. Seven Indian states and two countries, Bhutan and Bangladesh, surround Assam which is also at close proximity to India’s International borders with China and Myanmar. Surrounded by hills, crisscrossed by major rivers such as the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak and their tributaries, thick forest cover, lush green tea gardens enhance the scenic beauty of Assam. Its rich cultural heritage makes Assam a tourism hotspot in the region.

While the history of Assam goes back deep into the ancient times, the mention of this place is found in various Tantric, Vedic, Buddhist and Puranic literature. Assam figures prominently in the Mahabharata and Ramayana. The earliest study of the planets was supposed to have been carried out here, in Pragjyotishpur, the city of eastern lights as Guwahati used to be once known. Kamarupa on the other hand is said to be the original home of Devi, the Mother Goddess. Several Hindu deities including Lord Shiva and Krishna are said to have frequently visited this land and the relationship is so deep that while Krishna’s wife Rukmini was from a place near Sadiya, the private parts of the Shiva’s wife Parvati fell in Guwahati where the Kamakhya Temple later came up.

Assam has been a highway of migration from the time immemorial. While the earliest human footprints have been traced back to the early Stone Age, the roots of various communities belonging to Assam are linked to Ausric aborigines, pre-Dravidians, Eurasians, Australoids, Mongoloids, Alpines or Armenoids, Mediterraneans, Indo-Aryans and Irano-Scythians as well. Assam now, is home to various ethnic tribes and tribal groups, adding to over 3.3 million, about 12.4 percent of the total population. Each has its own cultural heritage, socio-cultural customs, religious beliefs, language, attire, festivals, culinary tradition, songs and dances. Such diversity attracts and offers opportunities for domestic and international tourists to engage with communities through homestays, participation in festivals, etc. Assam is home to several major tribal communities. Because of sharing borders with many countries, Assam was the gateway to India for many nations; hence the state became the settling ground for many civilizations coming here through different routes at different routes at different points in history. Assam opened its heart to everyone and everyone adopted the land with mind, body and soul! The list of ethnic communities in Assam include Bodo, Rabha, Mishing, Deori, Dimasa, Sonowal, Karbi, Tiwa, Mech, Hajong, Barman, Zemi, Rengma, Kuki, Hmar, Khasi, Jaintia, Garo, Tai-Phake, Tai-Aiton and Tai-Khamyang, some of them also having presence in different adjoining states. Most of them belong to the Mongoloid race; while the Bodo, Dimasa-Kachari, Sonowal-Kachari, Mech, Barman-Kachari, Tiwa and Rabha communities came from the Bodo group of Indo-Mongoloid family, the Jaintias and Khasis are said to be of the Mon-Khmer family, all believed to have entered from the east. The Koch-Rajbongshi community too comes from the Mongoloid stock and is believed to have arrived through the Nepal route. Again, while the Hmars and Kukis belong to the Kuki-Chin group, the Rengmas and Zemes belong to the Naga family. Aryan culture on the other hand was brought to Assam by the Alpines (Kalita community) and Brahmins who had very rapidly mixed up with other racial elements soon after their migration.

Muslims on the other hand first arrived in Assam in the early 13th century, with a series of invasions from adjoining Bengal leading to settlements of people who came as invaders, as well as conversion of local people of Assam. In 1630 came Shah Milan, a muslim saint from far away Baghdad, who not only preached Islam but also created wonderful literature in the form of zikir and zari songs.

Yet another inseparable part of Assamese society and culture is the Tea Tribe community – combination of several groups of people, majority of whom were brought by the British to Assam in the 19th century from the Chotanagpur plateau and adjoining areas of central India to work in the tea plantations. These people today not only belong to Assam, but have also enriched Assamese art, culture, literature and social life.

Fairs and festivals like Bihu (Bhogali bihu in January, Rongali Bihu in April), Ambubachi Mela in June, Jonbeel Mela which brings together various tribes of Assam, Majuli’s Raas festival in November, Kaziranga’s Elephant festival in February, Assam tea festival, Doul Utsav during the festival of colors, Brahmaputra river festival, Ali-Ai-ligang a spring dance festival in february attract tourist from all around the world across the year in Assam. The state is also famous for its music and dance forms like Bihu, Sattriya Nritya, Jhumur dance, Bhortal Nritya, Bagurumba, Deodhani, etc. Food is an integral part of the various festivities of Assam and Assamese cuisine is characterized by the extensive use of exotic herbs and plant products and very less use of spices. Fish, meat and poultry are consumed with rice.

Assam is home to Five National Parks and Eighteen Wildlife Sanctuaries, the highest concentration in India which are host to 25 percent of India’s floristic wealth and enormous faunal diversity including One Horned Rhinoceros, Pygmy Hog, Hoolock Gibbons, Tigers, etc. Manas National Park, also a World Heritage Site, is a constituent unit of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity region and is one of the two biodiversity ‘Hotspots’ in the country. With more than 950 species of birds, the state is home to 50% of the total bird species found in the Indian subcontinent. The mystery of Birds’ suicide at Jatinga, is a subject of interest of all nature lovers and researchers. The main rivers of Assam are the mighty Brahmaputra and Barak. Further, there is a network of over 100 large and small tributaries and distributaries that criss cross the State.

Details of National Parks in Assam:

Name of National Park	Main Attractions	Name of District
Kaziranga National Park	One Horned Rhino, Elephant, Tiger, Wild Buffalo, Swamp Deer, Sambar, Wild Boar	Golaghat, Nagaon and Biswanath
Manas National Park	Tiger, Leopard, One Horned Rhino, Elephant, Red Panda, Assam Roofed Turtle, Hispid Hare, Golden Langur, Pygmy Hog, Wild Water Buffalo	Baksa
Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park	One Horned Rhino, Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Barking Deer, Swamp Deer, Hog Deer, Wild Boar	Sonitpur
Nameri National Park	Tigers, Asian Elephants, Gaur, Dhole, Himalayan Black Bear, Sloth Bear, Giant Indian Squirrel	Sonitpur
Dibru-Saikhowa National Park	Large variety of Birds, Feral Horses, Elephant, Asiatic Water Buffalo, River Dolphin	Tinsukia

The melting pot that Assam is today, has a culture that again has been enriched of contributions of diverse races, ethnicity and traditions, making the communities here most secular in character. Though a sizeable section of the Assamese people are Vaishnavites – who revere Vishnu and Krishna in the way shown by Srimanta Shankardeva, another major section practice Shaktism, with their rituals also including animal sacrifice. Different tribal communities on the other hand practice their own traditional methods of worship. These practices and traditions in turn have shaped different cultures in Assam, with the most wonderful aspect being that each one of them has also contributes various elements to the others. This has made the culture of various communities of Assam inter-related, and more importantly, inseparable from one another. Majuli is the largest river island in the World and has several Satras – vaishnavite monasteries, some dating back to the 16th century. The Satras of Majuli also offer guest accomodation where devotees and visitors not only take part in the worship of Vishnu and Krishna, but also watch traditional Bhauna performances. Young bhakats – celibates – are wonderful artisans and make masks, musical instruments as well as hand-fans and door frames. These Satras of Assam play an important role in the socio-cultural and literary development of Assam. While it was Srimanta Shankardeva, the 16th century saint-reformer who led the neo-vaishnavite movement of Assam, the Satra institution that he developed no only became religious centers but also the most important cultural epicenter that promoted literature, music, art, dance, drama and other related activities including manufacture of musical instruments, masks and other items required in various performances. Saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva not only gave a new meaning to Assamese life by propagating the Neo-vaishnavite way of worship and a society free of caste restrictions, but also brought about a renaissance by way of unleashing a whole new tradition of literature, music, dance, drama and related cultural activities. These continue to be the heart and soul of the Assamese society six centuries on. Villagers generally associate with a Satra on the basis of membership of a local center of devotional worship of the Satra called as Namghar – which also functions, whenever necessary, as the village court, meeting place, women’s club and theater for dance, music and plays. Thanks to the socio-cultural movement of Srimanta Shankardeva, the caste system, though it exists, is not as prominent in Assam as in other parts of India. Preecedings in Namghar can be presided over by a member of the so-called ‘lower caste too. Some of the Satras of Assam worth visiting are Auniati, Kamalabari, Dakhinpat, Garamur, Samaguri, Bengenati and Natun Kamalabari. The best time to visit Majuli is during the Raas Festival – a three day festival usually held in mid-November that celebrates the legendary love of Radha and Krishna as well as the devotion of the Gopis to Krishna.

History of Assam ~

​Although it is not exactly precise as to how the State derived its name as Assam, some historians believe that it came from the Tai word (A-Cham) and Bodo word (Ha-sam). Some historians relate the name to the Sanskrit word Asama meaning unequaled, peerless, etc. Assam up to the 12th century was called Kamarupa and alternatively Pragjyotisha. Perhaps the first written records about Assam is dated back to 7th century, when Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang had visited Assam. His visit was during the reign of King Bhaskar Varman whom Hiuen Tsang described as the ‘Aristocratic king of Eastern India’ and devotee of Lord Shiva.

​The State of Assam and its adjoining areas have evidences of human settlement from the period of Stone Ages. As per records, earliest ruler of Assam was Maharinge Danav from the Danava dynasty. Later the Gupta Empire under Samudragupta ruled Assam. The medieval era of Assam is marked by the invasion of the Tai Ahoms from Myanmar who ruled continuously over Assam for over 600 years. The culture and heritage of Assam today, is much linked to the practices of the Tai Ahoms.It was finally in the 19th century that the British East India Company arrived in Assam and colonized the region. The British administration merged the plains of the Brahmaputra valley with the surrounding hills and the tribal areas  and eventually named the State as Assam, deriving the name from the Ahom word ‘Axom’, meaning ‘the land like no other’.

Geography and Climate of Assam ~​

The State of Assam is located in the North East region of India extending from 89 to 96 degree longitude and 24 to 28 degree latitude covering a total area of around 78,500 sq. km. Assam has three of the six physiographic divisions of India viz. the Northern Himalayas (Eastern Hills), Northern Plains (Brahmaputra Plain) and Deccan Plateau (Karbi Anglong). The river Brahmaputra is the lifeline of Assam flowing in from Arunachal Pradesh and eventually merging with the River Ganges to flow into the Bay of Bengal. Apart from the Brahmaputra, some 60 other of its tributaries and rivers flow across Assam. The Brahmaputra river is among the widest rivers in the World and owing to this, Assam is home to India’s longest bridges both road and rail cum road at the Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Bridge and the Bogibeel Bridge. This characteristic of the river Brahmaputra in Assam has allowed the growth of many river islands in the State of Assam. Majuli Island in Assam is the largest river island in the World and the Umananda Island is the smallest river island in the World.​

Assam has some of the densest forests in the World owing to its location in the tropics with abundant rainfall. These forests of Assam are home to a wide variety of Flora, Fauna and Avifauna. The grasslands of the river Brahmaputra of Assam form part of the major National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. The tropical forests of Assam are mostly filled with broadleaf evergreen trees and a wide variety of orchids.

​Assam has a moderate climate around the year apart from a few hot and humid days across July and August. Assam’s climate has four seasons viz. Summer from June to September where temperatures are hot and humid but accompanied by abundant rainfall especially across July to September. The winters in Assam sets in from November to March characterized by sunny and dry days with cold nights. The spring season is from April to May with a favorable climate in April which is also the month where we celebrate the Assamese New Year – the Rongali Bihu festival. The spring season in Assam sees a varied growth of beautiful flowers across the State. The autumn in Assam sets in October and extends to mid November characterized with pleasant day and night temperatures along with occasional post monsoon showers.

Culture of Assam ~ 

Owing to the fact that many indigenous tribes and communities inhabit Assam, their culture, traditions and practices make Assam a land of diverse culture. To be seen historically, the roots of the culture of the State of Assam dates back to almost 200 years when the first cultural assimilation took place among the Tibeto-Burman tribes, Indo-Aryans and the Ahoms who contributed greatly to the culture and traditions of Assam today. Assamese culture can be said to be an integration of various kingdoms that ruled powerfully over the ages with prime importance of the Ahom Kingdom who ruled continuously for 600 years and gave Assam the colorful Bihu Festival and the Bihu Dance. The Vaishnavite movement led by the great Saint and reformer Srimanta Shankardeva also contributed a great value to the culture of Assam. Supported greatly by the Koch and Ahom Kingdom of Assam, the movement resulted in adding social institutions like the Namghar and Satras to the Assamese way of life. Festivals and Fairs form an integral part of the communities of Assam with a majority of them being linked to the agrarian practices of Assam as agriculture is the primary occupation of the people of Assam. The three major festivals of Assam viz. the Rongali Bihu, the Magh Bihu and the Kati Bihu are based upon the harvest seasons of Assam. The Bihu dance performed during the traditional new year celebration is one of the most colorful dance forms of India. Coupled with the classical Sattriya dance of the Vaishnavite Monks and the mystical Deodhani dance make the culture of Assam an unforgettable experience to any visitor to the State!​

Some of the prominent indigenous tribes of Assam are the Bodo tribe in western Assam, the Mishing tribe in Majuli Island, the Tai Ahoms, Tai Khamyangs, Tai Phakes, Tai Turungs, Tai Khamtis and the Tai Aitons tribes of Upper Assam, the Karbi tribe of Karbi Anglong, the Dimasa Kachari tribe of Dimasa Hasao Hills, the Sonowal Kachari and the Moran tribes of Upper Assam. Other tribes of Assam are the Rabha tribe, the Tiwa tribe, the Hajong tribe and the Tea Garden tribes.

Each of these tribes of Assam have their own eating habits and traditional liquor. The cuisine might taste different but the major ingredient across the recipes of each  of the tribes of Assam are very similar. A traditional Assamese meal comprises of rice, lentils, fish and meat curry with vegetables and herbs. The two main characteristics of a traditional meal in Assam are ‘Khar’ (an alkaline made from dried out banana stem) and a sour dish called as ‘Tenga’. Another important ingredient of an Assamese meal is fermented bamboo shoots known as ‘Khorisa’. Many tribal households of Assam brew their traditional liquor variously called as Laupani, Apong, Sai Mod, Xaaj, Zudima, etc. The sumptuous Assamese cuisine if often served in Bell metal dishes and in platters like ‘Kahi’ and ‘Maihang’.

Economy of Assam ~     

The economy of Assam is primarily dependent on Agriculture, Tea and Oil. The heritage Tea gardens are a pride of Assam and Assam is the  largest exporter of Tea in India. Crude Oil is another important contributor to the economy of Assam owing to the fact that the first Oil well in Asia was drilled at Digboi in Assam. Agriculture still remains a primary occupation of the people of Assam accounting to more than a third of Assam’s income and employing 69% of the workforce of Assam.

​Other contributors to the economy of Assam are tourism, minerals, handicrafts and handlooms. The people of the tribes of Assam are expert craftsmen and weavers. The traditional bamboo/cane crafts and handlooms of Assam are renowned across the World. The people of Assam are well known for their excellence in weaving clearly to be seen in the Muga silk ‘Mekhela Chadors’ of Assam. A traditional loom can be spotted at most tribal households of Assam and these weave out exclusive silk costumes and the traditional towel of Assam called the ‘Gamusa’. The decorative farmer hat called as ‘Jaapi’ is found in all Assamese households. Bell metal crafts is also an important handicraft of western Assam where the craftsmen prepare the Xorai utensil, Bell metal plates, Bell metal saucers, etc. The island of Majuli has been able to preserve one of the classical crafts of Assam viz. the lost art of traditional mask making.

Tourism in Assam is a fast evolving economy and visitors from India and across the World visit Assam every year to spot the varied Wildlife at the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. The Island of Majuli in Assam is a place of prime historical importance and the hub of the Neo Vaishnavite movement of Assam. The culture and traditions of the tribes of Assam also make Assam a must visit place that awaits to make its mark as a global tourist destination. We welcome you the State of Awesome Assam and strive to ensure that “Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever”! 

Tourism in Assam can be categorized under the following diverse verticals ~

Ethnicity and Culture:

Assam is home to various ethnic tribes and groups, adding to over 3.3 million people, about 12.4 % of the total population of Assam. Each tribe has its own cultural heritage, socio-cultural customs, religious beliefs, language, attire, festivals, culinary tradition, songs and dances. Such diversity attracts and offers opportunities for domestic and international tourists to engage with communities through homestays, participation in festivals, etc.

Wildlife and Ecotourism:

Assam’s five National Parks and 18 Wildlife Sanctuaries, the highest concentration in India, are host to over 25 % of India’s floristic wealth and enormous faunal diversity including the One horned Rhinoceros, pygmy hog, hoolock gibbon, tigers, etc. Manas National Park in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a constituent unit of the Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity region – one of the two biodiversity “Hot Spots” in India. The mystery of birds’ suicide at Jatinga, is a subject of all nature lover and researchers.

Spiritual and Pilgrimage:

Focussing on Kamakhya Temple (most famous Shakti-peeth) in Guwahati city, its four day annually held Ambubachi Mela (also known as Mahakumbh of the East) and mysticism of Mayong, the religious/spiritual tourism gives Assam a significant place in spiritual tourism destination in the country. Hajo is another spiritual center where people from three religions; Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims congregate for pilgrimage.

River Tourism:

The mighty Brahmaputra river decorates the geography of the State of Assam and one can take a cruise along this river with A class facilities experiencing marine life and wildlife, tradition and adventure tourism on the way. Immense opportunities to experience water sports, river safari and leisure activities encompassing canal barges, taxi services between banks, boating, luxury cruisers, motor boats, dolphin shows, underwater exploration, parasailing, river rafting and other amusements can be experienced here in Assam.

Adventure Tourism:

The challenging terrain, valleys, pristine hill and lush green forests and fast rivers offer ideal opportunities for tourists interested in experiencing an adrenaline rush here in Assam. Visitors to Assam can experience adventure sports like mountaineering, trekking, bike safari, rock climbing, rafting, camping, etc.

Tea and Golf Tourism:

Tea gardens are an integral segment of Assam’s landscape. Around 20 tea gardens across Assam have developed and maintained golf courses within the tea garden areas of Assam while some even have polo fields. Further, there are at least 30 tea garden managed airstrips and helipads which are near the golf courses. Assam also boasts of Jorhat Gymkhana, Asia’s oldest and World’s third oldest Golf Course.

Medical and Health Tourism:

The rapidly growing healthcare sector in Assam’s main city of Guwahati has gradually started to attract international patients from neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, etc. Assam is home to over 300 types of medicinal herbs and plants which are found in abundance with the Brahmaputra valley alone having 150 varieties of herbs and plants of commercial value.

The State of Awesome Assam is the central state in the North-East Region of India and serves as the gateway to North East India and is a jewel in the crown of the Seven Sister States. The land of red river, blue hills & lush green tea gardens, Assam comprises of three main geographical areas: the Brahmaputra Valley, the Barak Valley and the intervening Karbi Plateau and North Cachar Hills. Assam is bounded on the north by the eastern section of the great Himalayan range, the frontier tribes front west to cast being Daflas, Miris, Abors and Mishmis on the east by the Patkai Hills, inhabited by the various ‘Naga Warrior’ tribes and the Burmese frontier; on the south by the Chin hills and the frontier of Bangladesh; and on the west by the Jalpaiguri District of West Bengal. From east to west stretches the fertile valley of the Brahmaputra, an alluvial plain about 450 miles long with an average breadth of 50 miles interrupted halfway by the Mikir hills and by low hills on both sides of the river in the neighborhood of Guwahati and Goalpara. South of the valley are the Garo and Khasi hills. From east to west stretches the fertile valley of the Brahmaputra, an alluvial plain about 450 miles long with an average breadth of 50 miles interrupted halfway by the Mikir hills and by low hills on both sides of the river in the neighborhood of Guwahati and Goalpara. South of the valley are the Garo and Khasi hills. Assam is renowned across the World for its fine quality of Tea, indigenous Silk products of Muga, Eri and Pat and varied Wildlife across the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. The first oil well in Asia was drilled at the town of Digboi in Assam. Assam has played a key role in the conservation of many fauna species from extinction of the likes of the Indian one horned rhinoceros, tigers, wild water buffaloes, river dolphins, golden langur and varied species of Asiatic birds. Assam is home to the most number of indigenous tribes of North East India who have a rich culture and heritage. India’s longest bridges viz. road and rail cum road are located in Assam. A visit to Assam should be in the list of every traveler interested in wildlife, culture, history and food! Quoting from the Assam tourism campaign of ‘Awesome Assam’, “Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever!“

Dispur is the capital of Awesome Assam and the largest city of the state is Guwahati, which is also one of the fastest growing cities of the world. Famous for its freshening world class tea, the Muga (Golden) and Eri (Ahimsa) silk, Natural resources like Coal, Petroleum products and minerals, Assam can truly be described as a state bestowed with breathtaking natural beauty, vast reserves of natural resources and a rich bio diversity. Assam is also home to the endangered one horned rhino species and the Kaziranga National Park is home to two-third of this species in the world. The river Brahmaputra (the only male river in India) flow across the heart of the state and is a lifeline to the people of Assam just as Nile is to Egypt. The Brahmaputra river in Assam is also host to the World’s largest inhabited river island ‘Majuli’ and the World’s smallest inhabited river island ‘Umananda’. The second hottest pepper in the world, the ‘Bhut Jolokia’ is also native to Assam and is grown extensively by the village folks across the State.

The State of Assam is also becoming a hot spot for Eco tourism across North East India. From Tourist villages to Eco Cottages and homestays, you will find a variety of retreats to experience the culture of the Indigenous Tribes of Assam. And being home to many tribes the festivities across the State refuse to cease throughout the year. The various Festivals of Assam in North East India are the Magh Bihu, the Namami Brahmaputra Festival, the Jonbeel Mela Festival, the Rongali Bihu, the Ambubachi Mela, the Kati Bihu, the Raas Leela Festival, etc. And  across these festivals, you will get to savor delicious local cuisines and drink locally brewed alcohol from natural ingredients. Your homestays with these tribes will allow you to indulge in their traditional practices and witness their culture and traditions that they have been preserving from times immemorial.

The State of Assam is located in the North Eastern region of India and is one among the Eight Sister States of India. Assam covers a total area of around 78,500 sq. km. The mighty river Brahmaputra flows across the State and is the lifeline to the State of Assam entering through Arunachal Pradesh and finally merging with the river Ganges to flow into the Bay of Bengal. River Brahmaputra is home to the largest and smallest river islands in the World at Majuli and Umananda respectively. The longest bridges in India i.e. road and road cum rail span over the river Brahmaputra. Assam has some of the densest forests in the World which harbour a varied flora, fauna and avifauna species. Geographically, Assam is in close proximity with countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. Owing to its locational advantage, Assam is popularly termed as the Gateway to the Northeast and also to ASEAN and the South East Asian nations. The state of Assam is covered by approximately 69,000 kms of roads including 3096 kms of national highways connecting all major towns. Railway lines traverse a length of 2435 kms across Assam and navigable waterways of 4065 kms on the two major rivers of Brahmaputra and Barak.

Assam enjoys a moderate climate around the year spread across four seasons viz. Summers from June to September, Winters from November to March, Spring from April to May and Autumn from October to mid November. Assam has an early onset of monsoon, generally beginning from 15th May, compared to most other parts of India where monsoon arrives only in late June or early July. Maximum day temperatures remain around a comfortable 27-34 degrees Centigrade with plenty of rain when large part of western India simmers under successive heat waves with temperatures soaring as high as 38-45 degrees. ‘The Monsoon County’ tag and proximity to Cherrapunji, the second wettest place on planet Earth obliterates seasonality of tourism in Assam.

Assam has a varied and diverse culture owing to the various tribes of the State. The Ahoms kingdom that ruled Assam for over 600 years played a major role in shaping the culture of present day Assam. Festivals and fairs form an integral part of the communities of Assam. The three principal festivals of Assam are the Rongali Bihu, Magh Bihu and the Kaati Bihu. The Bihu dance of Assam is one of the most colorful dance forms in India. Assam is home to many tribes of North East India with the principal ones being the Bodo tribe, the Mishing tribe, the Tai Ahoms, the Karbi tribes, the Sonowal Kachari and many more. These tribes have their own distinct culture and traditions and each can be observed at the traditional festival of these tribes which are mostly based upon their agrarian practices. They also have their own distinct cuisine and traditional liquor.  Although however, the ingredients across the recipes remains the same mostly of Rice, Lentils, Meat, Fish, Vegetables and Herbs. The tribal liquor of Assam are variously called as Laupani, Apong, Sai Mod, Zudima, etc.

The primary economy of Assam is based on Agriculture, Tea and Oil. Assam is the largest exporter of Tea in India and the first Oil well in Asia was dug at Digboi in Assam. Agriculture still remains a primary occupation of the workforce of Assam employing 69% of the workforce and contributing to more than a third of the economy of Assam. Handicrafts and Handlooms are also an important occupation of the people of Assam and the tribes of Assam are well renowned across the World for their exquisite Bamboo and Cane Handicrafts and traditional handlooms of the silks of Assam viz. the Muga, the Eri and the Pat silks of Assam.

Tourist hot-spots in the State of Awesome Assam are:

Guwahati: The largest and the fastest growing city of Assam ‘Guwahati’ is also a popular tourist attraction. The city is host to many tourist attractions in the region the like of:

Kamakhya Temple: The holy shrine of Goddess Kamakhya, this place is one of the most sacred Hindu shrine in India. The Ambubachi Mela, hosted in the month of June to celebrate the end of the Goddesses’ menstrual cycle, attracts devotees from across India and abroad.

Umananda Temple: Situated in Umananda, the World’s Smallest River Island, this is the place where people believe that Lord Shiva by using his third eye burnt Kamdeva

Balaji Temple, Assam: Balaji temple is situated at Betkuchi in Guwahati. The Balaji Temple with its striking South Indian architecture, is unlike the other temples

Doul Govinda Temple: One of the most Revered Shrines of Lord Krishna, the Doul Govinda Temple is located by the banks of the River Brahmaputra at North Guwahati

Dipor Bil and Chandubi Lake: Bird lovers paradise as hundreds of birds species local and migratory can be spotted at these places during the winter season.

North East Crafts Museum and Showroom of Handicrafts & Handlooms: An undertaking of North Eastern Handicrafts and Handlooms Development Corporation Limited (A Govt. of India Enterprise) this showroom has a wide variety of Bamboo & Cane handicrafts from across the North East India. Visitors can buy these indigenous handicraft products from the showroom. The showroom is situated at Garchuk in Guwahati

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Mayong: The Black Magic Capital of India during earlier times where the ‘Bezes’ or the Sorcerers had the magical powers of converting a man to a sheep or a tiger, transforming leaves into fishes, hypnotizing a tiger, converting bullets of a gun into water, etc.

In addition, the other tourist spots in Guwahati are Assam State Museum, the Srimanta Shankardev Kalakshetra, Nehru Park, Sukreswar Temple, Navagraha Temple, the Guwahati War Cemetery, the Basistha Temple, River Cruise,  Fancy Bazaar and the many Malls & Shopping centers across the city.

The National Parks & Wildlife Sanctuaries of Awesome Assam:

The State of Awesome Assam is home to five (5) National Parks of India namely Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Nameri National Park, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and Orang National Park. There are also a total of fourteen (14) Wildlife Sanctuaries click here to see the list. Each of these National Parks boasts of wide variety of Flora, Fauna and Avifauna. One horned Rhino of Assam, Royal Bengal Tiger, Hoolock Gibbon, Elephants, Capped Langur, Pig-tailed Macaque, Slow Loris and Rhesus Macaque, Leopard, Clouded leopard, Barking deer, Pygmy hog, Golden langur, etc. have made these National Parks and Wildlife Sanctaries their home in the state of Assam. The bird species include the likes of Peafowl, Hornbill, Swamp partridge, Bengal florican, Kingfisher, Woodpecker, White-backed vulture, Slender-billed vulture, Partridge, Pheasant, etc.

Other important cities and towns of the State of Assam with specific interests are:

Sivasagar – the Land of the mighty ‘Ahom Kings’ of Assam, Sivasagar has many ancient monuments built during the reign of the Ahom Kings of the likes of the Rang Ghar – Asia’s first Amphitheater, Talatal Ghar, Kareng Ghar, Siva Dol and the Joysagar Pukhuri

Sualkuchi – Better known as the ‘Manchester of the East‘, Sualkuchi is famous for its production of the three (3) varieties of the indigenous Silks of Assam i.e. MUGA (Golden Silk), ERI (Warm Silk) and PAT (White Silk). It is said that in this tinsel village sericulture flourished 400 years before the birth of Christ! Sualkuchi, the beautiful village of silk weavers and traders, is also called as the Manchester of Assam. Sualkuchi has been weaving magic from ancient times when it was called Swarnakuchi, which means golden zone because of the golden muga silk woven here. While weaving comes naturally to the natives of Sualkuchi village, artisans from other districts also flock here for a livelihood in weaving. It is ingrained in their lifestyle. The women weavers outnumber the male weavers. A paradise for shoppers, visitors to Sualkuchi can go for the exquisite golden Muga, or silvery white Paat or light beige Eri silk. Each has its own magic, with its own patterns. The Eri Silk is also known as the ‘Ahimsa Silk’ as its production allows the development of the pupae into adults and then only the open-ended cocoon is utilized for silk manufacturing. When Mahatma Gandhi visited Sualkuchi, he was so touched by the expertise of women here that he said “Assamese women can weave dreams on their looms!”

Jorhat & Dibrugarh – the Major tea growing towns of Assam. Jorhat is also known as the Tea Capital of the World as it produces the highest quantity of Tea in the World. Jorhat is also home to the Oldest Burning Oil Lamp in the World at the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar. A Tribute to the founder of the Ahom Dynasty ‘Swargadeo Sukapha’ is also located at Jorhat. The town of Dibrugarh has the first X-Ray setup of India and is also home to India’s longest Rail-cum-Road Bridge the Bogibeel Bridge

Tezpur – Located at 175 kilometers northeast of Guwahati is the Town of Tezpur (sometimes referred to as the City of Blood due to the mythological belief that once a war ensued between the Hari (Lord Krishna and his followers) and the Hars (Lord Shiva and his followers) where rivers of blood flowed). Tezpur at present, is considered to be the “Cultural Capital of Assam”. Tezpur is also known as the Most Clean City of Assam because of its clean and green view. Tezpur attracts every visitor who comes here with its beautiful parks, hillocks, the flow of River Brahmaputra and Scenic beauty.

Tezpur is famous for the Agnigarh – ‘the Fortress of Fire’

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Dima Hasao

Tourism in Dima Hasao district of Assam provides a beautiful voyage around the mesmerizing natural beauty. The exquisite hues of nature in the district blend beautifully with the hospitality of the local folks and makes the tourist experience highly alluring in Assam. Lush greenery, majestic hills and wandering clouds obscuring the mountains are a treat to the eyes. The rich cultural heritage of the district and its colorful festivals add to the essence of tourism and makes the place immensely inviting.

The Karbi Anglong hills of Dima Hasao in Assam are divided into two districts and is home to the colorful Karbi tribe, with ka denoting light or radiance and bi means work; as Bhupen Hazarika (the legendary singer of Assam) had sung – Karbi means work is worship! The Karbis of Assam belong to the Mongoloid stock and visitors are not only struck by their wonderful way of life, but also their food, music, handloom and handicraft. The Jirkedam or bachelors’ dormitory in the heart of every Karbi village is worth visiting. Very rich in folklore and oral literature, the Karbi Ramayana is said to be the first tribal Ramayana in the world. As already mentioned, Hacha-kekan and Rongker are their most important festivals.

While Diphu – headquarter of Karbi Anglong itself is a town worth visiting, tourists are generally attracted by the village lifestyle, food, music and handicraft. The low hills, meandering streams and the Koka fall at Panimur – where an angling festival is held in November – are other attractions. The Taralangso Youth Festival takes place in February, while those interested in adventure can go trekking to the Singhason Peak in December. The Buddhist villages of Silonijan and Balipathar right on the National highway from Kazirnagato Bokajan are also worth visiting.

Places of interest

Haflong – Haflong is a town and headquarters of Dima Hasao in Awesome Assam. Haflong is the only hill station in Assam. Garland like Barail hills, extending from north to east build up an impervious wall almost around Haflong and the serpentine like the Diyung river flows down below with two majestic railway bridges towering over it.

Jatinga Valley – The Jatinga valley is a quaint village in the district of Dima Hasao. It is here that we get to observe one of the most curious subject that has been a mystery to ornithologists from across the world – the phenomenon of birds committing mass ‘suicide’. At the end of the monsoons during  the months of September and October, during moonless and foggy dark nights between 7pm and 10pm, drawn by some mysterious alchemy of the earth and sky, flying birds come crashing to the ground with no prior warning whatsoever. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species, with Tiger Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret, Pond Heron, Indian Pitta and Kingfishers all being affected.

Doiheng – A relatively new destination for the mysterious bird’s phenomenon in Assam. It is located on a hilltop, higher in altitude than Jatinga and about 15 km from it and can be reached by a Jeppable road from NH-54 (E) at Retzawl.

Maibang – 53 km from Haflong, Maibang once flourished as the capital of the Dimasa Kingdom. Stone house, stone sculptures and a heritage museum are major attractions to have a glance at the history and culture of the Dimasa people of Assam.

Semkhor – Semkhor is a combination of two words, ‘Sem’ and ‘Dikhor’ which mean salt and well. About 29 km from Maibang, Semkhor is the only Dimasa village situated on a hilltop and not near a river like other villages. As legend goes, a Dimasa King had stationed his elite warriors at this vantage point to guard the saline water wells here. By boiling the brine of these wells, salt could be made. The people of Semkhor are known as ‘Semsa’ which mean ‘Son of Salt’ or the salt people. After the fall of Maibang and the subsequent departure of the Dimasa kingdom to Cachar, the Semkhor people continue to live in this self contained village without much contact with the outside world. Even today things haven’t changed much although saline water wells have fallen to disuse. The village administration of Semkhor is interesting and a truly democratic. Semkhor has not only historical importance, but it also provides scope of studying the structure of the Dimasa society of Assam.

Laisong – Largest Zeme Naga village cultural center, located at 110 km from Haflong with the biggest traditional bachelor’s dormitory ‘Hangseuki’ – symbol of their culture and heritage. Preservation of the culture and tradition is the sole objective of the dormitory.

Umrongso – 112 km from Haflong, famous for its huge hydel plant – North East Electric Power Corporation with dams over the Kopili river as well as for its Amur Falcon Roosting hub where these birds of prey make a brief stopover during their long flight from Siberia to South Africa in October-November. Also known forits 18 hole natural golf course and fantastic lake view.

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Tinsukia – the Commercial capital of Assam and home to India’s Longest Bridge (the Dhola-Sadiya Bridge). Tinsukia also is home to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, the Heritage Railway Park and Museum and the Tilinga Mandir or the Bell Temple where it is believed your wishes are granted true!

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Digboi – Digboi is the Legendary Oil town of Assam. Digboi has Asia’s Oldest Oil Refinery and the Oldest Operational Oil well in the World. The Centenary Oil Museum at Digboi illustrates the detailed history of the Oil Industry in India. The World War II Cemetery at Digboi has burials of over 200 soldiers of the British Army. The Digboi Golf Course is one the finest Golf Courses in the Country and the many Heritage Bungalows of British Era at Digboi speaks of its glorious past during the British Regime.

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Margherita – The Coal Queen of Assam, Margherita is surrounded by hills, tea gardens, forest and the Dihing River. It has a beautiful golf course at the foot of the hills and a small stream running through. Margherita was named after Queen Margherita, the reigning Queen Consort of Italy. Margherita is home to India’s only Coal Museum, Asia’s Oldest Plywood Factory, the Oldest Operational Coal Mines in India, the Major Tribes of Assam, the Singpho Eco-Lodge and the remains of the Finest Hospitals of the American Army – the 20th General Hospital from World War II

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Ledo – The Town of Ledo is the Land of the Historic Stilwell Road. Built by the American Army during World War II, the Stilwell Road aka the Ledo Road played a pivotal role for the victory of the Allied Forces over the Imperial Japanese Army. Ledo is also home to the Historic Ledo Airstrip, the International Meditation Center at the Mounglang Buddhist Monastery of Bhante Baba’s fame and the Legend of the Dehing-Patkai. Little away from Ledo is the Lekhapani Railway Station– Indian Railway’s Final Frontier. Tipong Colliery near Ledo has the oldest Operational Steam Locomotives in the World of the likes of DAVID and & 796. Tipong is also home to the Sumi Naga Tribes

So why wait?! Plan your visit to the Land of the Red Rivers and Blue Hills, a State whose beauty will mesmerize you and leave you awestruck! We welcome you to our Homeland, the State of Awesome Assam, Incredible India!

Recommended Itinerary to cover major Tourist Hotspots and Unexplored destinations of Awesome Assam: The Grand Tour of Awesome Assam!

Contact us: 

EMAIL: info@jungleideas.com

Phone: +91 7086009708

The majestic bird species of Assam – the great Indian Hornbill. Image – Diganta Talukdar

Sample Itinerary Details to cover the major Tourist Hotspots in Assam – North East India

Exploring Assam ~

I spent my entire childhood and teenage years in the beautiful valleys of the Dehing Patkai mountain ranges and by the banks of the river Dehing at the Margherita area of Upper Assam. My father had worked as a government employee at NECF (CIL) after graduating as a mining engineer from BHU (IIT) upto his retirement as the CGM of NECF in the year 2013. He started from a trainee engineer to heading the entire operations of the places which was one of the leading subsidiaries of CIL from negative revenues to over 200 crores profit across his years of tenure as CGM. So during his tenure I had the opportunity to explore the major underground coal mines at Baragolai, Namdang, Ledo and Tipong located in Upper Assam as he was posted across each of these coalfields during his tenure. As a tennager I did not happen to like a place that did not have much of a happening life and I often thought of leaving Assam and heading on to some other state where life would be fast and there would be ample amount of money and resources to party (might have been an influence of the countless hours spent on TV watching bollywood movies).

I did my schooling at Digboi which was the place where oil was first discovered in Asia during the British era and the refinery here is the oldest in Asia and the oldest operational oil well in the World is located here at Digboi in Assam. I studied in the same school upto my standard X and so is I knew most of Digboi as I spent time travelling across the place with my friends. Across my academics I was a bright student scoring good marks in most of my subjects apart from mathematics that was one of my weak subjects. Yet, however I was still managing to score good ranks across my academics. During my times here I got the opportunity to explore much of the places in Upper Assam as my father used to talk to me about the rich history of the place we were staying as I was always complaining of staying in a remote area and not being a part of a major growing city. He always tried to make it up by taking us out on sundays to explore naturally beautiful places like the river banks, the Namdapha National Park, Deban, Miao, the Stilwell Road, the Dibru Saikhowa National Park, the historic tea city of Dibrugarh, etc. but these places were not of interest to me as I was growing up. I always wanted to be a part of a big metro city and live the glamorous life there.

Nature to me was a waste of time and only thing that would intrigue me were the tall skyscrapers and modern cars that whiz across the city streets. Assam was like a chapter in my life I wished to forget and never return to and fill my life with the pleasures that money could buy. Finally my time to leave the gift of nature, its bounties, fresh pure air to breathe in, lovely weather of Upper Assam perched in the Dehing Patkai mountain ranges came to an end as to pursue my Std XI and Std Xii my parents agreed to send me to Guwahati in Assam. The largest city of Assam, Guwahati is the fastest growing cities in the World at present but it was not the case in the early 2000s when it could be considered as a town only. The fat govt. pay structure was not yet in place and the city did not appeal much to me apart from the fact that I now stayed away from home and could easily buy booze and cigarettes without having to worry about my parents finding out about it. After 2 years my opportunity finally came calling and I got a chance to leave Assam to travel to Bangalore in Karnataka to pursue my degree in Engineering. The excitement showed up clearly on my face and I finally bid goodbye to Assam to pursue my studies and career in the fastest growing metro cities in India – Bangalore.

Engineering turned out to be a nightmare to me as I already dreaded mathematics and also I was least bothered in my studies during the first 2 years of my course spending most of my time enjoying the life in Bangalore. The college was located a little outside of the city in the outskirts and so the fun of riding on a bike visiting Bangalore and enjoying the life here, wasting money on booze and unhealthy food had become a routine. It was all fun until I had failed in 2 of my subjects in the 3rd semester and it was time I realized I had to concentrate on my studies. Somehow I managed to clear my backlogs and the city life was gradually getting to my nerves. The same drive across the heavy traffic, the same booze, the same burgers and pizzas, I felt this decision of mine to come here was not a total wise one after all. I started focussing on my studies and gradually emerged top in my college scoring a first class degree with distinction scoring campus placements at 2 companies at a time when half of my college mates couldn’t unfortunately make it to the campus placements. The joy was there in my heart but then I realized if this was a life I had to choose to study hard, get a job, work my life paying my bills, have a family and later die then why the hell did I leave my home place of Assam. I could have done everything there without choking my lungs with the traffic pollution.

I was now stuck in a place where I was not local and termed as an outsider, I did not properly understand nor speak the language, didn’t like the food and I started hating the noise, pollution, traffic and pretty much there was nothing at all I liked about the place and this kept constantly reminding of my life in Assam and how peaceful it was there. Shortly I joined a huge MNC – a software company from US where I worked as a network engineer and my job was to ensure I kept the network up and running and also help the project members with technical issues they would incur during their day to day activities. Life got busy and as I was into a support function I had to work on 24/7 shifts to attend to the needs of the project. Time passed away quickly as I was very much engrossed in my work trying to make a name for myself earning accolades life best employee awards and the so called corporate culture was deeply into me. The friday nights would be spent at pubs and bars where we would gulp down liquor and crib about our lives and curse our bosses and after spending the weekend mostly in a drunken stupor we would get back to work on Mondays eagerly waiting for the friday again.

I though that this would be my life until I started a family but one day I realized that my life my going nowhere. Promotions were hard to come by and climbing up the corporate ladder was possible with a lot of internal politics and the boss decided who would go up. Switching jobs was an option but then again this would mean shifting your place of stay as well. I did not want to wait for long and then finally be on top of the ladder at an older age so I decided to leave all this and pursue my Masters in Business Administration. I quit my job and started preparations for the competitive examinations like CAT, MAT, XAT that was the first step towards your admission to the management colleges across India followed by group discussion, personal interviews rounds that help the colleges to select the right candidates for these courses. I managed to clear the exams and get through few business schools but I chose to stay close to Bangalore and avoid the trouble and hassles of having to travel to a new city and adjust to the new conditions there. Also I was much happier staying closer to Bangalore to where I had adjusted and was sure that I would need to return back here to start my corporate life again. Also the location of the college I choose to study was very scenic at the foothills of a Chamundi Hills in Mysore and also on the outskirts of the city. The days passed and I finally became a post graduate and landed a job as a Business Development Manager at premier IT sales company in Bangalore.

To be frank I was not looking out for a sales profile and I wanted to work as a consultant instead. But as luck would have it I couldn’t get through job openings for consultant roles and so I went ahead to join my new profile as a Business Development Manager Life is tough working in a sales environment – everyday you travel from home to office in the morning and then after logging in you need to go out into the field hunting for new sales opportunities. Then come back in the evening and report to your office and prepare the reports. I hated my job but as it paid my bills in a city like Bangalore so I had to continue to work here. There was also the pressure of closing sales and getting revenue for the company and also follow up on the payment process as well. The constant follow up by my bosses and superiors was enough for me to get into a stage of hypertension. I switched to another sales company and life got a little easier here as I had to work with existing accounts and also acquire new accounts as well. The new boss was very supportive ans work was a bit of pleasure here.

Across these years I kept travelling back home to Assam once a year for about 10 days and I would take this opportunity to explore more of the beautiful places in Assam. From now on the places I had earlier hated transformed to my dream destinations. From visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park in Assam to the second UNESCO site of Manas National Park in Lower Assam, from visiting to the historic land of Sivasagar of the fame of the mighty Ahom Kingdom of Assam to the majestic tea estates of Dibrugarh and Jorhat districts. From visiting the largest and the smallest river islands of the World spanning across the mighty Brahmaputra river at Majuli and Umanand and to the bustling Maa Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, I dreamed of coming back home to Assam again because it is rightly said “Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever.” The longing to return back to my state was always at the back of my mind but I never got the right opportunity to return. Then as luck would favour me I was called for an interview with a leading computer hardware and distributor of India and upon appearing for the interview I was offered a role to work in Assa, based out of Guwahati. The position was actually for bangalore but the HR team looking at my profile offered me a position in Assam and I gladly accepted it.

I thanked my good fortune and after serving a notice of 15 days in my present company I packed my belongings and headed back to Assam to start my life here. My corporate sales life started now in Guwahati and I got the opportunity to travel and visit many other places in Assam and North East India during this time. For example across these years I had never been to Cherrapunji, Dawki, Jowai in Meghalaya and while working I visited these places some on business calls while some during leisure. I visited Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh along with it many other beautiful destinations in Assam and Nagaland as well. I started to think as to why God sent me back to Assam and it was surely not an opportunity to serve my life working in a corporate and definitely not in the sales profile of a company for sure. There was a divine message in this transition in my career and I had to pay advice to it. I used to wonder while travelling and looking at the visitors especially in Kaziranga National Park as to who were arranging for their tours in assam and North East India. There were certain tour companies operating tours and I wanted to know how many of them belonged to Assam.

I took the help of the internet and search engines to find out more about these companies and after some research I was able to find that most of these companies were big conglomerates based out of Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Mumbai, etc. While some were International travel companies based out of UK and USA but from Assam there were only a handful of travel companies. It took me to a surprise that local people were not exploiting this opportunity of helping people from outside see their own place. Just a handful of travel companies from Assam were successful in making a name for themselves in the tour and travel industry of Assam and it stuck me as to why are people not being able to run a better travel company. I then thought of one day being able to run a travel company of my own that would provide personal attention to visitors to Assam and North East India where one knowledgeable individual would be travelling along with the guests and showing them the places of interest and not leaving the visitors who come from far across India and across the World in the apathy of the drivers only. I wanted visitors to explore my land that is blessed with the bounties of nature and is home to the top biodiversity hotspots in the World. A place that is renowned for its abundance of flora, fauna and avifauna and indigenous people who have a rich and glorious past and system of cultures and traditions that is sure to leave any visitor here spellbound.

But I belong to a family that has no history of business and entrepreneurship. Each and every member of my family have always worked in jobs and mostly under the central and state governments. To my family members business is not supposed to be done by people who educated and instead people who do not get jobs end up setting up their business. Business to them is like a grocery store or a small scale restaurant. Little do they know and understand the people or members of my family who are working in private firms drawing a fat salary are in turn working for a successful business enterprise that was established by some thoughtful person. Can’t blame them because that is how they were taught and no wonder the only career option I was allowed to pursue was either engineering or a medical course. It was in the back of my mind that my parents would never approve my decision of quitting a job to start my own business but I had to find a way of conveying them that I was processing an idea to start a company and not just a brick and mortar shop.

While I was researching to start my own travel company but I had not quit my job yet. I hated the work culture in this new organization where people did not respect time. While the office hours started at 9 AM no one came on time and they used to happily arrive at leisure during 10 AM and the only sight that irritated me the most was that people had no real ambitions in life here. For them life was to come to office, spend the day at leisure doing least work possible, no thinking or using of their mind, wait for their salary, go back home to their families, eat, drink, sleep. This was not only the occurrence in this organization, but many of the people here are lazy and they don’t think of getting to big positions in life and all they want is a secure life with a monthly salary and do not want to take any risks in life. They are happy with their government jobs and other jobs and no wonder that there are no major industries in the state run by the local people because the lack of generating ideas are quite evident. The major industries are mostly from outside of the state or businesses being handled buy the Marwari community. I realized that this was not why God sent me all the way from Bangalore to Guwahati. If it was a job I was supposed to work for then I could have stayed in Bangalore and got myself into higher positions across various MNCs and earn a big fat salary. But in my life money haven’t always been the priority. It was about being able to do things on my own and at my will successfully not having to seek constant approval of my boss that mattered to me.

Keeping all this in mind one fine day I decided to quit my life as a corporate slave and finally start a small establishment of my own here in Assam. The day finally arrived when I spoke to my parents about it who literally went into a state of shock on hearing my decision. It was so hard for them to accept the fact that I would not be drawing a salary home any further and how would I manage to attend to my expenses. To be frank my family is well to do and they have sufficient monetary reserves so that even I didn’t work a day in my life yet I could lead a comfortable life but to them the social stigma is always a problem as it is across India and the dialogue of “Log kya kahenge – what are people going to day” bothers them a lot which frankly doesn’t bother me at all. So here started my entrepreneurship journey to begin my own travel company based out of Assam and help promote responsible tourism across Assam and North East India. The day of the last working day at my company everyone wished me success in my endeavours and I walked out of the office to begin with a fresh start.

My friend had joined me at the parking lot to celebrate my freedom from corporate life and we bought booze and pork to be cooked back home and to celebrate this moment. It was the last day in the month of August and the temperature was soaring high in Assam but thankfully it had rained that evening and so it was a pleasant evening. Another reason for my friend to join me was because once he had discussed about the black magic powers of the sorcerers of Mayong with me and I was so enthralled by these tales that I had requested him to accompany me to Mayong and help me look around the place so that I could start my travel blog and build content for my travel website and also it would help me to travel with visitors around the place and show them around. My friend had agreed to accompany me to Mayong and Pobitora and so he joined me today as he was free the next day. He also cooked the pork back home with a certain sour herb and it tasted delicious. We sat down and over our drinks we discussed my travel company further as to what I would name it and how would I go about building the website and blog and other social media related activities.

Explorign Mayong and Pobitora in Assam ~

My friend was not into travel much and had his own enterprise of running stalls at exhibitions that earned him a good revenue to sustain himself. He agreed to help me set up my venture and so the next day we started on our work of exploring Assam to help build my travel company. We started at 8 AM to drive to Mayong at Morigaon district in Assam. It is beautiful drive across the city of Guwahati then reaching Narengi area and further driving to Mayong. In addition to being the cradle of the black magic capital of India, the area around Mayong in Assam is home to the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary – Home to the Highest Population Density of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros anywhere in the World. Often dubbed as the mini Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora is gradually becoming an important tourist area near Guwahati and for people who do not want to travel all the way to Kaziranga National Park from Guwahati. Pobitora becomes a place of interest if you are planning to visit the natural beauty of Meghalaya and also want a chance to sight the famed One Horned Rhinoceros of Assam.

We refuelled on our way at Panikhaiti and then continued to drive to Mayong and Pobitora. As the monsoon season was not yet over we could see the waters of the Brahmaputra river flooding the area along the roads and the paddy fields were looking lush green. we admired the beauty of Assam along the way and finally reached Mayong at around 9.30 AM. The soulful touch of the mountains covering the area is a peace to the one’s eyes, My friend called his friend who is basically a resident of Guwahati but has an ancestral home in Mayong and keeps coming here. He asked us to meet him at a shop on the way and we reached the spot where he greeted us. He took us home and offered us tea while we discussed our plan of visit to Mayong and Pobitora. He asked his uncle to join us who was earlier associated with the magic practice but now is a professor at one of the leading institutions at Guwahati in Assam. As it was a sunday the entire family had gathered at their ancestral home for a lunch feast before they continued to Guwahati to get back to their jobs the next day. Uncle spoke to us about the rich history and past of Mayong and as to why it came to be termed as the Black Magic capital of India here in Assam.

During the earlier times, sorcerers of Mayong were very powerful people patronized by the kings of Assam who spent their time in deep meditation in the dense forests of the area practicing the black magic art. They had powers to convert men to goats, tame wild beasts, make army of men disappear, etc. They could harm someone with the black magic and even cure various ailments of the human body with their powers of magic. They were revered among the people of Assam as well and no one dared to speak against them. But gradually the practices faded away with time and people did not have the time and resources to continue practice this art and over time the led to the complete abolishment of black magic. Today there are only a few sorcerers left who practice magic but most of their powers are to help people with body ailments like back pain, arthritis, etc. They use their powers only to heal and not to cause any harm to anyone. We listened to him with patience and eagerness and asked him if we could visit some place to witness this magic in action. He informed us that he knew people who practice such healing practices but they do not do it everyday. People seeking their assistance need to inform them much priorly and then they would arrange these healing sessions for a small fee and as we had come unplanned it would be tough to witness this practice in action.

However, if we wanted to explore the history of Mayong and its black magic practices then we could visit the Mayong museum of Black magic at Pobitora where the various relics used in the black magic art are now preserved here. We though this to be a good opportunity and we went out to explore the museum as well as the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. The family asked us to join them for lunch and we happily agreed. We set out to explore the Mayong museum of magic. It is a small house where the artefacts are preserved and the new museum building was being built nearby. We went to a small shop where an old man guided us to the place and he was the caretaker of this place. The Mayong museum was not in a proper shape when we had visited with the artefacts just kept here and yet there was a certain awe factor in the place. Once you enter you can see there are various artefacts kept from the ancient era used in black magic practices. there were also various pictures hung on the walls of the museum displaying the sorcerers in practice and also the King of Morigaon.

The system of governance in the Morigaon district in Assam is a modern one but to preserve the ancient traditions they do have a nominated King. The King of Morigaon presides over some matters of daily governance and is mostly seen during special occasions and festivals when the entire villages gather to celebrate the festival and pay their respects to the King of Morigaon. One notable festival is that of the Jonbeel Mela – the festival of Barter trade that is held every year in the month of January at Morigaon district in Assam. This festival preserves the ancient form of barter trade that was practiced across the World where instead of paying money to buy goods the people used to exchange goods in return for other goods. At the Jonbeel Mela festival of Assam this tradition has been kept alive and across the 3 days of this festival the local people engage in barter trade while the King of Morigaon comes and visits the festival along with his courtiers to collect taxes from the local traders who happily oblige and pay the taxes to the king. It was really interesting to see this practice of Monarchy still existing in mayong and we kept exploring the Mayong musuem furhter.

Towards the end of the room there is a nice display case that has on display the artefacts which were of most importance of the black magic era. These were the scriptures of black magic written on ‘Sachi Pat’ – a bark of a special tree where ancient scriptures were written. In the earlier times most of the ancient Hindu scriptures were written in this form itself as there was no pen and paper then. The paper was the bark of the tree used while the pen used to be the feather of a peacock that would be used as a felt tip and dipped in ink and then scriptures written. There is a good collection of this ancient black magic scriptures at the Mayong museum of magic at Mayong in Assam. There are also elephant tusks and bones preserved at the museum along with various ancient fish traps and other artefacts as well. We thanked the caretaker for allowing us to visit the museum of magic and then came out to visit few of the resorts at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. During our time of visit as it was the monsoon season, the safaris (both Elephant and Jeep) into the interiors of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary was closed and so we did not have much of an option to go inside the Sanctuary.

Since we had come all the way we thought of visiting the resorts and homestays around here so that we could guide our visitors here as well. The caretaker of the Mayong museum informed us that if we went a little ahead there was a viewpoint there from where we might have chances of sighting the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros of Pobitora in Assam. It was a not a very long drive from the museum so we thought we would try our luck and visit the place. The roads had broken because of the torrential downpour during the monsoons of Assam so we had to drive our small car carefully to avoid landing into potholes. We reached the viewpoint and at first we couldn’t see anything more than the paddy fields and the rain cover around it. But then upon close observation we found a highland where we could spot four rhinoceros standing on this highland. It was a like a dream sight in front of our eyes watching this endangered species in the wild especially during the monsoon season when they generally travel to higher grounds deep into the mountains. We stood there admiring this magnificent beast and clicked our pictures for a while and later moved back to visit the various Resorts and Homestays at Pobitora in Assam.

We first headed to the Prashanti Tourist Lodge at Pobitora to check out the place. This is a Government run tourist lodge under PPP scheme and it is spread across a sprawling campus. There are two complexes built here that can accommodate around 40 – 50 guests at a time. The rooms are classified into Deluxe A/C and Non A/C Rooms and are very huge and spacious with King size double beds for the comfortable stay of the guests here at Pobitora in Assam. A huge lawn area is also present at the Prashanti tourist lodge where various get togethers and group meets can be organized. We interacted with the staff of the Prashanti tourist lodge at Pobitora enquired about the tariffs of the rooms, the details of the Safari timings into the interiors of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and they were very eager to help us out with the details. We finished visiting the place and then headed to check out the most luxurious resort for stay at Pobitora in Assam – the Zizina resort. The Zizina resort is located next to the Prashanti Tourist lodge at Pobitora and offers various accommodation options from Deluxe Swiss tents to concrete rooms. All rooms are air conditioned and have luxurious interiors. Unfortunately as it was the offseason here at Pobitora we couldn’t check out the place from inside as the entrance gate at the Zizina resort was locked. So we moved on ahead to visit the next place the Maibong Eco Resort at Pobitora in Assam.

Maibong Eco Resort is the first resort that welcomes you once you are at Pobitora in Assam. The entrance gate to the interior is located from this area itself. But before going there we visited the Maibong Eco Resort to check out the place. This is one of the most reasonably priced accomodation options at Pobitora in Assam and offers accommodation under two categories – Deluxe individual cottages and standard concrete rooms. The owner of the place Mr. Nripen nath was at the premises of the Maibong Eco Resort and he welcomed us to his place. At the front there is a small reception area cum souvenir rooms where various handicrafts are put up on display and sale and behind is the resort located. On one side of the small road there are the Deluxe cottages while on the other side of the road there is the restaurant, the concrete rooms and a small pond as well where there are fishes and the restaurant freshly catches fish from here and churns out delicious fish curry recipes for the guests. Mr. Nath showed us around the place and the cottages were really quaint with TV sets, nice beds and bath attached. Just behind the place there is a bird observation site as well and Mr. Nath told us that during the migratory season of winters in Assam various birds from across the World would come to Pobitora and they came to feed here at the bird observatory site at the Maibong Eco Resort at Pobitora in Assam. He offered us tea at the restaurant and we looked around the place. There were numerous accolades awarded to Mr. Nath and the Maibong Eco Resort by the Tourism Department (Govt. of Assam) for helping to promote the tourism industry at Pobitora and Mayong. He spoke to us about the various tourists from countries from across the World who had come to visit Pobitora and Assam as well. We thanked Mr. Nath for the tea and then headed to the Arya Eco Resort at Pobitora.

Located just a little distance ahead of the Maibong Eco Resort, the Arya Eco Resort is the closest accommodation option at the entrance of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. There are four deluxe cottages here that can accommodate upto 12 guests comfortably here at the Arya Eco Resort at Pobitora in Assam. Mr. Pankaj the manager greeted us and helped us look around the place. Along with the deluxe accommodation options, the Arya Eco Resort also has an inhouse restaurant that offers visitors delicious traditional cuisine. Each of the rooms are fitted with A/C, TV sets with cable, King size beds and an attached bathroom with elegant bath fittings as well. Being at the proximity of the forest office of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, the Arya Eco Resort is just a minute’s walk from the Jeep and Elephant safari ride points of Pobitora in Assam.

After visiting the Arya Eco Resort we headed to the forest office at Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary where the jungle safaris are booked and operated. At the entrance of the forest office there is a board that details the prices of Elephant and Jeep safari rides into Pobitora. Also there is a separate counter from where visitors to Pobitora in Assam can book boat safari rides that will take you to a location near the Brahmaputra river where you can so some exciting river dolphin sighting. We noted down the safari timings and rates and then bid goodbye to the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to head to the friend’s home for lunch. It was around 1.30 PM and the lunch was almost ready. More family members had gathered and it was nice to see the family bonding together this way which is hard to find in a city life. The family members had come from Jagiroad, Guwahati, Morigaon and nearby places and all of them either had their business establishments or jobs at these places in Assam. It was a traditional Assamese meal being prepared for the family with the menu having pork cooked with black lentils, fish cooked with a sour herb, pork sticks roasted, local herbs fried, country chicken for the members who did not eat pork, salad, rice, etc.

Some of the adults were having rice beer and my friend offered us some of it as well. It tasted really good and we asked for a refill as well. As we had to drive back we restricted the quantity to only 2 glasses while the others continued. Nice discussions happened where people spoke about business, politics, developments, rising pollution levels in the city, etc. We listened quietly and them were called for lunch. All the ladies got busy serving lunch to the children and guests and the meal was indeed very delicious. The pork had a smoky flavour to it as it was cooked over fire and so did the fish and chicken. Traditional cooking over fire is a custom followed by many families in Assam and this imparts a flavorful tate to the curry. After our lunch we thanked the entire family for their love and help and bid goodbye to them and started on our drive back to Guwahati to arrive by evening. I dropped my friend at Narengi and came back home thereby ending a fruitful day of exploring Pobitora and Mayong in Assam.

It was a fruitful visit to Pobitora and Mayong and sighting the One Horned Rhinoceros was a fruitful moment for me and my friend as well. After reaching back to Guwahati I took time to write about the visit to Pobitora and set up my blog and website after this. It was a tough time trying to figure out what to name my travel company as it had to relate to the travel across Assam and as well have a connection with the place. I thought as to what is the main service we are trying to sell to our customers and it was mostly the beautiful bounties of nature, unadulterated landscapes, natural waterfalls, caves, living root bridges, the beautiful National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, abundant and diverse flora and fauna. So I thought as most of the service we provided would be related to jungles therefore I would name my venture as Jungleideas. So I started the blog and website and started looking out for content to be put up. I had pictures and videos from my earlier visits to various places in Assam and North East India so I started to build content and arrange my pictures to be put up on the website. Next up I planned on exploring Guwahati and get to write about the experiences of travelling across the fastest growing city of North East India.

Exploring the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam ~

I started my exploration of Guwahati in Assam by first visiting the Holy temple shrine of Maa Kamakhya temple and seeking the blessings of Goddess Kamakhya on starting my new venture. It so happened that my parents had also visited Guwahati during this time and they too wanted to visit the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati so one sunday we decided to visit the temple. My father when he was serving as the CGM of NECF (CIL) he had spoken to the Temple management committee and as a part of the CSR activities of NECF CIL) had offered to build a well structured place in the Temple premises where the devotees could sit and eat the prasadam that is served at the Holy temple everyday here at Guwahati in Assam. So most of the temple priests who are referred to ‘Pandas’ knew him and entry to the temple to seek the blessings of Goddess Kamakhya wouldn’t be much of a challenge to us as during sundays thousands of devotees come to the temple shrine to seek the blessings of the holy goddess of Maa Kamakhya. People reach as early as 4 AM to get into the queue that leads to the entrance doors of the Kamakhya temple.

There are two ways fo entrance to the main entry doors of Kamakhya temple – one is to get into the long queue of the Temple while the other is the VIP entrance where devotees need to pay INR 500 per head and purchase the tickets to the entry into the temple. We reached the foothills of the Nilachal hills where on top the Kamakhya Temple is situated at Guwahati in Assam. The drive is uphill and it’s a two way road so the drive is a little challenging as you need to keep vigil to the cars coming towards you and also the cars behind. I managed to drive easily as I am used to driving in the mountain conditions during my numerous tripe to Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. We came to a viewpoint from where we can get a bird’s eye view of the entire city of Guwahati overlooking the river Brahmaputra and we halted here for a while. Next up we reached the parking spot where I parked my car and we went into the temple premises of the Maa Kamakhya temple. My father led us to the Bhog Ghar that was constructed during his tenure as CGM of NECF and there we saw his name written on the temple walls along with the NECF family. The Panda who was supposed to help us with the temple darshan came to meet us and led us to the main temple shrine entrance of the Maa Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati in Assam.

The Panda led us on top to the entry gate where at first we had to remove our footwear/slippers befores stepping into the main premises of the Holy Maa Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati in Assam. One of the important temple priest who generally guides around VIPs and VVIPs around the temple came to meet my father as he was earlier entrusted with showing around top officials from CIL who used to visit the Kamakhya Temple. They exchanged their greetings and then we were taken to the counter where we had to purchase our entrance tickets to go inside the Kamakhya Temple shrine. Next we had to go to the water tank at the Kamakhya Temple premises where the water is brought in from the Brahmaputra river and the water is considered as a purifier and cleaner and people use this water to cleanse their hands and feet before stepping into the Kamakhya Temple. The ‘Panda’ bought us a Puja Thali that had flowers, garlands, sweets, and a full coconut to be served as an offering to the deity here and then we were guided to the VIP entrance from where we had to make our entry to the temple shrine. We could see hundreds of visitors waiting in the queue to get their turn to enter inside the temple shrine.

The entry for us was from a seperate entrance gate and we bypassed the queue and reached a little ahead of the main entrance to the temple shrine. Here we had to wait as both the queues converge together and there is only one entrance to the temple shrine. It took us about 20 minutes to enter the shrine. The main temple shrine is carved out of a single rock and it leads down to the shrine of Goddess Kamakhya that is a stone on which continuous water is seeping naturally and the devotees are offered this water by the temple priests. It is quite dark inside here and the earthen lamps that are lit here provides a source of light. When we entered there were hundreds of devotees already inside the place and awaiting their turn to sprinkle the holy water on them. It is a really interesting sight to see the devotion among the people towards Goddess Kamakhya. The Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati in Assam is one of among the most revered temple shrines in India and is one among the 51 Shakti Peethas across the Subcontinent. The Shakti Peethas are holy spots where it is believed that Goddess Sati’s body parts fell when Lord Shiva was carrying her.

The legend goes that Goddess Parvati’s father did not like Lord Shiva and often rebuked him in front of his daughter. Once he had arranged for a maha Yagya at his place and did not invite Lord Shiva for the prayers. Goddess Parvati confronted him and asked him the reason for not inviting Lord Shiva. Her father rebuked him again and Parvati was furious and she jumped into the fire performing a Sati. Lord Shiva came to hear about this and he rushed to the place and picked up Goddess Sati’s body from the fire in his hands and started performing the Tandav nritya. All the Gods and devotees gathered to control Lord Shiva’s temper but couldn’t do it. This is when Lord Vishnu used his sudarshan chakra to cut down Goddess Sati’s body into 51 pieces hoping this would bring down Lord Shiva’s under control. Lord Shiva not knowing what to do in a fit of rage carried the parts of her body and started to travel across the World. One by one the parts of Goddess Sati’s body fell on the ground and the 51 parts fell on seperate location.

Today all these places are called as Shakti Peethas and have a temple shrine constructed over them. At the Kamakhya Temple it is said that the female genitals/womb of Goddess Sati fell and hence this temple celebrates the spirit of womanhood every year during the month of June the Temple hosts the Ambubachi Mela at Guwahati in Assam. In the month of Asad (June) it is believed that the Goddess menstruates and during the 3 days of the month the temple doors are closed for it devotees. It is believed that the goddess menstruate during this time and the waters of the Brahmaputra river near the temple turns red symbolizing it. This spirit of womanhood is celebrated and lakhs of devotees come to the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam to witness this phenomenon. The congregation attracts the holy sadhus who travel from far and near to witness the Ambubachi Mela that is often referred to as the ‘Mahakumbh of the East’. Kamakhya Temple is a spirit of celebration of the mother’s ability to give birth to a child.

I made my mind to visit the Kamakhya Temple during the Ambubachi Mela to witness the festivities here. We managed to enter the shrine and it was very crowded with people taking turns to collect the holy water in their hands and then sprinkle it on top of their heads thereby seeking the blessings of Goddess Kamakhya. We too finished our turn and then came out of the main temple shrine. Our Panda came to us and he took the offerings and took us to the place where we had to light the diyas and incense sticks and along with it break the coconut and pour the fruit water on the idol. He advised me to do 10 rounds around the temple and I obliged. The temple walls have beautifully sculpted idols of Gods and Goddess and other fine art as well. After completing the 10 rounds our darshan was finally over. We thanked the Panda and contributed some dakshina to him and came out of the Temple shrine. As we were supposed to visit the temple on an empty stomach so we didn’t have our breakfast and we halted at a small restaurant in the complex that served hot puri sabji and tea. It is a very well known shop near the Kamakhya temple and people visit the place just to enjoy the hot puris served with a mix vegetable and dal sabji they make here. The place was empty today and we thanked our luck and went in to have our breakfast. We finished our breakfast and then came out to the parking area to continue to drive to my aunt’s place at Zoo Road Tiniali at Guwahati in Assam. She is my mother’s elder sister and she had invited our family over for lunch. My aunt stays alone as children stay in other parts of the country due to their jobs and my Uncle passed away some years ago so whenever my family is in Guwahati they ensure to take out time to visit my aunt’s place to spend time with her. My aunt had prepared an elaborate lunch that had chicken and fish and we enjoyed the meal and spent the rest of the day at her place. We returned back to our home in the evening and I spent the next few days writing about my experience visiting the Maa Kamakhya Temple in Assam and my fruitful visit to this sacred place.

Exploring Chandubi Lake in Assam ~

The next Wednesday I decided to go and explore the Chandubi lake area near Guwahati in Assam. Along the way I would be crossing the Deepor Beel lake and Wildlife Sanctuary as well. I started home early as I had never visited the place before and didn’t know the time needed to the place and the road conditions. I had decided to take my bike along and leave the car behind for this drive. I started at 7 AM from my home at Lokhra in Guwahati (Assam) and decided to have breakfast along the way to the pristine and picturesque Chandubi lake. I reached Gorchuk area in Guwahati from where I took a left to drive further to Pamohi and then arrive soon at the Deepor Beel lake and Wildlife Sanctuary. The Deepor Beel is a natural lake on the outskirts of Guwahati city in Assam and is a beautiful location overlooking the hills of Guwahati. During winters this place is flooded with migratory birds and it is a good destination for bird watching near Guwahati city in Assam. However the groups of people who come here during the months of December and January for family picnics on saturdays and sundays makes the place a little noisy and crowded thereby scaring away the birds who come here to feed. Fortunately it was a wednesday when I had visited so the place was calm.

The entire place was looking green and beautiful but owing to the winter season the water level in the lake had gone down. During the monsoons of Assam, the water level goes up quite a bit and the lake becomes a paradise for the local fishermen who can be seen plying the lake waters with their country boats trying to catch the fish for sale at the nearby markets iat azara area in Guwahati. I got down to watch the waters of the Deepor Beel and the birds that were here. Beautiful birds were to be seen all across the lake and there were also fishermen who were catching fish at the Deepor Beel. There is also a watch tower here from where visitors can get a bird’s eye views of the lake as well as the outskirts of Guwahati city. I spent some time admiring the natural beauty of the place and breathing in the fresh air of the place and as I was getting hungry I decided to continue on my drive to Rani and further to Chandubi near Guwahati in Assam. I arrived at Rani shortly sand this road is along the Assam Meghalaya road and is known to be a developing area near Guwahati in Assam. The proximity to the airport is making local residents from Guwahati buy land in this area and therefore it has a developing market today.

I stopped at a small restaurant here and ordered my breakfast. They had roti sabji and along with it I ordered an egg omelette and black tea to go along. It was a basic place and the food was alright. After this I started on my drive to Chandubi. I had to cross a reserve forest here and thankfully it was during the daytime because there were stories of Wild elephant herds crossing the roads across these forests during dark and so I was a little scared while crossing the place. I finally reached a place where I could start to see human habitation and so I felt safe after this. Although there were people around but the area is sparsely populated. The Chandubi area is inhabited by the Rabha tribes of Assam who are adept hunters and expert craftsmen in bamboo and handlooms. I reached a big market area here and from here it was another 20 minute drive to Chandubi lake. The beautiful countryside of Assam was like a feast to my eyes after coming from a crowded city like Guwahati and no wonder people from the city flock to this place during the weekends to enjoy a time of calm amidst nature.

Chandubi lake is another popular tourist spot near Guwahati city and during the winter months of December and January thousands of people from the city and other parts of Assam come here to celebrate a day of picnic. I finally reached the Chandubi lake and it was long drive indeed. My back started to hurt a bit but the beauty of the place made me forget it and I walked towards the lake to admire the natural landscape. Chandubi lake is natural lagoon formed during the earthquake of 1897 and the lake borders the states of Assam and Meghalaya and has a scenic backdrop of the Rani Reserve forest and high rise mountains. The forests here are abundant in flora, fauna and avifauna and species like tigers, leopards, wild elephants, hoolock gibbons, slow loris, pythons, etc inhabit the pristine forests of Chandubi. While I was standing there I could hear the cries of the hoolock gibbons of Assam and the various other bird species. At a point I even heard the roar of the wild elephants herd from the forests. I stood there admiring the beauty of the Chandubi lake and as it was a weekday not many visitors were around and mostly the local people were present.

Chandubi lake is a popular place in the music industry of Assam and many music videos have been shot here with the Chandubi lake as the backdrop. Next I went to visit the tourist lodges and eco camps around the area to help me send tourists to this wonderful place. Located very close to the Chandubi lake in Assam is the Government run Assam Tourism lodge at Chandubi. A nicely built place it had around 8 deluxe rooms and 2 deluxe Swiss tents for visitors who come for night halt to admire the natural beauty of the place. All the rooms are fitted with air conditioning and deluxe bathrooms but a little more maintenance was necessary to make the place more attractive. I spoke to the caretaker of the place who guided me with the room tariffs and whom to contact for the room bookings. After this I hired a boat to cross the lake and go to the Chandubi Jungle Camp whose co owner later became a close friend and accompanied me on several trips across North East India. The Chandubi Jungle Camp is an eco friendly property built with mud houses with thatch roofs, cottages with attached bathrooms and Dome tents for stay of the guests. The entire place doesn’t allow the use of plastics and food is cooked in a traditional way making use of firewood. As it was a weekday there weren’t many guests around here but weekends here see a lot of footfalls from guests from Guwahati and other parts of Assam.

Another of the co owner of the place Mr. Diganta Rabha was at the premises and the land where the camp was set up belonged to him. He welcomed me to his place and helped me to look around. A beautiful and green campus the front half of the place is where the camp is set up while behind was Diganta’s house where he lived with his family. He told me that there was a trekking route behind the village from where one could climb up to the mountains to admire the forest reserves of Chandubi and sight various flora, fauna and avifauna. There are also two beautiful waterfalls in the Chandubi area near Guwahati in Assam as well. At their kitchen the family members were preparing an ethnic rabha cuisine lunch for the visitors who were at the camp and Diganta asked me if I would like to have lunch at their place. The meal costed INR 300 for non veg meal and I was hungry as well so I agreed to have lunch at the place. It was an elaborate lunch that had chicken cooked with banana flower, fish curry with sour herb, dal, mashed potato chutney, roasted brinjal chutney, some other variety of chutney, salad, papad, pickle, etc. The meal was very delicious and rabha cuisine of Assam tasted quite good as I had it for the first time. I thanked Diganta for offering me the lunch and then bid farewell to the Chandubi Jungle Camp and Chandubi lake to start on my drive back to Guwahati.

By the time I reached Garchuk area it was 3.30 PM and so I decided to make another stop at the North East Museum of Handicrafts and handlooms before heading back home. This museum is owned and operated by the Government and has on display the various arts and craft forms of the people if Assam and North East India. There are manufacturing units here as well where the weavers weave out exquisite handlooms and bamboo crafts as well. There is a huge display hall where there are models depicting the rural life of Assam. There are model villages that have a complete home setup of a village of Assam and demonstrate how people lead a life in their village. In one of these models it even depicts a typical Assam village kitchen, a storehouse for grains called as Bhoral, etc. Also there are models of the tribal folks of the region dressed in their traditional attires. I admired the rich culture and heritage of the people of Assam and North East India and then visited the handloom production unit and there were women weavers engaged in the traditional looms of Assam weaving out exquisite traditional handlooms of Assam. They were weaving ‘Gamochas’ that are the traditional towels of Assam and along with it traditional clothes that are adorned by the tribal people of Assam.

There was another manufacturing unit here that prepared sticks out of bamboo for incense sticks manufacturing. Assam is known to have a good resource of bamboo plantations and bamboo is an integral part of the lives of the people of Assam mostly in the rural areas where people use bamboo to build homes, to construct bridges over streams, as fences for their houses, as an alternative to wood, to light fire in theri kitchen and even use the bamboo shoot for preparations in the kitchen. It was a wonderful sight to visit the place and I really enjoyed my time here visiting the glory of the indigenous people of Assam and how they used natural resources to sustain themselves. After finishing my visit at the museum at Garchuk area in Assam I headed back home thereby ending another eventful day in Assam exploring the Deepor beel, Chandubi lake and North East Museum of Handicrafts and handlooms at Guwahati in Assam.

Exploring Hajo and Suwalkuchi in Assam ~

On the next Saturday I made a plan to visit the Hajo and Suwalkuchi areas of Assam. My parents were still in Guwahati and so they accompanied me along as they had never been to the holy land of Hajo earlier. Therefore we started from home after breakfast to at first visit Hajo and then come to Sualkuchi in Assam to witness the glory of the indigenous silks of Assam at the largest silk weaving village in the World here in Assam. We crossed the Brahmaputra river over the Saraighat bridge to drive towards Amingaon area near Guwahati and from here we took a left diversion to head to Hajo in Assam. On the way we reached the Saraighat war memorial and my father wanted to stop here to take a look at the place. Saraighat is the place where the great battle between the Ahoms and the mughals was fought. The Ahoms were brave kings who ruled the entire region of North East India that was collectively Assam then. And Assam was the only part of India that the Mughals couldn’t conquer. The resiliency of the Ahom army and its brave generals made the mighty Mughals retreat from Assam and it was mostly the interesting war tactics used by the Ahoms that helped them to stop the Mughals from invading and conquering Assam.

Saraighat was the place chosen for war as it was a tactical grounds surrounded by the Brahmaputra river and the rolling mountains of Assam so the Mughals had to first cross the Brahmaputra and then face the smaller Ahom army who strategically placed themselves along the mountains and waded war on the mighty Mughal army who couldn’t work with these war tactics as long range guns were not present during that time. It is also believed that the Ahoms made use of the powers of the Black magic sorcerers of Mayong who made an entire army of men disappear. Today a war memorial has been constructed here to commemorate this battle of the Ahoms of Assam. Inside the Saraighat War Memorial there are beautifully sculpted sculpture of the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan commanding the soldiers of the Ahom army in battle and one can feel proud being a part of this legacy of the brave Ahoms of Assam. We admired the place and later started on our drive again to Hajo in Assam.

We reached a junction from where we had to head straight towards Hajo while a left would take us to Suwalkuchi. We continued further and the beautiful countryside of Assam greeted us at the outskirts of the Hajo town. Hajo holds a sacred place among the people of three faiths of Assam – Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. The muslims of Hajo are descendants of the Mughal dynasty. When the Mughals had come to invade Assam although they couldn’t conquer the region but many of the mughals generals and soldiers fell in love with Assam and decided to stay back here. However as they couldn’t go past Saraighat they decided to settle in the places around the Hajo. They gradually started to mingle with the local people and settled themselves here in Assam. Hajo today is the place where you can see the Hindus and Muslims living in total harmony. The Hindus attend Muslim rituals and festivals while the muslims can be seen attending the Assamese functions and singing praises of the Lord along with the Hindus. The Hayagriva Madhava temple at Hajo in Assam holds a special place in the faiths of the Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists while the Poa Makka shrine at Hajo in Assam is visited both by the Muslims and Hindus.

We arrived at Hajo town shortly and much of the town is settled along the highway and one can find various shops across each side of the highway of Assam. At first we made a stop to have tea at the Hajo market before proceeding to visit the Hayagriva Madhava temple at Hajo in Assam. We reached the temple shrine at 9.30 AM and there were many devotees today at the Temple as it was a weekend. Outside the temple premises is a huge pond and this place holds a very important significance in the Wildlife story of Assam and the World as in this pond many species of turtles are kept alive that has helped these species from the brink of extinction. As these turtles when in the rivers fell in the hands of excessive hunting and breeding was reduced to nil thereby bringing their numbers to almost zero. With the active work of an NGO today the temple pond of Hayagriva Madhava temple is home to numerous turtles including the very rare Assam Roofed top turtle species as well. Devotees come to the temple pond to provide turtle friendly food to the animals and they happily come to feed. The pond is also home to various freshwater fishes as well.

We cleansed our hands and feet with the waters of this pond and then bought a puja thali and started our walk to the top of the fleet of stairs leading to the Hayagriva Madhava temple at Hajo in Assam. We managed to climb the stairway with ease and the temple priest later informed us that there is a divine power that attracts you to the temple thereby making the climb easier. The smae priest helped us offer our prayers at the temple and he took us into the deity room where we could see the idols of the Gods kept inside the Hayagriva Madhava temple. He showed us around the temple at first by taking us to a point from where it is said that this place is facing the Jagannath temple at puri in Orissa. The priest told us that the visit and pilgrimage to the Jagannath temple is complete only after you come to the Hayagriva Madhava temple at Hajo in Assam and offer your worship. He also took us to the grounds where informed us that during the Magh Bihu festival of Assam in January a huge congregation is held here and cock fights are arranged here which is now abolished as per directions of the Hon. Supreme Court of India.

We offered our prayers at the temple and the pujari took our donation for the temple at the end. After this we bid goodbye to the Hayagriva Madhava Temple at Hajo in Assam to go to the Poa Makka shrine is Hajo. The Poa Makka shrine at hajo is the holiest muslim shrine across Assam and North East India. It is said that Pir Gias Uddin Aulia a muslim saint decided to bring back 250 gms of soil (1 Pua) from the holy land of Mecca as many poor people couldn’t afford to go to Mecca on Hajj. So by bringing in the soil he would allow such people to have a chance to perform their holy rites of praying on the soil of Mecca here at Hajo in Assam. His thoughts seemed to be a blessing in disguise for the people of Assam and neighboring areas and today thousands of pilgrims come here every year to pay their worship. In the years a Dargah was constructed at this place and muslims and hindus both come here to offer their prayers and offer a chadar on the Dargah as a sign of worship. We too bought the holy chadar outside at the shops that are present and then went in to offer our prayers at the Poa Makka shrine at hajo in Assam. After winding up our visit here we bid farewell to Hajo when we saw a local market here selling fishes caught from the nearby lakes and fisheries. There were a variety of fish from Rohu, Borali, Sital, etc of Assam at the market.

We bought a big Sital fish for INR 500 per kg and the fish weighed around 3 kgs so it costed us INR 1500 and the vendor packed the fish to be carried in the car. After this we left Hajo to drive to Suwalkuchi in Assam. It was noon and we had to eat lunch so we first stepped at a roadside dhaba for lunch. Across Assam one can find numerous roadside food outlets called as Dhabas that serve the Assamese staple meal of rice,d al, sabji, salad, an ethnic curry, fish curry, chicken curry, mutton curry, a spicy chutney, etc. along with carious other Chinese and North Indian dishes. This dhaba culture is popular across the entire state of Assam and many youths of the state are engaged in this food business. While some of the Dhabas are very very popular like the ones in Nagaon Bypass, Numaligarh, Jhanji, Makum, etc. some of them do not catch up with the guests and eventually close shop. One way of identifying a popular dhaba is to look at the parking area of the place. The more number of cars would mean the food is good and hence the full parking place. The place we went to along the Hajo Guwahati road although didn’t have many cars waiting outside yet the cleanliness of the place tempted us to have our food here.

The food was nice and the thali had various offerings along with it. We ordered fish curry for us along with the vegetarian thali. After lunch we started on our drive to Suwalkuchi in Assam. We took a right diversion from the road to drive to Suwalkuchi and reached the market area here in sometime. Suwalkuchi is known across Assam as the village weaving the finest quality silk fabrics of Assam and there are numerous weaving installments and showrooms across the small town. Often referred to as the ‘Manchester of the East’ – Suwalkuchi is the largest silk weaving village in the World. We went to visit a silk showroom here at Suwalkuchi in Assam and it belonged to a person named Gautam Da. He is one of the influential businessmen of Suwalkuchi town and the silks woven at his establishment is sent across Assam to various places where they are sold. He welcomed us to his showroom and his employees showed us the various materials weaved out of the silks of Assam.

There were fabrics woven from the various silk varieties of Assam like Muga, Eri and Pat. There were also another variety called as Tassar that is a varied silk because the silk worms in this type of silk doesn’t feed on the mulberry leaves and instead on some jungle leaves. While the Muga silk mekhela chadors were very expensive with prices starting from INR 20,000 the Pat and Tassar silk were slightly in budget with prices starting from INR 2,500 based on the quality of handwork done on the mekhela chadors. There were also various handbags and purses also made with silk and these items were looking very attractive. My mother bought a pat silk mekhela chador from the shop and Gautam Da invited us to come to see how these silk fabrics are woven at his factory. We wanted to witness this silk weaving of Assam in person at Suwalkuchi. Although we had witnessed it several times across various village homes in Assam but witnessing this here at Suwalkuchi would be a once in a lifetime opportunity. But as my parents had to attend to a dinner event at one of their friends place so we decided to come over some other time to Suwalkuchi in Assam and witness the intricate process of silk weaving here.

We thanked Gautam Da for his eagerness to help us see the various silks of Assam here at Suwalkuchi and finally bid farewell to Suwalkuchi to head back to Guwahati in Assam. On the way back we came across a market area where vendors were selling organically grown vegetables along the Guwahati road and we stopped here to pick up some vegetables. These vegetables are brought in from the nearby villages by the vendors and we could identify the vegetables have not been grown with the use of fertilizers and pesticides. This is a good sign because in today’s world adulterated food being a growing concern and a cause for many diseases in humans. Alongside there were few more vendors who were selling various rice varieties of Assam like Bora Saul, Joha Saul, Aijong Saul, etc and another vendor was selling eggs of duck and county chicken. We couldn’t resist buying such healthy food to take home and so we picked up all such items in less quantities and finally started on our drive to our home in Guwahati. We reached back at 4,30 PM and my parents took rest for sometime and in the evening at 7 PM they went to Beltola area at Guwahati in Assam to attend to a dinner while I sat back pondering about the visit to Hajo and Sualkuchi and wondering as to why these beautiful places of Assam have not yet gained popularity in the tourist circuit of Assam.

Exploring Umananda & Sukreswar Temple in Assam ~

The next morning as it was a Sunday my family and I decided to visit the Umananda Temple and the Sukreswar temple in Guwahati. Umananda Temple is located at the Umananda Island – the smallest inhabited river island in the World and is situated in the midst of the mighty Brahmaputra river located near the Uzan Bazar Ghat in Guwahati. As it was a sunday there was less traffic on the roads of Guwahati and we reached the Uzan Bazar Ghat at around 9 AM. From the Uzan Bazar ghat at Guwahati in Assam we had to take a ferry boat to cross the Brahmaputra river to go to the Umananda Island. There are options of private and govt. operated ferries to take you to the Umananda Island. While the govt. ferry starts operating at 9 AM and before that the private boats take you to the Umananda Island in Guwahati in Assam. The govt. ferry charges INR 20 per head for a to and fro ride while the private ones charge INR 50 and it is fair enough based on the operating costs. As we had reached after 9 AM we had to take the govt. ferry to Umananda. We had to wait until the ferry was full and by the time we started it was around 9.45 AM. It is a short 15 minute ferry ride to reach the Umananda Island at Guwahati in Assam.

The Umananda island is known for the presence of the Umananda Temple and also for the surviving population of the highly endangered Golden Langur primate species. Once we reached the island we had to climb a fleet of 150 stairs to go to the top of the small hillock called as the Bhasmachal hills where the Umananda Temple is located here in Assam. As per historic legends, Lord Shiva and Parvati stayed here at the Umananda Island where Lord Shiva taught discourses to Parvati. Once when Lord Shiva was in deep meditation, Kamadeva was trying to interrupt his meditation by distracting him. Lord Shiva had gotten so furious at Kamadeva that he opened his third eye and burnt Kamadeva into ashes. In Sanskrit this is called as ‘Bhasma’ and hence the hillock came to be known as the Bhasmachal hills. Upon entry the temple premises there is a huge tree here and at our time of visit we got lucky to sight many golden langur species (around 5 of them) perched atop the tree. But across the years, this population has dwindled and during my recent visit I came to know that only 1 of the members are now present here at the Umananda Island in Assam.

It was beautiful sight to watch these beautiful primate species here at the Umananda Island. After this we bought a puja thali and went inside the premises of the Umananda temple to offer our worship. the main temple shrine is located down from the main temple top and once we have finished offering our worship on top we have to walk down a small stairway where the temple deity are kept and pujaris site here offering worship on behalf of the devotees. The puja thali was offered to the temple priest here at the Umananda temple who took some of the items from the thali mostly the flowers and offered it to the Gods while returned the other items back to us. The temple priest offered prayers on our behalf and showed us two small idols that were sculpted on the stone of Lord Shiva and Parvati. He also told us that the Umananda temple was built by an Ahom king who was a devoted follower of Lord Shiva and the temple was damaged in the great Assam earthquake of 1897 and was later rebuilt by a local businessman.

He also told us that here Lord Shiva and Parvati used to have ‘Ananda’ and hence the named ‘Umananda’. We listened to his discourses with interest and then after paying a little donation in the place we came out of the temple shine of the umananda temple at Guwahati in Assam. we took a walk around the temple premises and also offered worship at the Kali temple that is located close to the main temple shrine. After this we came put to go to the Hanuman mandir that is located downstairs. As the ferry was approaching again we walked down the stairs to board it and return back to the Uzan bazar ghat thereby completing our visit to the Umananda temple and the smallest river island in the World of Umanada at Guwahati in Assam. Next we continued on our drive to the Sukreswar temple at Panbazar area in Assam. On the way we crossed the Assam State Museum and my father is an ardent fan of history and museums. Although it was a sunday and the Assam State Museum at Guwahati in generally closed but it was open today as there was some event being organized.

I parked my car and went to enquire is the place was open and the guard replied in positive and so I purchased my tickets and called my family to start exploring the Assam State Museum. My mother was not very much interested to explore the place but as my father was very keen to visit and explore the Assam State Museum she did not disapprove of it. We started by exploring the first floor on the left hand side of the Assam State Museum where there is a huge display room of various legendary freedom fighters of Assam and India as well. My father and mother got to discussing about the role each of these freedom fighters played during the freedom struggle of India. As I was educated in an english medium school our text books did not contain much about the freedom fighters of Assam so I took interest in what my parents were discussing about the history of Assam. Next up we went to another display hall that illustrated the life and traditions of the indigenous people of Assam. Upon entrance there was the depiction of the sattriya culture of Majuli Island – the largest river island on the World in Assam. The place depicted a Satra and its Namghar premises and these were also kept on display the various traditional masks created by the artisans of the Samaguri Satra in Majuli that are mostly used in the Bhaona performances.

Then came a section of the indigenous people of Assam like Mishings, Bodos, karbis, etc and models of how they lead their lives in the villages of Assam. There were depiction of how these indigenous people of Assam indulge in silk weaving right from weaving out the silk yarn from the cocoon of the silk worms upto the final process of weaving. There were models adorned with the traditional attires and jewellery as well. There was a construction of a model village home of Assam as well that elaborates how people lead their life in a village environment. There was a model kitchen with various traditional utensils of Assam as well. The Assam State Museum is a perfect place to be for visitors who are interested in culture and are intrigued by the life of the indigenous people.

Next up we visited the statue gallery at the ground floor of the Assam State Museum. This place has a beautiful collection of stone sculptures all dating back to the medieval era several hundred years ago from areas across Assam mostly Kamarupa providing an insight that the ancient Kamrupa was known as a hub of religious and educational preachings. All of these statues have been preserved carefully by the Archeological Survey of India here at the Assam State Museum. These statues are so intricately designed speaking highly of the craftsmanship of the artisans of Assam and no wonder these can still be found in the bamboo handicrafts across the State. After admiring these statues and stone sculptures we continued towards the right building of the Assam State Museum where we were first greeted by various artillery used during the World War II. As the Burma Campaign of the World War II was fought in the areas in Assam and neighboring states the Allied forces and the Japanese Army abandoned various artillery used during warfare and these are now preserved at the Assam State Museum in Guwahati.

The next display hall here had several relics and artefacts from the Aryan civilization of India. Various coins dating back to this era, statues, relics used in calculations, the details of Mohenjodaro and Harappa are to be found in this section of the Assam State Museum and finally the section of handloom is there where various traditional handlooms of Assam like the silk mekhela chadors are put up on display. There are also other traditional clothings of the indigenous people of Assam put on display like the Bodo – Dokhona, Mishing – Gales, etc. There are also robes adorned earlier by the Ahom kings here at the Assam State Museum as well. With this our visit to the Assam State Museum at Guwahati came to an end and we came out of the place to head to the Panbazar area at Guwahati in Assam to visit the Sukreswar Temple. The Sukreswar temple is a holy temple shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and is renowned for the presence of a Shiva Linga here that is considered to one of the largest in India. As it was a sunday there was ample space available for parking the car here and we went inside the premises of the Sukreswar temple in Guwahati. The temple is located by the banks of the Brahmaputra river and a cool breeze keeps blowing from the riverside across the Sukreswar temple. There are two temple shrines here at the Sukreswar temple in Assam one on the right hand side is the main temple shrine where the Shiva Linga is located. This temple holds an important place among the business community of Assam and the local businessmen consider this place very holy and they come to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva for their business to prosper and grow. A unique way of offering their worship here is by pouring milk over the Shiva Linga. Also women consider this place sacred and seek blessings of the Lord to help them find a good life partner.

We did not have anything in mind to seek blessings but we offered our worship seekings blessings for a healthy and happy family. Lots of milk was being poured on the Shiva Linga and the milk gets collected in a place near the temple where later it is sterilized and then distributed to the needy people as per the local person who informed us. This finished our worship at the Sukreswar temple and we moved on to drive back towards our home area. As it was lunch time I decided to take my family to the Maa Manasha restaurant at Maligaon area in Assam. While I was pursuing my 11th and 12th at Guwahati I used to stay in the Maligaon area of Assam as the school was at North Guwahati so commuting was easier from here. During that time almost 15 years ago we used to visit this place called as the Maa Manasha hotel that is located near the Maligaon market area and is known to serve the best variety of bengali cuisine especially the fish and mutton items. At that time it was a small hotel with an open seating area and plastic tables set to the guests who could sit and eat here. I still remember the first time we had visited the place along with my father and his colleague and son who was my roommate during my times here at Maligaon in Assam way back in 2001. The uncle had ordered Sital fish and the fish piece was so huge that it couldn’t be accommodated in one plate and the entire tail area of the fish slice was protruding out of the plate.

From then on whenever I ordered or had Sital fish this was the only sight that came to my mind. I asked my father about this an interesting he too remembered the scene and so we agreed to have our lunch here today. Once we entered the place to our surprise it had turned into a big restaurant now although the small open space still is present where the owner keeps a record of the orders and collects the payments while there are around 5 chairs and tables that can accommodate around 15 guests here and upstairs there is a huge A/C dining hall and people were lined up to have their lunch here. We got our seats at the A/C cabin and placed our order of thalis along with Sital fish and ilish fish. The food arrived soon and the thali was a true bengali delight with the likes of rice, dal, brinjal fry, potato fry, mixed sabji, dry fish chutney, salad, pickle, etc. And came along the Sital fish and it reminded me of the earlier times. The food quality is still the same and this has led to the rise in their business. After completing our lunch we headed back home to relive our memories of the Umananda temple, Assam State Museum, Sukreswar temple and the wonderful lunch at the Maa Manasha Hotel.

Exploring Orang National Park & Madan Kamdev Temple in Assam ~

Today I set out to explore the lovely Orang National Park near Mangaldoi in Assam. Orang National Park is one of the 5 national parks in Assam and is lesser known compared to the famous Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park and Nameri National Park of Assam and hence draws lesser visitors compared to them. But Orang National Park in Assam has a terrain very similar to the Kaziranga National Park and is often dubbed as the mini Kaziranga and has flora and fauna similar to Kaziranga. So I started my drive from Guwahati to travel to Orang National Park via Baihata Chariali and Mangaldoi in Assam. There are two ways of approaching the Orang National Park in Assam one from Mangaldai and the other from the Tezpur route via Mission Chariali. the later route is slightly longer and also the road conditions were not good during my time of visit as a 4 way lane was being constructed and driving a smaller car on this route was not advisable. So I took the route from Mangaldoi and planned on visiting the Madan Kamdev temple shrine on my way back.

The roads are fine to drive on the first half upto Mangaldoi and I was in for a surprise once I reached Mangaldoi. This place literally felt like I was in some place in Bangladesh. Immigration of illegal migrants from Bangladesh has been a major problem in Assam since many years and many of these people have now settled in Assam holding the major national ID proofs like PAN cards, Voter ID cards, etc calling them citizens of India. The earlier governments couldn’t play a major role in stalling this immigration and now they can be seen everywhere across Assam where they come and settle themselves. Bengali muslims are they are referred to as now a major part of the population of the state. I kept driving and finally reached a place where I had to take a right diversion to travel to Orang National Park in Assam. I had to stop here to ask for directions and the people were kind enough to guide me to the place. Interestingly the major population along the roads are those of the indigenous people of Assam but once you start moving towards the interiors the huge bengali muslim population can be found. These people have identified pockets in the state where they cannot be noticed easily from the mainstream population of the state and have settled themselves here so that people travelling across the state cannot find them easily.

Tey carry on their activities here and many of them are mostly into agriculture and day labor and they settle themselves near the river banks so that they have adequate water for irrigation purposes. Once I went deeper inside approaching the Orang National Park could see their settlements again and a sense of rage filled my heart against these outsiders who rapidly multiply and cover the entire region. With education not being of prime importance in their lives they do not know about family planning and to them an extra child is another helping hand to feed the family. I felt disgusted for not being able to so anything and with no options I kept driving towards the Orang National Park in Assam. It gave me a scare in my own state and being in such a place where people were trying to stop my car and asking me to give them a lift. I quickly drove past them to finally arrive at the entrance gate of the Orang National Park.

At the Orang National Park there is a government operated Prashanti Tourist Lodge for the lodging and fooding option for its guests. during my time of visit the place was not in the best condition. There was no one around as well to guide me across and so I parked my car here and went towards the entrance of the Orang National Park in Assam. There was a forest office here and I was fortunate to have met a forest guard here who welcomed me at the office and guided me with the information needed to explore Orang National Park for our future visits. The Orang National Park in Assam is similar to Kaziranga National park in terms of terrain and the flora and fauna. The river Brahmaputra also borders one end of the Orang National Park and the dominant fauna here is that of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Royal bengal tigers, Elephants, birds, primates, reptiles. etc. For visiting the interiors of Orang National Park there is an option of a Jeep Safari ride and to my utter dismay there was only one jeep at the disposal owned by one Mr. Abdul who operated the safaris here. I spoke to him and it turned out that he also is the caretaker of the Prashanti Lodge and helps to accommodate and prepare food the guests who come here.

The forest guard took me little into the interiors as he had spotted a bird here and showed it to me. However to spot the wild animals of Orang National Park one has to travel to the interiors of the park on a Jeep safari ride. The park has a healthy population of Rhinos and Tigers and visitors who want to catch a glimpse of these animals in the wild can come and stay here at Orang and explore the varied flora and fauna of the place. After winding up my visit at the Orang National Park in Assam I started on my drive back to Mangaldoi and further to Baihata Chariali where I was scheduled to stop at the Madan Kamdev temple in Assam. I reached the place at around 12 Pm and there were not many devotees around and so I started to explore the place on my own. The Madan Kamdev temple in an ancient archeological site dating back to the 9th and 10th century during the reign of the Pala dynasty of ancient Kamrupa. The ruins of the place are scattered on an area of around 500 m and there is a temple of Kamdev here that has the idols of Ganesha and Vidyadhara here in Assam.

The main excavation of the temple ruins happened in 1977 when the archeologists in addition to the main temple found another temple in the area here. On careful examination it was concluded that these were constructed around the 10th and 12th century under the orders of the Kings of the Pala dynasty. The main attraction of mythology here at the Madan Kamdev temple is that after Lord Shiva burnt down Kamdev to ashes with his third eye at the Bhasmachal hills in the Umananda Island at Guwahati in Assam, Lord Kamdev was reborn as Madan in this place. The entire temple architecture is a treat to the eyes where we can see the variou sculptures of the Gods and Goddess present at the Madan Kamdev temple in Assam. I explored this beautiful temple ruins for a while and then started on my drive to Guwahati. Along the way I stopped at a roadside dhaba to have my lunch. As mentioned earlier the Dhabas are very popular across Assam and there one that I stopped was a bihari dhaba mostly used by the heavy truck haulers who carry goods across various states to and from Assam. I could see many trucks parked in the campus of this dhaba and so I decided to give a shot at the food here. Bihari cuisine is known for their rotis, dal, chicken, littis and chokhas so I ordered my food of roti, rice, dal fry, chicken curry and salad.

The food service was very quick and you could see the food being prepared in front of your eyes as the kitchen is open. You cannot keep hygiene as a consideration at such places so I accepted it and the food was served shortly. The food was very delicious although I must say that there was heavy use of spices in the preparation. Our food of Assam is generally very low in oil and powdered spices and therefore it is easy to be digested but the other north indian cuisine makes heavy use of spices like garam masala, chilli powder, dhania powder, etc. Food of Assam is generally flavored with natural ingredients like green chillies, green herbs, ginger, garlic, pepper, etc. But yet as I wouldn’t be having this food regularly I did not mind the spicy flavor. After finishing my lunch I started on my drive back home to Guwahati in Assam thereby ending my day of exploring Orang National Park and the Madan Kamdev Temple at Baihata Chariali and I looked forward to exploring a new destination of Assam soon.

Explorign Jagiroad and Jonbeel Mela in Assam ~

It was the month of Januarye and my aunt had often spoken to me about her desire to visit the Jonbeel Mela – Barter trade festival of Assam. It so happened that this traditional festival of Assam has been organized since ages and as I wrote about it on my note of the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, the King of Morigaon is the head who presides over the festivities of the Jonbeel Mela festival of Assam. This festival of Assam highlights the age old practice of barter trade that was prevalent earlier and instead of paying money to buy things, the indigenous people of Morigaon district like the Tiwa people of Assam used to exchange (barter) goods in place of money to complete a business transaction. The thought of witnessing the Jonbeel mela of Assam in person intrigued me and I decided to visit Jagiroad from Guwahati to witness this festival. I coordinated with my aunt’s son who was my elder cousin and was working as an executive at the Nagaon paper mill at Jagiroad in Assam. He found time out from his busy schedule and asked me to come over to jagiroad to spend a day here where he would take me to the festival grounds of the Jonbeel mela festival. i had to go to my aunt’s place to pick her up and then we would be going to Jagiroad at first to the Deoshal temple here and then visit the Jonbeel Mela and finally come to my cousin’s home at the HPCL township for lunch to return to Guwahati by evening.

Every year the Jonbeel mela is scheduled during the 18th, 19th and 20th of January and I had planned to visit the festival on the first day itself and it was on a Tuesday. I picked up my aunt and as she is an aged lady and the lift at her apartment doesn’t work I had to lead here carefully down the stairs to go to my car parked downstairs. After allowing her to sit comfortable in the ca I started my drive to Jagiroad from Guwahati crossing Ganeshguri, Khanapara, Jorabat, Sonapur to reach Jagiroad at 9.30 AM. At first we went to the Deosal temple where my cousin would join us. The Deosal temple at Jagiroad in Assam is a temple shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva. This temple shrine is very popular among the Karbi people of Assam who consider this temple to be very sacred. We parked our car and went into a shop to buy some items to offer for worship at this temple. The place is very clean and green and the entire Jagiroad area is filled with forests. We cleansed our hands and feet and went inside the temple premises to offer our worship to Lord Shiva. As it was a weekday not many people were around and it seems on sundays hundreds of devotees from across Assam come here. The temple pujari took the puja thali and offered prayers to the lord on our behalf. After finishing our puja we came out of the temple to travel to the festival grounds of the Jonbeel mela festival.

Once we reached the place it was filled with vehicles and visitors who had come here to witness this age old tradition and festival. People had to park their cars on a field area and then walk towards the festive grounds here at Jagiroad in Assam. We too did the same and walked towards the festival grounds across paddy fields that were now dry due to winters. After walking for 10 min we reached the venue and there were hundreds of stalls set up here by the local traders and indigenous people. Here too as well there were a lot of bengali muslims again all small traders selling their goods in makeshift stalls. The Jonbeel Mela is like a fair where villagers come to spend their day in merriment. There was a huge stage area constructed where the Hon. Chief Minister of Assam had just mader his visit and the King of Morigaon had also finished his visit here for the day. We walked through the stalls admiring the craftsmanship of the indigenous people of Assam who were selling Tiwa, Karbi and Bodo handlooms. We did not get to witness the barter phenomenon as this happens early in the morning when the King had visited. Instead now people had to pay money to buy the goods. Yet it was nice to be part of the festivities of the only barter trade festival in the World here in Assam.

My aunt brought some of the traditional handlooms of the Tiwa people and after sometime we bid farewell to the festive grounds of the Jonbeel Mela festival. Being a part of this ancient practice made us feel at peace in our mind and taking the memories we headed to my cousin’s place at the HPCL township. My cousin had a nice home here at Jagiroad in Assam and his wife had prepared an elaborate lunch for us today. The meal had chicken, dal, fried rice, rice, salad, paneer, mutton, stuffed capsicum, etc. On arrival they offered us tea and snacks too. We took time exploring the home and the HPCL township and then we had our lunch. After lunch we rest for a while and later in the early evening started on our drive back to Guwahati. We reached Guwahati by evening 7 PM and I dropped my aunt at her place and later drove back home thereby ending our memorable visit to Jagiroad where I pondered over my visit to the Deosal temple and the festival of Barter trade – the Jonbeel mela of Assam.

Exploring Basistha and Balaji Temple in Assam ~

My Uncle’s family from Jorhat in Upper Assam had come to visit Guwahati and they were staying at another of my Uncle’s place at the Hatigaon area in Guwahati. They expressed their desire to explore the Basistha and Balaji temple areas in Guwahati and I agreed to help them look around these places. Both these temples are located on the outskirts of the main busy premises of the city near the NH 37 at Basistha and Betkuchi areas of Guwahati in Assam. The Balaji temple looks very beautiful in the evening when the entire temple gets illuminated and devotees come here to spend their evenings in peace and calm on the lawn area of this temple. I planned our visit to the place so that on sundown we reach the Balaji temple. I picked them up from my uncle’s home in at the hatigaon area and then drove towards the Basistha area. This is a busy highway stretch along NH 37 of Assam so one has to careful while driving. I reached Basistha Chariali traffic point and from here I had to take a right diversion to go to the Basistha temple.

This place is so interesting because just when you take the right diversion and after driving a little ahead you leave past a busy and noisy city and enter a forest area. Guwahati city in Assam is endowed with vast natural beauty and is different from other cities in India as there is a typical characteristic in its landscape where on one side there is the mighty Brahmaputra of Assam flowing across and on the other there are the green cover of tall rising mountains. Nestled in between is the busy city and the outskirts all covered by dense forest areas. We reached the Army base of the Basitha in sometime and from here we have to drive right crossing the forest cover to finally reach the Basistha temple in Assam. This is the place where the Holy sage Basistha set up an ashram and spent his time in meditation. Later a temple shrine was constructed by an Ahom King for the people to offer their worship here. We parked our car at the parking area and bought a puja thali and then after opening our shoes we were entered the premises of the Basistha temple in Assam. Once you enter a huge temple shrine greets you and on the left are the houses of the temple priests.

Behind this temple shrine there is a place where there is a confluence of three rivers and the waters merge together and flow down as one. This is the place where one has to cleanse their hands and feet before entering the main temple shrine. We could see devotees bathing on the river down as it it a way to purify oneself as it is believed. We cleansed our hands and feet and then entered the temple shrine of the Basistha temple in Assam. We had to walk down a fleet of stairs to reach the main temple shrine where a pujari was sitting. He took our puja thali and then offered the prayers on our behalf to the god. We offered some donation to the temple shrine and then came out of the shrine to visit the Hanuman temple downstairs. This is a newly constructed temple shrine in the premises of the Basistha temple. There is a huge statues of Lord Hanuman here and these place is filled with monkeys. since Lord Hanuman is often referred to as the monkey God in Hindu mythology it was a coincidence or a strange natural phenomenon that so many monkeys were present here. It was a spectacle to watch this and the monkeys kept coming towards us trying to grab the prasad that was in the Puja thali.

We offered it to the monkeys and then gradually they dispersed away. After offering our prayers to Lord Hanuman here we took leave from the Basitha temple in Assam to travel to the Balaji temple at Guwahati. We crossed the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Guwahati to take a U turn to reach the premises of the Balaji temple in Guwahati. It was just beginning to get dark and the temple lights were turned on. The place looked strikingly beautiful and the entire temple building is white in color and is made up of marble. The bright colorful lights adds a more striking view to the entire place. The Balaji temple is a part of the Tirupati Balaji trust of Andhra Pradesh and the temple was constructed here in Assam to spread the message of peace and harmony across the region of North East India. The striking structure of this place is in close resemblance to the Tirupati Balaji temple and devotees come here from across Assam to offer their worship. We entered the temple shrine to offer our prayers and explore the Balaji temple at Guwahati in Assam. Most of the temple priests too were South Indians itself. After finishing our puja we took the prasad that is served here. Today it was payasam served as prasad and it was very good to eat. We also brought the Ghee Ladoos to take back home and distribute to the near and dear ones. After this we called it a day and I dropped my Uncle’s family to the other Uncle’s house at Guwahati. We planned on covering the temples of North Guwahati in Assam the next day.

Exploring North Guwahati in Assam ~

Today was our day of exploring the temples of North Guwahati in Assam. I had been planning to visit these places since a long time but due to certain time constraint I was not being able to do so. So I joined my Uncle and aunt to explore these beautiful temples of Assam. We started in the morning from Hatigaon area to travel to North Guwahati after crossing the Saraighat Bridge that connects Guwahati and North Guwahati in Assam. We reached Amingaon area and took a right to travel to North Guwahati crossing various industries that are present in the Industrial area here in Assam. North Guwahati is gradually becoming an economic hotspot of Assam as it provides proximity to the rest of the country via airways, waterways and roadways. The presence of the city next to it just crossing the Brahmaputra river makes this place an ideal choice for industrialists to set up their manufacturing units here. We crossed this area and then headed further to the countryside along the Brahmaputra river of Assam. Our first stop was at the Sri Sri Doul Govinda Temple in Assam. we parked our car and then bought the items for offering puja and went in to explore the Doul Govinda Temple in Assam.

The holy Doul Govinda temple shrine is dedicated to Lord Krishna and is a famous temple of Assam. The entire temple building is white in color and it is located on a sprawling green campus. The Doul Govinda Temple in Assam is renowned for it scelebrations of the Dol Yatra or the festival of Holki that is celebrated with great pomp and show. The Janmashtami festival or the birth of Lord Krishna is also celebrated with great pomp and show as well. We took our puja thali and entered the temple premises where the temple priests took the thali and offered prayers on our behalf. The idols of the deities at the Doul Govinda temple in Assam are covered with beautiful ornaments and clothing. We spent some time at the temple altar where we made donations in the form of rice and sugar. Everyday the Doul Govinda temple feeds its devotees with a prasadam in the form of a payasam which is a delicious rice pudding so devotees make their contributions in the formds of rice, milk, sugar and other ingredients that are required to prepare this prasad. We offered some money for the temple to be able to serve this prasad to devotees and we were asked to come back in the afternoon when the prasadam would be ready and some of it would be kept for us to take back home.

In the meantime we would explore the other areas of North Guwahati in Assam. Next up we visited the nearby Kanai Barasi rock inscriptions. These rock inscriptions hold a high place in the history of Assam as these inscriptions date back to the time of the Kings of Assam and the Kings used to etch out these rock inscriptions after winning of a major war. There are about six rock inscriptions at this site and these have been preserved and protected by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI).Next up we visited the Sri Sri Dirgheswari temple in Assam and this is another popular temple shrine of Assam dating back several hundreds of years ago. Many people revere this temple shrine of Assam because they consider it to be the second Shakti Peetha of Assam after the Holy Maa Kamakhya Temple. It is said that the right thigh of Goddess Sati fell on the grounds on the Sitachal Hills where this temple shrine is located in Assam. The Dirgheswari temple is known for the Durga Puja celebrations of Assam when thousands of devotees come here to offer animal sacrifice to appease the Gods (a practice I strictly condemn). Anyways we went in to admire the grandeur of the construction of this temple in Assam.

There are beautiful stone sculptures on the walls of the Dirgheswari temple and we need to climb a fleet of stairs to reach the top. Various trees are filled across the area of the Dirgheswari temple in Assam and we walked across this tree cover to reach the top of this temple shrine. The entire temple altar is carved out of a single stone and one needs to climb down a little just like in the Umananda Temple to reach the altar of this temple. Hundreds of pigeons are present in this temple and although the birds are sacrificed here they are not afraid to stay at the temple campus. We had bought a puja thali along and after cleaning our hands and feet at the temple pond here we went to visit the temple altar. not many devotees were present at this time as most people come in the afternoon time at around 2 PM when the temple lunch is served at nominal rates to the devotees at the Dirgheswari temple in Assam. We walked downstairs to the temple altar and it was quite dark inside and a temple priest was sitting there to help us offer our prayers.

We finished our prayers and came out of the temple premises to cover the other destinations of North Guwahati in Assam. My uncle wanted to halt for the special lunch here but then we had lots of time on our hands so we decided to come back later after after exploring some other places. Next up we went to the Sri Sri Auniati Satra in North Guwahati which is a branch of the Auniati Satra in Majuli Island. These Satras are Neo Vaishnavite Institutions that practice and preach the teachings of the Holy Saint reformed of Assam Sri Srimanta Shankardeva. Young boys enter these Satras from a young age and practice the forms of Sadhana and dedicate their lives in worship of the Lord. We walked across the area of the Auniati Satra at North Guwahati in Assam admiring the calm and peaceful atmosphere around us. The Namghar was located at the center of the place surrounded by the huts of the neo vaishnavite monks and the area was overlooking the vast expanse of the mighty Brahmaputra river of Assam. As most of the monks had gone to Majuli Island for some convention the place was kind of empty with only few monks staying at the satra whom we saw engaging in bamboo crafts and attending to the cleanliness of the place of the Auniati Satra in Assam.

One of the monks took us around the place and showed us inside the Namghar premises where the altar shrine did not have any idols of the Gods and Goddesses but only the Bhagavad Gita kept in the center. We explored around the Auniati Satra for a little more time and then went on further to explore the Sri Sri Aswaklanta temple at North Guwahati in Assam. This temple shrine is located by the banks of the river Brahmaputra atop a hillock and is holy temple shrine dedicated to Lord Krishna and it is said that when Lord Krishna was wandering in search of Narakasur to kill him, Lord Krishna’s horse felt tired at the spot of this temple and he took time to rest here by the banks of the Brahmaputra river and hence the name ‘Aswaklanta’ meaning ‘tired horses’. This temple shrine was constructed in around 1720 AD by the great Ahom king Shiva Singha of the Ahom kingdom of Assam. We parked our car and started on our climb across the fleet of stairs that led to the Aswaklanta temple in Assam. From the top we could see the ferry boats carrying passengers across both sides of the river banks of the Brahmaputra river in Assam.

We managed to climb the fleet of stairs and then took a left to walk towards the temple shrine of the Aswaklanta temple. A very beautiful temple structure greeted us and we walked towards it. A caretaker led us to the temple shrine. THe main temple shrine is closed and we could only take a walk along the premises of this temple in Assam. The caretaker led us further to the banks of the Brahmaputra river where we could see some stones kept on a tiny sand shore. These stones resembled the hooves of horses and the caretaker narrated to us that these were the impressions of the hooves of Lord Krishna’s horse that felt tired here. Every year the Brahmaputra river savages this place during the annual floods of Assam but this stone structure has not been damaged a bit thereby symbolizing some holy power. We admired the natural beauty of the place and then walked back to the temple premise where the caretaker offered us a cup a black tea and some biscuits. This temple is not so renowned like the other temple of Assam and so sees lesser footfalls compared to the others. After making a small contribution towards temple donation we left the premises of the Aswaklanta temple and later headed to the Doul Govinda temple to pick up our prasad of payasam that would be kept for us.

My Uncle wanted to go back to the Dirgheswari temple for the lunch but my aunt got tired after all the stair climbing and she did not want to climb the stairs again at the Dirgheswari temple in Assam for lunch. So we opted to skip this and went only to the Doul Govinda temple and then we left North Guwahati to return to Amingaon where we made a stop at the Borluit Dhaba and ethnic Assamese Restaurant for lunch. This place in Amingaon is a very nice restaurant that has a clean and nice ambience and serves authentic Assamese cuisine to its visitors. Food is served on traditional Bell metal plates and saucers and even the water is served on bell metal glasses that speaks of the ancient traditions and customs of Assam dating back to the time of the Ahom kingdom when it is said that having food on bell metal plates and saucers enhances the taste of the food and also keep a person healthy as eating in bell metal plates removes body ailments due to the certain compounds in bell metal that promotes human health. We took our seats at the Borluit Dhaba cum restaurant that is named after a famous river of Assam ‘Borluit’.

We ordered for the vegetarian thali and local chicken curry, borali fish with mustard and duck with gourd along with our meal. The food was very elaborately served in the bell metal plates and along with white rice was a yellow dal, a black dal, a chutney made with local herbs, dhekia herb with potato, omita khar, guti aloo sabji, khar, salad, aloo pitika and payok. The cuisine of Assam as mentioned earlier is very less in oil and powdered spices. All fresh ingredients are used in the food preparation. The most common would be ginger, garlic, green chillies, (sometimes the bhut jolokia), pepper, turmeric, herbs, curry leaves, sesame, etc. Sometimes the curry is made with a mix of various ingredients while in some only a few are used like the aloo pitika which is basically an Assamese version of the mashed potato of the west that has coriander, onions, green chillies, little mustard oil, etc. Assam is bestowed with vast natural beauty and forest cover and these forest pockets are blessed with certain herbs that not only have medicinal properties but also tastes very good as well. Like the Dhekia Xaak is found abundantly in the wild and not only in the dense forests but grows in the jungles nearby people’ home. This herb when properly cleaned and fried with sliced potatoes adds a taste that is unmatchable and packed with nutrition and free from all pesticides because it grows naturally.

But gradually the people in towns and cities owing to their hectic lifestyle and lack of time rely on vegetables sold by vendors that are not only blant in taste but are also containing heavy doses of pesticides and fertilizers. It is time that the people of Assam and the other places in India as well rely on organic foods and lead a healthier life. Coming back to our food at Borluit restaurant it was a delight indeed. The items of the veg thali itself was very tasty and the chicken, fish and duck recipes added to the flavor of the food. The chicken was cooked is a curry with potatoes and lots of pepper that added a slight heat to the curry. The Borali fish was cooked with grounded mustard seeds and a certain herb and it was mostly a boiled curry and gravy and the fish tasted wonderful. The borali fish has a lots of oil in its body and ruing the frying of this fish one has to be careful as the oil keeps spilling out of the kadhai. This is what makes the fish very delicious and costly as well. The duck meat was cooked with a gourd (kumura in Assamese) and this vegetable helps in elimination the oil from the suck meat. The entire presentation of the food at the Borluit restaurant cum dhaba in Assam was a treat to the eyes and the food tasted very good as well. After lunch we drove back to guwahati and I dropped my Uncle and aunt at Hatigaon to return to my home at Lokhra in Assam thereby ending another fruitful day of exploring the divine temples of North Guwahati in Assam.

Exploring Garbhanga in Assam ~

One fine morning some of my local friends planned on a day outing to the Garbhanga Reserve Forest near Guwahati in Assam. This beautiful forest reserve is located just behind my home at Lokhra in Assam and I had never got the opportunity to go deep into the interiors of this forest. Assam, as mentioned earlier has vast expanse of its land covered by forest cover and this one is a perfect example located just adjacent to the city of Guwahati. All of my friends belonged to the Karbi community of Assam who are settled at the Lokra area in Guwahati. They are the indigenous people here and to them forests are a way of life. They know where to step into the forest reserve and where there were chances of having encounters with wild animals. They knew what to pick up from these forests of Assam and prepare for food as well as the medicinal properties of the herbs and plants present in these forests. Deep inside the forest are local villages and one such village is the Garbhanga village of Assam located near the border of Assam and Meghalaya. It is from this village that locals come down every sunday and wednesday carrying fresh organic produce of vegetables and fruits to be sold at the local markets of Lokhra and Sawkuchi at Guwahati in Assam.

Our plan for the day was to drive on our bikes from Lokhra to Garbhanga crossing the mountains and forest cover, spend the day admiring the beautiful natural landscapes, check in the village of Garbhanga in Assam and then have a picnic outing here where we would be cooking a traditional Assamese lunch and later return back by late afternoon to Lokhra in Assam. We were eight of us and another two local guys would be joining us at the Garbhanga village who would show us around the place and help in preparing our traditional lunch. We started in the morning at around 7 AM from Lokhra to drive towards Garbhanga after crossing the forest range office of Lokhra. These forest covers of Assam are protected and there are forest offices that keep track of any illegal activities inside these forest like timber cutting by felling of trees, etc. One of the members of this office was also travelling with us and so we did not have to seek permission to go to the interiors of Garbhanga. There is a narrow road that goes deep into the forest and we had to follow this track to go inside. As we started to ascend the mountains of this forest the soulful chirping of birds welcomed us along with it the occasional roar of wild elephants, leopards and the call of the Hoolock Gibbons of Assam as well.

The place is filled with green forest cover and the air is is pure and no noise reaches your ears. I was surprised because I have been staying close to this forest for almost a year but never did I earlier visit here. Still I thanked my luck for being able to come here now and so we continued on our drive to Garbhanga in Assam. The roads were approachable as it was winter time and the season was dry in Assam. Otherwise during the monsoons the track would be flooded with water and the approach would get muddy. We kept ascending the mountain and our speed was slow yet the beauty of nature all around us made us enjoy our drive. Garbhanga Reserve Forest in Assam is known for its population of birds and butterflies. It is a hidden treasure of Assam that is a paradise for bird watching especially during the winter time when thousands of migratory birds come here from across the World.

Hundreds of species of butterflies are also found in the forest pockets here and we could see them flying all around us. The ascend finally ended and we reached the plain grounds where there was a vast expanse of paddy fields. As the crop was just cut the paddy fields were now empty and we could see the cl;ear sky horizon and the mountain ranges here. We stopped here for a while admiring the nature of Assam and the beauty of mother nature. We had some refreshments that we carried along with us and then started on our drive to Garbhanga in Assam. We now approached a tall canopy of Sal trees and it was no less than a perfect location for a movie shoot. The tree cover was simply breathtaking and we stopped here to click some pictures to show back to the people of how beautiful Assam truly is. After about 15 minutes we finally reached the Garbhanga area. The two local friends of the village welcomed us to their place and even they belonged to the Karbi community of Assam. Garbhanga village is a mix of Karbi community people of Assam and the Garo community of Meghalaya. As Assam and Meghalaya share a strategic border in this village and both these communities have been living here since times immemorial.

Once you are here you are far off from a city life and no longer do you see the rush of fast cars and tall buildings and there is no trace of noise and pollution. The only thing you can see around are cheerful people, lush green vegetation around and children playing around in the natural environment the very way God intended the earth to be. Most of the worldly pleasures are not be found here and you feel the true awe and essence of mother nature here at Garbhanga in Assam. The countryside view is breathtaking and the streams that flow across will give you a surprise as to how clear water can be. We stopped our bikes and took sometime to get a feel of the place in calm and harmony. The friends took us to their home where we met their family who offered us tea and some locally brewed rice wine. It is a tradition in the villages of Assam to welcome guests with rice wine and later offer them some betel nuts and leaves called as ‘Tamul Paan’ of Assam. This natural mouth freshener is believed to aid in digestion.

After this the boys took us across the place to a small market area where they introduced us to the shop owners of Garbhanga in Assam. We walked into the forests where we came across a very beautiful waterfall and also the border of Assam and Meghalaya. It was here that the boys had arranged to prepare our ethnic lunch cooked in bamboo trunks over fire. We had carried along our food to be cooked and the meal would have country chicken, pork cooked with herbs and rice. As it was a picnic outing we also carried with us liquor both IMFL and traditional rice wine as well. We would use the water from the small stream that flows by and the water was sparkling clear. This was a true village style experience we would be enjoying today. All of us got busy with some activity with some cleaning the food, some preparing the drinks, some collecting firewood and other small tasks as well. It was more like a community feasting today in the midst of a forest in Assam. The fire was lit and the meat cleaned and all ready to be cooked. The local boys knew how to cook in the hollowed out bamboo trunks and we were spectators as to how they stuffed the food into the bamboo trunks and they started the preparations. The most important part in this cooking technique of Assam is to control the fre. Too much fire and the bamboo too would start burning leading to the entire dish getting spoilt.

The boys were precise with the fire adding sticks and removing them regularly to control the fire level. At first, the chicken was cooked as the county chicken takes a little more time to cook properly. It was made with tomatoes, coriander, pepper and lots of green chillies. The pork meat was washed thoroughly and mixed with the leafy sdour herbs and then stuffed into the bamboo trunks. The only use of powdered spices was that of turmeric powder and rest all were natural ingredients like ginger, garlic, green chillies, coriander, ginger leaf, etc. After the pork was cooked it was finally time to cook the rice. The rice was a mixture of Joha rice and Aijung rice that was grown locally in the Garbhanga village of Assam and the boys had taken lots of trouble to arrange everything from the local village. We did not have to carry any food items along with us from Guwahati and the only thing we carried with us were the bottles of IMFL.

We enjoyed the meat along with the drinks and the hospitality of the local people of Garbhanga left us amazed. While we were cooking there was someone or the other coming in from the village and asking us if we needed anything. One of the locals even got us some fried pork and fishes to be had along with the drinks. They came and offered us food and got their wine along with them sat with us for a while discussing how their life was different in the village than in the city and also about their problems of accessibility to the city during the monsoon season. The people were so selfless and they were ready to share their things with us and this is indeed the true essence of Assam. Our rice was finally cooked and it was interesting to watch how the boys checked whether the food was done or not. They had a bamboo stick in hand and they kept pushing the stick into the food to mix it as well as to check whether the food had been cooked or not. The rice was finally done and we started out lunch. The food was served on banana leaves and the entire presentation looked so natural and pleasing to the eyes. We had prepared a salad of cucumber, tomato, carrot, chilli and coriander and another of the village person had provided some dry fish chutney that was spicy as well.

The food turned out to be so delicious and the meat was cooked to perfection and all the natural flavors got so perfectly blended. If I had a chance to eat this food everyday I would do so but unfortunately staying in ac ity we can rarely get to eat such healthy and tasty food free from any pesticides, preservatives and all cooked to perfection. One thing about the people of the villages in Assam is that they eat such healthy and natural food that they rarely fall sick. they know how to live in tandem with nature and know what to eat according the the seasons. Say in summers as the temperatures reach around 35 degrees with a real feel of 45 degrees due to the humidity of Assam nature gives us various foods like sour herbs, the bhut jolokia, etc and these food help us to regulate our body temperature by inducing perspiration and hence bring down the body heat. I could hear these locals speaking of various herbs that are medicinal and can cure certain body ailments as well when boiled and had with certain vegetable and meat.

We enjoyed our sumptuous lunch and later cleaned the utensils we had carried along and started on our drive back to Garbhanga village. We stopped by the village where we bid farewell to the warm hearted people of Garbhanga in Assam and later started on our drive to Lokhra in Assam. This time it was a downhill drive and so it was easier. We did not have to use the bike accelerator and gravity did most of the work and we cruised down easily. We made a stop midway where the boys decided to collect some ferns and herbs to be carried home. We did not venture deep into the forest as just along the roads these herbs were growing like the Dhekia Xaak, manimuni plants, etc. We packed the herbs and then started on our drive to Lokhra again to finally reach home at about 4.30 PM. It was a really amazing day exploring the countryside of Assam forgetting the hustle and bustle of the city life. This trip tp Garbhanga in Assam made me realize that money is not the only important thing in life it is all about enjoying the bounties of mother nature and to be able to live in harmony with it.

Exploring Bijoynagar in Assam ~

One of my friend who was into the business of online handicrafts and handlooms selling had once spoken to me of a place called as Bijoynagar near Guwahati and of a person named Mr. Narmohan Das who is engaged in weaving of silk with natural dyes. His Eri silk stoles are renowned across the world and he sends his stoles to countries as far flung as US, Japan, Canada, Australia all from his remote village at Bijoynagar in Assam. His Muga Silk carpet have even found place in the Buckingham Palace in England and he is aman so humble and down to earth that he still stays in a small house at Bijoynagar and doesn’t scale up his business and make it commercial to earn more money. He is a man of virtue and believes in quality and not quantity. My friend showed me some of his creations on his phone and they looked very exquisite. So I agreed to accompany him to Bijoynagar and meet Mr. Narmohan Das in person. My friend had met Mr. Das at the IIE in Guwahati and from then on he was in touch with him as Mr. Das’ products intrigued him and he wanted to see the possibilities of promoting these unique silk variants of Assam across his customer base as well.

Mr Das however did not involve himself much because he already catered to many clients and his demand was so huge that he couldn’t often meet his supply. As all his products are hand woven by the local weavers of the villages surrounding Bijoynagar area in Assam this is very time consuming and a lot depends on the weather as well because with favorable weather the silk worms tend to produce more of silk otherwise they often do not yield a good produce. Anyways we went ahead with our place to visit Bijoynagar just to meet Mr. Narmohan Das in person. We started at 9 AM from Guwahati crossing the Garchuk and Pamohi areas to arrive near the Guwahati airport in Assam and then headed to Azara and kept driving straight. After about an hour and half we reached a left diversion and this was Bijoynagar town. from here we had to take another left that led us to a smaller road across the villages to drive to Mr. Narmohan Das’ house. We had to keep asking for directions and this was the first time we were visiting the place and google maps doesn’t work in remote locations like this.

This was again the countryside of Assam where we could see the thatch homes and people welcoming us by helping us with the directions. we finally reached Mr. Narmohan Das’ home and he welcomed us inside. In the sitting room of his place we could see various silk stoles and other handloom being kept. There were pictures of many foreign guests who had visited his place and Mr. Das explained to us about the various processes involved in weaving and dyeing of the fabrics. One interesting thing is that he uses all natural colors for dyeing like turmeric, onion peels, beetroot, hilikha, etc. This interesting art of Assam is yet to achieve lots of recognition in the World and it not promoted well this art would slowly fade away as the youth today do not want to engage in weaving activities and instead prefer to do a day job. Mr. Narmohan Das is credited in keeping this art form of Assam alive with all his years of hard work and struggles. We thanked him for his support in keeping this art form of Assam alive. My friend bought some stuff for himself and later we returned back to Guwahati in Assam.

Exploring Barpeta & Manas National Park in Assam ~

My younger brother had come down from Bangalore and he was staying for a few days at our home in Guwahati. Both of us never explored the Manas National Park in Assam and so we made a plan to visit the place. I had a colleague working in the Barpeta road area and even he too was inviting me to stay over at his place since long and so I took this opportunity to explore the places in Lower Assam. During my job tenure I had often visited Bongaigaon and Barpeta road areas in lower Assam but never as a tourist only on official work so this would be a perfect opportunity to explore the places of tourist interest in Assam here as well. My friend at Barpeta road was working at a reputed bank and he had a nice room to stay so we wouldn’t be spending money on lodging. He asked us to come over on a saturday so that he would be free on sunday to help us explore Manas National Park and he asked us to explore the Barpeta Satra along our way to Barpeta road in Assam. We took his advice and my brother and I started on our drive to Barpeta in lower Assam on a saturday a around 9 AM from Guwahati.

We had to cross the Saraighat bridge to drive towards amingaon and Changsari further to Baihata Chariali. This was the similar route we had taken during our visit to the Orang National Park in Assam. Instead of taking a right at Baihata Chariali we headed straight this time to go to Rangia and continuing further to Barpeta. From Rangia in Assam if we take a right we can head to Bhutan as well via Tamulpur and Darranga Mela. I had been earlier to Bhutan from Assam at Samdrup Jongkhar and the experience is mentioned in the blog section of this website. Indian Nationals and people especially from Assam do not need any special permit to enter Bhutan via Samdrup Jongkhar. We had to produce a valid ID proof (mostly Voter ID card) to enter the border of India and Bhutan at Assam and we are allowed to explore the Samdrup Jongkhar market and certain areas in Bhutan after which we are not allowed to cross and would need valid documentations. We crossed Rangia and drive further to Barpeta. On the way we stopped at a roadside dhaba for some refreshments.

We planned on just having tea here but once we entered the dhab we could get the aroma of hot rotis being cooked on a charcoal fire stove. I am not a big fan of rotis like the people in North India and being from Assam I mostly prefer rice but the aroma and texture of rotid cooked over charcoal fire altogether is a different experience. A small dab of desi ghee on these rotis along with a dal tadka is one of the most desired of the Indian cuisine. So we ordered for a plate of rotis and dal tadka at this dfbhaa near Nalbari in Assam. The rotis were thin and soft just the way I liked it and the dal tadka even contained egg which enhanced the flavor of the dish. We finished our meal and then headed on our drive to Barpeta. We reached barpeta at around 11.30 AM and from the town we had to take a left diversion to drive to the Barpeta Satra in Assam. We reached the place in sometime and a huge entrance gate greets you at the Barpeta Satra. We had to park our car at a distance and the walk towards the Satra premises. At the entrance there are many shops that sell items that are required to offer prayers in the Satra.

As mentioned earlier these Satras are Assamese Vaishnavite Monasteries that were created under the instructions of the Holy Sain reformere Srimanta Shankardeva and his disciple Sri Madhava Deva. The Barpeta Satra was built under the instructions of the holy guru Madhava Deva. These places came into being at a time when the caste system was very prevalent in India and holy saint guru Srimanta Shankardeva did not like the idea of this system. he introduced the concept of all human beings are alike and initiated teachings that would lead to the abolishment of the caste system in Assam. The holy guru also promoted the idea that God is one and to ensure his discourses reached the masses of Assam he introduced plays called as ‘Bhaonas’ that taught religious discourses of various mythological characters in an art form. To make the plays look more life like he even created the concept of traditional masks that would represent the various mythological characters and this would help the people of Assam relate more closely with the characters. After he received patronization from the Ahom kings Srimanta Shankardeva established himself in Majuli Island in Assam where he promoted his cult of neo vaishnavism.

These Satras of Assam are religious institutions that helped to teach discourses to young children from a very early age who would admit them into these satras and learn about the true meaning of life and spend their lives dedicated in the praise of the Lord. The basic structure of a Satra in Assam is that it contains a big Namghar or prayer hall at the center surrounded by ‘Hutis’ or the huts of the ‘Bhakats’ followed by one or more tempel ponds and a hall to practice the religious discourses and the Sattriya Nritya dance performance. The Barpeta Satra too has the same architecture with a huge ‘Namghar’ premise that greets you upon arrival here. We went into the Namghar premise where we burnt the candles and incense sticks and offered our prayers. In the prayer hall there were ‘Bhakats’ sitting and reciting the praise of the Lord and playing a huge drum beat as well. One of the Bhakats took us and helped us see around the Namghar of the Barpeta Satra in Assam. At the entrance of the Namghar there are two huge tree trunks and the Bhakat told us that these were the trunks of the Tulsi tree that is nowadays to be found only in the form of a shrub and earlier it used to grow in the form of huge trees.

We continued to explore the Barpeta Satra in Assam and then we walked around the namghar and along the walls of the Namghar there were various paintings and art forms that represented various mythological characters. Then there was a small hut where Sri Madhava Deva spent his time during his days at the Barpeta Satra in Assam. Behind the Namghar area there is a courtyard kind of an area where religious discourses used to be held earlier. The entire structure is constructed with wood and there are elevated platforms where people could sit and listen to discourses. Interestingly I could see a signboard here that strictly said that women members are not allowed to enter the premises of this courtyard. Next up we took a walk around the homes of the ‘Bhakats’ surrounding the area of the Barpeta Satra in Assam. These are small quarters where the neo vaishnavite monks stay and spend their time when not engaged in prayers and other activities of the Satra. We took a complete walk around the Barpeta Satra in Assam and after making a small donation at the Namghar of the Satra we left to Barpeta road.

After reaching the highway and driving for a while we reached a huge signage welcoming us to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Manas National Park in Assam. We finally reached barpeta road junction and we had to go straight to Barpeta road because the road left would take us further to Bongaigaon and this is the highway stretch that connects Assam to the rest of India via roadways crossing the border at Srirampur to go to Cooch Behar in West Bengal. This is a busy market area and the roads are narrow as well so we had to drive carefully to avoid any hassles. We reached the premises of my friend’s bank office and he welcomed us in. As it was around lunch time he would take leave for the rest of the day and take us to his place after winding up a little of his pending work. He showed us around his office and it was a government bank and one of the leading banks of Assam and North East India as well. My friend finished his work and then he took leave from his office to take us to his house. As he too was a bachelor most of his food was from outside itself.

He had made arrangements for his food from a restaurant that served home cooked meals and the restaurant boy would deliver his dinner packed in boxes and keep it at my friend’s place at barpeta road in Assam. He took us to this place for our lunch and it was a clean and nice place near his home. The place served thali and along with it the choice of meat or fish. we sat down and the boy brought us rice thalis with dal, potato sabji, chutney, brinjal fry, some salad and a dry fish chutney. Next we ordered a plate of chicken curry and fish curry to be shared. This was a Bengali cuisine restaurant so the meal had adequate oil and spices different from the Assamese cuisine. After lunch we headed to our friend’s place and it was a nice place for a bachelor and as my friend was working in a reputed bank many of the people knew him around. after freshening up my friend took me to the field director’s office of Manas National park in Assam at Barpeta road.

He knew some of the people here so it would be easier to seek information prior to our visit to Manas National park in Assam for our safari rides the next morning. We reached the place and an official welcomed us here. He took us to his office and we could see the various milestones of Manas National Park from being an area infested with terrorism to being declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and now one of the popular National Parks in Assam attracting hundreds of visitors from across the World every year. He spoke to some official at the Park and informed us that our jeep safari would be available tomorrow morning at 8 AM from the park entrance gate of Manas National Park. We thanked him and then left the forest office. My friend took us to a park where we spent some time breathing in the fresh air and discussing about our lives here. There was a tea stall at the market area near the park and we ordered tea and snacks for us. The snacks was dal pakoda which is a famous snack across India where lentils are ground and then mixed with onions, coriander, curry leaves and some spices and made into small balls and deep fried. It is served with a spicy chutney and it tastes very delicious.

After this as we were catching after a long time we decided to have small celebration and cook meat and enjoy it over drinks. We purchased a bottle of scotch and some goat meat from the market area and then headed back home. I prepared a goat meat curry and my brother and my friend got busy serving the drinks. We discussed about our lives and our time during our std XI and XII in Guwahati. As he was in a bank job he was transferred from one location to another every three years as per bank policy and across his tenure he had visited various locations in North East India. As his was a field job so he had to explore places away from his location as well. He had spent time in Nagaland and Mizoram and he commended me on my idea of starting a travel company because Assam and North East India had so many places to explore that tourists are still not yet aware of apart from the prime locations like Kaziranga National Park, Shillong, Cherrapunji, etc. He was speaking of the example of Manas National Park in Assam as well. While Kaziranga National Park the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Site of Assam sees thousands of visitors every year, Manas National Park sees only a fraction of these numbers. We finished our dinner and then walked on the roof for a while before retiring to bed to get up early the next morning as we had about an hours drive time to Manas National Park in Assam from Barpeta road.

The total drive time from Guwahati to Manas National Park is about 4 hours and from the airport it would be around 5 hours so one has to plan accordingly for their visit. We got up at 5.30 AM the next morning and got ready to go to the interiors of the forest reserves of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Manas National Park in Assam. My friend took his SUV vehicle as the road conditions were not very good from the Barpeta road railway crossing upto Manas National Park during our time of visit. We started at 6.15 AM on our drive to Manas. As it was a sunday the weekly market would happen today and so we could see the various vendors coming in to set up shop at the market area before the Barpeta road railway crossing. Here too most of the traders were bengali muslims and they could be identified easily with their beards and lungis that they wear. We crossed the market area knowing that we would be a having a tough time returning because it would be filled with people who come for theo marketing needs every sunday as they remain busy throughout the week and sunday is the day to relax.

We kept driving and the idea of getting along the SUV turned out to be a wise one as the roads indeed needed development. The annual floods of Assam takes a toll on human and animal life as well as the infrastructure of the State as well. As we were visiting during early november just after the monsoon season had ended in Assam and the Manas National Park had just reopened for tourists. We crossed certain small villages and finally arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Manas National Park. We had to take a left diversion to go to the entrance of the Park and along the way a beautiful cover of the tea gardens greeted us. Assam is known for its tea gardens and Assam tea is desired the World over. Founded by the Singpho tribes of Assam as their legend ‘Phalap’ the tea production in Assam was started by the British who found the shrubs of the Assam similar to the ones in China and found that the ones here had more fragrance and flavour as well. So the mass production of tea started and today the tea is one of the most popular cash crops of Assam.

It was around 7 AM by the time we reached at the entrance of Manas National Park and my friend had made arrangements at the Florican Cottages at Manas National Park for our breakfast. We drove across the tea gardens to reach the Florican Cottages that is located on the left of the entrance of the park. Near the entrance of Manas National Park there is the Bansbari Lodge which is very popular stay option here run by the promoters of Jungle Travels India who are one of the oldest and prominent travel companies of Assam. The most luxurious retreat at Manas National Park is that of Musa – the retreat that is located on the right of the entrance here in Manas. We reached the Florican cottages and as the tourist season had just started the place was filled with tourists. There were visitors from various nationalities and the manager of the place welcomed us in he knew my friend and they got to talking. The guests were all in the forest reserve completing their elephant safari rides and by the time they came back we decided to have our breakfast. Our breakfast had puri sabji, fruit salad, boiled eggs, bread toast and bitter. It was a heavy breakfast and after this we left the place to go to the park entrance where we would go for our jeep safari ride into the park interiors.

My friend left his vehicle at the florican cottage and we walked to the park entrance. The official who was informed yesterday of our arrival came to meet us and he took us to the Jeep that would take us to the interiors of the forest reserve of Manas in Assam. One Mr. Bodo was the driver of the jeep and he took us into the park interiors after collecting the fee for the jeep ride. Across the National Parks of Assam where Jeep and Elephant safari rides take place visitors need to pay the money for the safari so that the requisite fees can be paid and then the visitors are taken into the forest reserve. When we were about to start our safari we could see the other tourists coming out of the forest reserve after completing their elephant safari rides. Tourists from across the World were here and it felt nice to see people coming from so far flung areas to visit Assam and admire the natural beauty of the place. Tourism is the largest source of employment in the World and by harvesting the potential of tourism the people of Assam who until now solely relied on jobs as a source of income could replace it by working for their own and create jobs for other people thereby eliminating the cause of idle people in the state.

Mr. Bodo asked one of the forest guards to accompany us and we started on our safari ride into the interiors of Manas National Park. We did not opt for the elephant safari ride as the ride started at 6 AM in the morning and we were not sure whether we could reach the place so early or not. A short while into our safari ride we started to spot various bird species of Manas National Park in Assam. The guard knew the names of certain species of the birds and I too could identify the common ones like hornbills, kingfishers, woodpeckers, adjutant storks, egrets, etc. Our first encounter of the fauna of Manas National Park was a herd of wild elephants bathing in a pool of water. It was an amazing experience watching this scene here in Manas. The forest guard told about his encounters with the wild animals of Manas mostly tigers, leopards, clouded leopards and the other wild cats during his patrolling rounds inside the park. Next we spotted the Golden langur species of Manas perched atop a tree. The Golden color of this primate species looked very beautiful and it was sad to realize that only a few hundred of these species are now left in the World and their numbers limited to the Manas National park in Assam and the Royal Manas National Park of Bhutan.

The ride continued and we spotted Asiatic Wild Water buffaloes, Hog Deers and the pride of Assam – the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros species. Our ride lasted for around 2 hours as we had taken the half day jeep safari ride to Mathanguri and back. There is another option of a full day jeep safari ride as well into the forest reserves of Manas that is often preferred by visitors who want to go for birdwatching and explore more of the fauna of Manas National park. We did not have time and money as well to take the full day option so we ended the ride by 10 AM as we had to return back to Guwahati as well after exploring some of the resorts and hotels here to send across our visitors to Manas National Park on our further tours. We thanked the Jeep driver and the forest guard for accompanying us into the interiors and paid them some money as tips. Then we started to explore the hotels and resorts around Manas in Assam. We had our car at Florican and so we went to pick it up and check out the rooms and tariffs as well. Florican has deluxe cottages for the comfortable stay of their guests at budget prices and they have a complete inhouse restaurant that serves delicious cuisine both traditional Assamese and North Indian as well. The manager helped us see one of the rooms and the place could easily accommodate 4 guests with extra beds. All cottages have attached bathrooms and a huge lawn area is present to accomodate guests during an evening bonfire as well as cultural dances of the Bodo people of Manas in Assam.

The entire area around Manas is inhabited the Bodo tribes of Assam who are arguably the oldest indigenous tribes of Assam who have been settled in the state since times immemorial and have added to the cultural glory and past of Assam. The Bodo people mostly practice agriculture as their primary occupation but with the modern times they have started to take up jobs in towns and cities. Even in Manas once can find them mostly in various hotels and resorts and also operating the jeep rides into the park. The Bodos were earlier pushed into insurgency be certain influencers as they believed that they were being ignored by the local governments. It was during the late 1990s when they had come up with the agenda of creating a seperate state for themselves called as Bodoland separated from Assam. This was when insurgency was at its peak in areas around Kokrajhar and even Manas National Park came under the threat of these terrorist activities. Poaching on animals became rampant to sell their body parts to earn revenue to fuel their agitation and timber felling was recorded in large numbers as well. This was when Manas National Park was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in danger.

But off late the insurgency has come to an end with peace talks between the government and the BLT (Bodo Liberation Tigers). The leaders surrendered and the bodo people too realized that this couldn’t go on for long. This is when they started rebuilding the destruction and today Manas National Park is a very recognized tourist destination of Assam. People even realized that poaching of animals was not worth it and they set up a society called as the Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society where most of the poachers have now become protectors and they pledged to save the flora and fauna of Manas National park in Assam. We would be travelling to their camp shortly after exploring the places nearby. Next up we visited Musa – the retreat resort at Manas. This place is the most luxurious stay option here in Mans and is spread across a sprawling campus. Musa is located right along the border fence of the park and visitors here are often reported to spot the fauna of Manas from the resort itself. Often species like rhinoceros and tigers come close to the border fence in search of territory and are often reported to have been sighted here. We made our way into the Musa campus and it was really nice to see such a luxurious retreat in an area that was once marred with terrorism speaking highly of how people can bring change if they are determined to do so.

The reception area is nice with an ethnic touch to the place and the staff here are very welcoming as well. Most of the staff were local bodo people from nearby villages both boys and girls. One of the boys greeted us and asked our purpose of visit and we spoke to him about our travel company and our thoughts of operating further tours here at Manas National Park and preferable keep our visitors at Musa based on their requirements of their stay options across Assam. The sprawling campus here has various accommodation options ranging from cottages, swiss tents and huge banquet halls as well for any major events and corporate parties. The boy took us around the place and we checked out the cottages here at Musa. All the cottages are of a deluxe category and has air conditioning, televisions, mini bars, attached deluxe bathrooms and is one of the most luxurious retreats to stay in the wild. After looking around the place we thanked the staff at Musa and headed to the Bansbari lodge at Manas National Park in Assam.

The Bansbari lodge is located very close to the entrance of the Manas National Park and as mentioned earlier is operated by one of the leading tourism companies of Assam. The bansbari lodge is a true ethnic experience as most of the decor here is done by the local artisans of Manas and are with bamboo. The reception is a large area that has a sitting lounge and a restaurant that serves ethnic assamese cuisine to its guests. Most of the guests here are from abroad and hence various other cuisine is also offered at this restaurant. There is a huge map depicting the details of Manas National Park in Assam near the lounge area. The manager Bikash guided us to one of the rooms and it is a simple room without any television as the owners want the guests to explore more of nature around here rather than staying put in a room and watch television. The rooms here are spacious and have elegant wood and bamboo furnishings. All rooms have attached toilet and bath facilities. We went down to the reception to enquire about the tariff and booking formalities and Bikash let us know the details. Here at the bansbari lodge a lot of attention is paid to promote local jobs and local culture is also promoted so they ensure to have local artisans perform the traditional bihu dance of Assam and the traditional Bodo Bagurumba dance performances to their guests. This way the guests get a chance to witness the local traditional culture of the place and then locals get some of revenue generation as well. The Bansbari lodge is an ideal stay option if you want to enjoy the nature at its best and want to stay in a traditional environment away from a modern city life here in the midst of Manas National Park in Assam.

Next up we explored the Birina cottages at Manas. This is an old tea garden home that is now converted to a tourist place and accommodates guests to Manas National Park. The place is surrounded by tea gardens and one has to drive across a pathway amidst the tea gardens to reach the Birina cottages. The place has a nice warm ambiance and traditional British style homes welcomes you here at Birina. The caretaker here too was a bodo lad and he showed us around the place and asked us to contact another person over phone to enquire about the tariffs and booking procedure at this place. What intrigued me most here was the kitchen area that is a complete colonial era style kitchen and dining area and it reminded me of our old home at Margherita in Assam that was too an old british bungalow that now was converted as homes of the officials of NECF. The kitchen is located a little away from the house and huge iron stove was used for cooking with coal and the dining area used to be inside the premises of the house. We explored the place and then went to our next destination.

Next up we visited the Smiling Tusker Elephant Camp at Manas National park in Assam. This is a camping experience set up in the area of Manas promoted by individuals who wanted to spread awareness about the Indian Elephants of Manas National park. The accommodation options available here are tents as well as jungle cottages and jungle tents. The owner was not present as he had gone to the forest reserves for safari so we did not spend much time here and left to visit the Manas Maozigendri ecotourism society of Assam. This place is another stay option that promoted the volunteers who gave up poaching and now serve as protectors of the fauna species of Manas National Park. Nice quaint cottages greet you here and visitors get a chance to involve themselves in the conservation efforts of Manas National Park in Assam. We explored the cottages and the nice green campus of this place and finally ended our visit to Manas. It was afternoon and we drove to Barpeta road where we had our lunch at a nice ethnic assamese restaurant and bid farewell to my friend and we took our car to drive to Guwahati to arrive in the evening thereby ending our eventful journey of Barpeta Satra, Barpeta road and Manas National Park in Assam.

Explorign Nagaon, Bordowa and Laokhowa W S in Assam

With my explorations of the areas around Guwahati and lower Assam over, I decided it was time to revisit the places around Upper Assam. Though I have explored the major tourist destinations of Upper Assam during my childhood days, the memories were still vague as I was residing outside the state for well over fifteen years now and during my visits to Assam I had spent my days mostly at home in the areas around Margherita. So this would be a good opportunity to explore the beauty of Assam again and to revisit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park would be a very good lifetime opportunity for me. Assam is renowned across the World for the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros and its successful conservation story at Kaziranga National Park and I knew very well that operating a travel company in Assam most of the tours would focus around this place clubbing it with other important tourist destinations of North East India as well. I decided to travel from Guwahati with my car upto Margherita exploring the various places of interest in Assam. As I had family members staying at Nagaon, Jorhat, Majuli, Dibrugarh and many other places accomodation wouldn’t be much of a challenge and only at certain places like Nameri and Haflong I would need to book a place for myself to stay and explore around the place.

I had planned my visit across Assam according to the following Itinerary:

Guwahati – Bordowa – Laokhowa W S – Nagaon

Nagaon – Diphu

Diphu – Haflong

Haflong – Nagaon

Nagaon – Tezpur – Nameri National Park

Nameri Naional Park – Kaziranga National Park

Kaziranga – Majuli

Majuli – Jorhat

Jorhat – Sivasagar – Dibrugarh

Dibrugarh – Tipam – Margherita

Margherita – Tinsukia – Sadiya – Doomdooma – Margherita

Margherita – Digboi – Margherita

Margherita – Ledo – Lekhapani – Tipong – Margherita

My father’s ancestral home is at Nagaon so I planned to drive to Nagaon spend my day visiting the Bordowa Satra here and also visit the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagaon district and them come to my father’s home where my father’s elder sister and younger brother stay, spend the night at Nagaon and the next day head onto Diphu where I would be meeting s friend and stay at his place and explore the places in Dimasa Haso and Haflong and visit the famed Jatinga area of Asam known for the curious phenomenon of bird suicide every year. Though I was visiting during the month of March I would not be able to witness this unique phenomenon as it is recorded only during the months of September every year here at Jatinga in Assam but still being a part of the place so that I could guide tourists further to these amazing natural unexplored paradises of Assam would be of much of an advantage to me.

So I started my journey from Guwahati early in the morning to go to Nagaon in Assam. The roads from Guwahati to Nagaon is a four way highway and is the best road in Assam. Road infrastructure across Assam is being worked upon and four laning of highways connecting other major towns is also an initiative being taken by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). I crossed Sonapur and Jagiroad to arrive at Nellie. At Nellie I stopped to have breakfast at the Gupta Dhaba which has been one of my favorite stops for breakfast during my tours across Assam during my Corporate life. This is again a roadside dhaba with hygiene not being one of its prime USPs but the food is awesome as they serve hot rotis and dal tadka here.

After completing my breakfast I started on my drive to Nagaon. The beautiful countryside of Assam greets you along the drive with the green paddy fields to be seen all around. One can see locals fishing in the numerous water bodies and once you reach Raha you can find the various small shops selling traditional bamboo handicrafts of Assam. There are numerous small stalls here selling bamboo handicrafts and woodcrafts and along with it this place is renowned for the availability of the coconut water around. People driving across these roads ensure to halt here and drink the coconut water of Raha in Assam. I soon reached the diversion from where I had to take a left to drive to Nagaon town and the straight road would lead to Nagaon bypass and further to the regions in Upper Assam and the right would lead to Diphu and Haflong in Assam. After taking the left the road conditions deteriorate as this route is used by the heavy night buses that ply along from Guwahati to various destinations in Assam ferrying travellers and goods to various destinations in Assam. I kept driving to reach a railway crossing and this area is known as Haibargaon.

From here a right takes you to Nagaon town while a left will lead to Bordowa. I took the left and kept driving further. The hustle and bustle came to an end and the beautiful countryside of Assam came into sight again. I reached Bordowa at around 9 AM and went to explore the Bordowa Satra. Bordowa in Assam is the birthplace of the holy saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva and it was here that the saint started his discourses and spent a considerable part of his life in meditation and preaching his ideas that all human beings are equal and there should not be a discrimination based on caste. He also initiated the preachings of lord Krishna and took the unique methods of teaching discourses to his masses in the form of plays called as ‘Bhaonas’. The Bordowa Satra was established to promote the teachings of Srimanta Shankardeva here at Nagaon in Assam. I parked my car and went on to explore the Bordowa Satra after buying some items at the nearby shops to offer my prayers here. A beautiful entrance gate welcomes you at the Bordowa Satra in Assam.

There was some religious gathering today and the place was filled with devotees mostly old women who had come here from across Assam to the Bordowa Satra. I kept exploring the place where I saw the Satra namghar and the various homes of the Bhakats here. As mentioned earlier most of the Satras in Assam have a similar setup where there is a Namghar at the center and this place is surrounded by the homes of the Bhakats and there are other Namghars and places for conducting religious discourses and the various temple ponds. The Bordowa Satra is spread across a huge area and there are many huge temple ponds in the campus. The place also has a museum that has on display relics from the ancient time and also certain artefacts from the time of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam as well. I met an old Bhakat who was over 90 years old and he took me to the Namghar of the Bordowa satra. I offered my prayers here and it was interesting to se such and old person carrying out his daily duties with due diligence. I went to explore the museum of the bordowa Satra and saw the various relics kept here.

After exploring the Bordowa Satra I started on my drive to Nagaon back to continue to the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary. The roads are not very good and I was contemplating whether to complete me drive or not. I called up a friend who had visited the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary earlier and asked him whether it would be worth to visit the place in Assam considering the roads and the drive through it. He told me that in case I was visiting the other National Parks of Assam especially Kaziranga and I had already finished exploring Manas it did not make any sense to visit Laokhowa as the place had a terrain and fauna similar to these National Parks in Assam and keeping in mind the drive across the Bengali Muslim dominated areas he strictly advised me not to venture in the areas if men in lungis didn’t appeal to me. I took his advice as I indeed did not want to see more of these people which I was sure to see in Nagaon town that is dominated by such people and I easily dropped my idea of visit the the Laokhowa Wildlife Sanctuary. Instead I went ahead to my father’s home at Chritianpatty area in Nagaon in Assam.

As I hadn’t asked my family to prepare lunch for me and it was around 2 PM, I decided to visit the Hotel Monalisa near the Nagaon bus stand for lunch. During my travel from Guwahati to Margherita via night buses, this was the place where the busses would halt and it seemed some real nice veg thali and fish curry items. Nagaon is famous for its fishes as there are numerous water bodies around this town filled with aquatic life and my father had always boasted about his hometown being the best place in Assam to find fresh fish of various varieties. I stopped at the bus stand and went to Hotel Monalisa to have my lunch. I ordered for rice thali and the local fish curry. The food arrived shortly and the fish was a whole fish served with a tomato gravy. The food tasted good and no wonder this place sees a heavy footfall especially during the evenings when the night busses start to arrive. The chutney served was made with a dal and it was one of the highlights of the meal. After lunch I started to travel to my house at Nagaon in Assam. My aunt and uncle welcomed me here and I got the room that is generally used by my father during his visit here and we got together discussing our lives.

My uncle had planned on a nice dinner for evening and he invited the neighbors to come over as well as I was visiting the place after many years. He had asked for a local cook to come over and prepare an elaborate traditional dinner over wood fire. It is a two storied house with rented homes present below and my father’s family staying on top floor. The terrace was open and it was here that my uncle had planned the evening feast. The cook arrived at 4 PM and he listed the things needed to cook the feast. The meal would contain country chicken and Borali fish cooked with elephant apple, mixed sabji, paneer, chutney, salad and much more. The items were bought from the local market and the cook got to getting the items ready for preparation. The guests started arriving at 7 PM and we all gathered at the rooftop for dinner and talking. Plastic tables and chairs were arranged for all of us. The elders got to enjoying their get together over drinks and I took a glass of beer. I had met the neighbors way back in my teenage days when we used to travel to Nagaon with my family. At 9 PM the dinner was served and I returned to bed early as I had to travel the next day to Diphu in Assam.

Diphu – Haflong – Nagaon

Today morning I was all set to drive to Tezpur and Nameri National Park in Assam from Nagaon. I bid farewell to my family and assured of returning back soon and proceeded on my drive to Tezpur. After Nagaon the roads are no longer a 4 lane highway and it is a 2 way lane with the construction of 4 way lane by NHAI going on. The work is being undertaken by TK Engineering and I had one of my friend’s working here at Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh. He was inviting me since long to Arunachal pradesh to explore the beautiful places here and after winding up my tour of Assam I had planned to explore Aruanchal pradesh with him. I crossed Puranigudam and Samaguri to reach amoni. At amoni I made a halt at one of the dhabas for tea and snacks. Amoni is another stoppage for the night busses plying on the roads of Assam and there are numerous restaurants here. I stopped at one of these dhabas and I ordered tea and roti sabji. After this I started on my drive again crossing Kaliabor and then taking a left diversion from the highway to go to Tezpur in Assam.

I crossed the Kaliabhomora bridge over the Brahmaputra river and in some time finally arrived at Tezpur town. Tezpur is known as the knowledge city of Assam owing to the presence of many colleges and the Tezpur University present here. At Tezpur I planned on exploring the Agnigarh fort and then proceed to Nameri National Park in Assam. I took a left from the road to drive to Tezpur town and proceed to the DC office near Tezpur where the Agnigarh is located. Agnigarh is the basically the fortress of fire as per hindu mythology and it is an ancient fort that was built by Banasura to keep his daughter Usha in isolation. A unique history is related to the Agnigarh fort of Assam where it is said that usha had fallen in love with Aniruddha is her dreams and Aniruddha was the grandson of Lord Krishna. But Usha being the daughter of Asura and there was no way the families would consent to this marriage. However Aniruddha was completely in love with Uska and he came to meet her at the Agnigarh even though this fort was always guarded and surrounded by fire. Banasura was very angry at this and he imprisoned Aniruddha and placed him in a prison with snakes.

Lord Krishna had agreed for Aniruddha’s proposal to marry Usha but when he came to know of this he got furious. But Banasura did not care as he had a boon from Lord Shiva to protect the area around Tezpur. A fierce battle broke out between the followers of Lord Krishna and the followers of Lord Shiva and the battle continued at Tezpur in Assam until every member of the both sides perished thereby giving rise to rivers of blood (hence the name Tezpur) until Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva were the only ones left to fight. Seeing this destruction Lord Brahma asked for a meeting of Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva and requested them to put an end to this bloodshed. Banasura was summoned and seeing the Lords together he had no other option but to agree to the marriage of Usha and Aniruddha. This is an interesting mythological story of the Agnigarh in Assam. I bought my entry tickets and started to explore this wonderful fortress that is located atop a hillock. On top here are elaborate sculptures narrating the fierce battle and on top is a huge pillar as well from where we can get a beautiful view of the Brahmaputra river of Assam flowing across Tezpur.

After exploring the Agnigarh at Tezpur I started to go to Nameri National Park. It was afternoon and I decided to halt before balipara for lunch. I stopped at another roadside dhaba for lunch and had the sumptuous thali of Assam with fish curry that was cooked with a sour herb. The sour taste enhanced the flavor of the curry and it was loaded with vitamin C. After the tasty lunch I started to drive to nameri. In about an hours time I reached the Nameri National Park in Assam. My stay was booked at the Nameri Jungle Camp here which is a unique tree house kind of an environment and a new setup to accommodate guests to Nameri in Assam. This place is located just at the entrance of the road that leads to Nameri Tiger Reserve and I checked into the place. The owner greeted and showed me around the place. This place was just completed a few months back and the stup looked new. There were a few other guests staying as well today and the tree houses looked unique. One had to climb a stairway to reach the cottages of the treehouses at the Nameri Jungle Camp in Assam.

After checking into the Nameri Jungle Camp in Assam I decided to visit the area around because this was the first time I was visiting Nameri and I did not have much of an idea about the place so I went to explore around. From the road I had to take a left diversion to go to the Forest range office here at Nameri. I visited the office and enquired about the details on how to explore the Nameri National Park in Assam and the official here helped me on how to make my bookings to go in for a jungle trek across the forest reserves here the next morning. He told me that we would be going in groups escorted by an armed forest guard as Nameri is an open forest reserve and tigers and wild elephants roam about freely inside the forest reserve. No person is allowed to enter the premises of the Nameri National Park in Assam without being escorted by a forest guard who guides travellers on a fixed path across the forest and also ensures the safety of the visiting group as well. I met one of the forest guards here and he spoke to me about his life here at the services of the park and across other National Parks of Assam as well.

He had spent years working at Kaziranga and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary near Guwahati in Assam as well. He originally hailed from Guwahati and was staying in an area near to my house itself. He agreed to escort the group at which I would be assigned so that he could narrate more of his forest experiences with me as well. I took his leave for the day to meet him next morning and then drove to the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river near Nameri National Park in Assam. This one of the most beautiful rivers of Assam that flows in from Arunachal Pradesh and is known to have many rapids where river rafting is conducted. Crossing the Jia Bhoreli river we reach the entrance of the forest reserves of nameri and from here one has to embark on the trek to explore the flora and fauna of Nameri as well. I explored the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river admiring the calm of the place. I returned to the camp after this and it was around evening time. I took the opportunity to interact with some of the other guests at the camp and placed my order for dinner.

The owner asked me to try the thali item and the fish curry that is cooked with some local herbs. The fish was fresh and was brought in from the market nearby. The area around Nameri where the Jia Bhoreli flows fishing activities are banned to preserve and protect the fauna of the place and so the owner has to purchase the fish from the market at Bhalukpong that is the border of Assam and Aruanchal Pradesh and is closeby the camp and lots of fishes are available in this market. It was a nice Borali fish again and the weight was around 3 kg bound to make the fish tasty as it would have a lot of fat. The people of Assam take pride in their fish preparations and they have various traditional recipes to prepare fish curries with various natural ingredients. The same was the story here at the Nameri Jungle Camp as well and as many of the visitors here were fish lovers the owner ensured to keep the fish catch of the day to provide the guests here. A bonfire was lit and the guests gathered around the place. As this is a budget accomodation place here many of the backpackers prefer to stay here and these were two families form the other areas of Assam as well.

I spoke to the guests some of whom were from Bangalore and were exploring the major National Parks of Assam and they had come over to Nameri as well. The families were from areas of Jorhat and Lakhimpur in Assam. We spoke about our next day experience of jungle trek into the interiors of Nameri National Park and we preferred to go as the same group to explore the flora and fauna of Nameri. I told them that I had already spoken to one of the guards who agreed to escort my group and so all us agreed to go as the same group to explore Nameri in Assam. I had an early dinner and later retired to bed. The next morning we were up at 5 AM as we had to make an entry to go into the forest reserve of Nameri at the forest range office. We reached the place at 6 AM and already visitors from the other camps had gathered to make their entry into the forest reserves of Nameri. The guard was ready and he showed me the way to the forest office to make the entry and pay the requisite fees before our entry into the park.

The formalities were taken care of and the guard led our group to the banks of the Jia Bhoreli river from where we would be transported by a boat to the other bank of the river and then after making another entry at a forest camp here we would start exploring Nameri. Upon our arrival itself we spotted some rare birds by the banks of the river and the guard told us that this was a rare phenomenon as visitors do not get to see these bird species often at Nameri. Once there was a group of foreign tourists who had come to nameri specifically to witness the white winged wood duck and this bird species (the name I don’t recollect) and they spent almost 3 days venturing into the park interiors every day but due to their bad luck they couldn’t spot them but our luck turned out to be different and we sighted them without even having to visit the park interiors just by the river banks of the Jia Bhoreli river in Assam. We thanked the guard for showing us and narrating this incident to us as well. Next up we started hiking to the forest camp. The forest guard was narrating to me of his experiences sighting tigers and wild elephant herds inside the forest reserves.

At times he was very close to these animals along with tourists and one time a tiger leaped on top of his head in search of a prey as well. He told me about how once a wild elephant herd had surrounded him and a few other guards who were patrolling in the forest reserves of Nameri in Assam and a huge herd were about to charge when the guards started thumping on the dead leaves that were fallen on the ground and the noise startled the elephants who ran away. After listening to these stories I had second thoughts as to whether I should venture into the park or not but the guard showed me his gun and assured me that it was nothing to worry about. The gun sound is enough to sacre any dangerous animals that might come close. Keeping my faith in him and his giun I started to walk behind him as he led our group into the forest reserves of Nameri in Assam.

There are huge trees covering the area of the Nameri National Park and just when we were about to enter the forest we spotted two domesticated elephants feeding nearby. The guard led us to the elephants and we felt these animals with our hands. Even though the animals were tied to chains yet it was good to see that they were being well taken care of by providing proper food and the guard told us that proper medical care is provided to the elephants under the supervision of an experienced veterinarian of Nameri in Assam. After this we kept walking further and we saw the various birds of Nameri perched atop the tall trees. Gradually an open horizon greeted us and the place looked so beautiful with the tall trees surrounding the area and the sun kissing the clouds of the open horizon of Nameri in Assam. IN sometime we reached a tall watchtower here from where we could get a bird’s eye view of the forest reserves of Nameri. We climbed the watch tower and from atop it we could see a small pond here. The guard asked us to watch in patience for some time without making any noise and we could spot a deer drinking water from the pool.

In about sometime we even saw a wild boar and a gaur coming close to the pond and drinking water. We expected to see a tiger but we were not fortunate today and even waiting for a while we couldn’t catch a glimpse of it. We climbed down the watchtower and continued on our trek across the forest reserve. We couldn’t spot much more of fauna species but there were indeed a lot of birds to be seen around. Nameri is a bird watcher’s paradise just like the other National Park’s of Assam. We completed the entire trek around the designated route of the forest reserve and finally came back to the forest camp office and we took little while to rest here. After this we boarded the boat and rode across the Jia Bhoreli river to reach the forest office at Nameri in Assam. Here we halted at the entrance of the Nameri Eco Camp where the guard showed us a tall tree with many holes in the tree trunk. Each of these holes were dug out by woodpeckers and now serve as homes to various other colorful bird species. The guard told us that on top of the tree there is a hornbill bird’s nest as well.

Various parakeet species were seen coming out and going into their nests on this tree and the entire tree trunk looked quite unique. We thanked the forest guard for helping us to look around Nameri and paid him some money as our gratitude for helping us see around the beautiful forest reserves of Namerio and we came back to our camp. It was still early and we did not yet have our breakfast so we sat down to have our breakfast of puri sabji, bread toast, boiled eggs and tea. I had not planned on staying over and had planned on driving to Kaziranga National Park today in Assam but the group insisted me to stay over as they had planned to take on a river rafting experience. I told them that my stay and safari rides were booked and arranged by one of my friends at Kaziranga National Park and so I had to leave today. They insisted but finally agreed to let me go. So I cleared by bill and bid farewell to the owner and the staff of the Nameri Jungle Camp and continued on my drive to Tezpur crossing Balipara to finally reach at Kaliabor in Assam.

Before I left Nameri I decided to check out on few of the other camps and stay options here that I could accomodate guests on their tour of Assam. The Nameri Jungle Camp is a good stay option but then again it is basic and if you are seeking comfort during your stay at Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam then this might not be the best accommodation option to suit your needs. Its nice if you are seeking something new and staying in tree houses appeals to you. I didn’t have much time in hands so I went near the area of the forest range office to explore the places around here. I started with the Eco Camp Nameri that is the most popular stay option among the guests to Nameri National Park in Assam. The Eco Camp Nameri has various Deluxe Jungle Tent accommodations that are built to look like traditional Assamese cottages with thatch roofs. There is also a dormitory room that can accomodate groups to Nameri as well. All these jungle tents are arranged in a line surrounding the border of the area of the Eco Camp at Nameri in Assam with the center remaining open for bonfire and as a playground for the young guests.

There is a fully functional in house restaurant here that serves traditional assamese cuisine to its guests and other chinese food items as well. A souvenir shop area greets you at the camp and there are on display various handicrafts created by the local people and the money from sales is used for their development. In addition to jungle treks into the interiors of Nameri National Park the Eco Camp also organizes river rafting on the waters of the Jia Bhoreli river of Nameri in Assam. Next up I visited the Jia Bhoreli Wild Resort at Nameri. This is a property of the Dept. of Tourism (Govt. of Assam) leased out to a private company for operations and is spread across a sprawling campus. The place looked very appealing from the outside but once I went in the premises it did not intrigue me much as it was lacking maintenance. The cottages were well built but the lack of maintenance clearly showed with worn out colors and wild grasses growing around the place. I did not venture much here and knew that visitors wouldn’t prefer to stay at this place if this is in this condition during their visit to Nameri in Assam.

Next I went out to travel to one final place before I drove off to Kaziranga in Assam. This place was the Camp Lalimou at Nameri. This place belonged to a friend and his partners and is one of the most beautiful campuses to stay here at Nameri in Assam. Various bamboo cottages are present here to accommodate the guests and the tariff rates are also moderate as well. Each of the cottages are equipped with personal bathroom and a fully furnished restaurant with varieties of cuisine is present at the camp Lalimou at Nameri in Assam. On entrance there is a huge lounge area cum dining area where visitors can get a view of the entire camp and the paddy fields that surround the area. There are local Mishing tribe villages nearby where visitors can travel to and get a glimpse of the rural life of Assam. The camp also has big Jungle tents that can accommodate upto 6 people. The manager Jaddu greeted me and showed me around after which I left Nameri to go to Kaziranga in Assam. I started on my drive to Tezpur crossing Balipara to finally reach at Kaliabor in Assam.

From here I took a left to drive to the National Highway 37 to further reach Jakhalabandha in Assam and from here enter the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park as the highway stretch cuts across the area of Kaziranga in Assam. At first I reached jaklabadha which is another famous bus halt points in Assam and has numerous roadside dhabas that cater to the food requirements of the people travelling across the roads in Assam. I stopped here for tea and snacks as it was about another hours time left to arrive at the Kohora area in Kaziranga in Assam where I would meet my friend Krishna who had made the arrangements for my visit at Kaziranga National Park. At Jakhalabandha I had a quick cup of tea and some nimkis which is a salty snack and then left to Kaziranga in Assam. After crossing the railway signal at Jakhalabandha one can see the various hoarding welcoming you to Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

Various signages speaking about the fauna of Kaziranga are put up courtesy to India’s No. 1 mobile network Reliance Jio and warnings signages to drive slowly can be seen as these roads are also used by the animals while crossing especially during monsoons when rain waters indunate Kaziranga National Park and animals cross the roads to reach higher grounds in search of respite from the rain waters. At first I reached the Burapahar range of Kaziranga and there is a safari range here as well but very rarely used by the tourists yet some tourists prefer to go inside this range to take the off beaten path and visit the pale to get a glimpse of the fauna of Kaziranga and a place away from the touristy crowd. I crossed the place and continued my drive further to Bagori range in Assam. Bagori is a popular safari zone of Kaziranga as the Elephant Safari rides into the park interiors for Indian Nationals are conducted here and so the place has numerous hotels and resorts around. I stopped along the way to enquire about certain accomodation options near the Bagori safari range so that I could send across guests during their tour of Assam. The Elephant Safari rides at Kaziranga happen early in the morning at 5 AM and the next at 6.30 AM and there is no assurance that you can get a chance at the second slot or not.

So if you end up having to go for the 5 AM elephant safari ride at Kaziranga in Assam it makes sense to stay closer to the safari range than to stay at Kohora area that is easily about half and hours drive from Bagori. So on the way to bagori I stopped at the Landmark Woods which is a luxurious 3 star property at Kaziranga. Promoted by the Landmark group of Hotels based out of Guwahati in Assam this place is a fine stay option in Kaziranga. I had to take a right diversion from the highway to go to the place and it was a bumpy road upto the resort as it is not pitched. Once you reach the place a sprawling campus greets you that can accommodate a huge group of guests at Kaziranga in Assam. I enquired about the details of the place at the reception area and checked out the place. Huge rooms greet you at the Landmark woods with modern furnishings and air conditioning, televisions, etc. The place has a multicuisine restaurant cum bar and the behind there is a huge lake where visitors can enjoy boating facilities. There is also a swimming pool area present at the premises. It was nice to see this place and after this I went further towards the entrance of the Bagori safari range of Kaziranga National Park where I was scheduled to me my friend Krishna.

Along the way I saw many cars parked alongside the road and I wondered what was this place. Normally I travelled across these roads in night busses and by the time I would cross Kaziranga in Assam it would be night and I would be fast asleep so I didn’t know about this place and as to what these cars were doing here. I crossed the place and realized that it was a viewpoint of Bagori and people were all gathered here to catch a glimpse of the Rhinoceros species grazing here at Kaziranga National Park in Assam. I parked my car a little ahead and the view of the place intrigued me completely. From the viewpoint I could easily sight around 6 one horned rhinoceros species grazing in the open area. Along with the rhinoceros there were some Asiatic Wild Water Buffaloes, Hog Deers and Sambar Deers grazing as well. It felt so nice to see these animal species grazing freely in the open not worried about the spectators watching them. they were at a distance no doubt but I could view them clearly with my naked eyes. Also there were two local boys renting out binoculars so that the visitors could get a clearer view of the animals and at just INR 20 it was a steal deal.

I took one of the binoculars and got a close up view of the rhinoceros and the other animals as well. One of the boys even offered to help me click pictures on my cell phone using the binoculars and he clicked an amazing picture of the rhinoceros without the use of a DSLR and I got a zoomed picture of the same. I paid him INR 100 as a token of appreciation and he too was overjoyed with my gesture. Next up I drove to the Bagori safari range where Krishna was waiting for me. it was around 1.30 PM and he had two jeep safari slots for his guests today at this range of Kaziranga in Assam. He met me at the entrance and we were meeting after quite some time. He was into organizing Jeep and Elephant safari as well as tours across Assam and other destinations of North East India under his company and when I had told him about my plans of a travel company he encouraged me and assured me of all help needed to guide and organize tours for visitors to Assam and other states of North East India.

The Jeep driver would be showing the visitors around the Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park so we decided to proceed to have our lunch at the Hornbill restaurant in Kaziranga. While coming out of the place I saw the Bonroja Motel that is located just adjacent to the Bagori safari of Kaziranga in Assam. This would be the perfect place to halt if you are planning on an elephant safari ride in Kaziranga National Park because you can just get up and walk towards the entrance of the range to climb on your elephant ride without the inconvenience of travelling in the early mornings. We checked into the reception area of the Bonroja motel and the place seemed nice with the reception desk on one side and the restaurant on the other side with a large area in between. The rooms are on the first floor and this place has 8 deluxe rooms capable of accomodating 24 guests at a time. Rooms are very spacious with air conditioning, televisions, deluxe bathrooms and a balcony area as well. Visitors can also choose the option of non ac rooms as well then the tariff reduces a little. There is also a huge dormitory area downstairs that can accommodate around 20 guests. There is a huge lawn area outside the motel and this place is used for bonfires and for the children to play as well. This is a nice place to stay and the only problem is that it is just adjacent to the highway and the occasional sound of the busy traffic across the highway might be a little of a problem.

After this we went to have our lunch at the Hornbill restaurant near the Kohora range of Kaziranga in Assam. This is a nice ethnic Assamese restaurant located just at the outskirts of the Kohora safari range. Promoted by a local entrepreneur, the Hornbill restaurant serves some real nice ethnic assamese food to its visitors in the form of the traditional Assamese thali and various other meat, fish and vegetarian recipes as well. The owner Mr. Gogoi welcomed us to the place and he immediately asked one of his bouys to attend to us. We placed our order for veg thali and local chicken curry and the boy went ahead to get our order ready. Mr. Gogoi came to us as he knew Krishna and they spoke about Kaziranga and how things have changed here and the inflow of tourists to Assam has increased to huge numbers over the past few years. I spoke to them of my plans and how I wanted to create a company that would focus on many more beautiful destinations of Assam apart from the well known Kaziranga National Park.

Mr. Gogoi too had explored several destinations across Assam and supported my wish to promote the entire state as a global tourism destination. Our lunch arrived soon and the thali was an elaborate feast with various offerings from dal, sabji, mashed potato chutneys, herbs, salad, pickles and of course the chicken curry. The meal turned out to be very delicious and we thanked the owner of the place and left on our drive to the Kaziranga Orchid and Biodiversity park. The largest Orchid Park in Assam and India this place is founded and promoted by the KMSS association under the flagship of their leader Mr. Akhil Gogoi to preserve the various orchid diversities of Assam and North East India. North East India is home to over 800 species of orchids and proper conservation efforts are needed to protect and preserve these species. A unique step was taken towards this effort here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park and today it has earned the name of being the largest orchid park of Assam and India as well. In addition to being home to the various indigenous species of orchids of Assam, the Kaziranga Orchid Park also has a rice museum that has on display various types of rice of Assam and also a bamboo park as well that nurtures and protects the various bamboo species of Assam as well.

This place is spread across a sprawling campus of around 6 acres of land and an ethnic assamese restaurant is also present here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park that serves the biggest and the most elaborate thali meal of Assam with 28 different items and is priced only at INR 160 for a jumbo thali but the items are all vegetarian. Various herbs like spinach, brahmi, etc are used to prepare the sabji here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park. Also there is a cactus garden where one can find various species of cactus plants and a souvenir shop where visitors to the Kaziranga Orchid Park can buy memoirs to carry back home as a remembrance of their visit to Kaziranga in Assam. We went in to explore the park and we had to purchase entry tickets for our visit. The park charges INR 100 per head (Indian Nationals) and INR 500 per head (Foreign Nationals) for their visit to the place. The place has provided a lot of jobs to the locals of the place and hence this form of revenue is necessary to sustain themselves as they do not take any grants from government institutions. We bought our tickets and went on to visit the Kaziranga Orchid Park.

Krishna at first took me to the open stage area that hosts various traditional dance performances of Assam like the Bihu, Mishing dance, bamboo dance, etc. As the performances keep happening regularly throughout the day they are performed at intervals of about an hour each so a fresh show was just about to start and Krishna took me here so that we needn’t wait for another hour or so to watch the next show and instead we could leave to our place of stay at Kaziranga National Park. The show started with a bamboo dance here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park in Assam where local boys and girls performed this traditional dance where the boys hold each ends of the bamboo stick and moved them in a rhythmic manner while the girls hopped across them to the rhythmic beats of the drum and the flute. The girls looked very pretty in their traditional attire and the quick movements on the bamboo made the dance form of Assam very appealing. Next up was the Bihu dance performance of Assam where a young girl wearing the traditional attire of the Muga Mekhela Chador performs beautiful dance movements to the sounds of the Pepa, Dhul, Bahi and Gogona musical instruments of Assam. The girl danced gracefully to the tunes and the audience members too took to the stage to perform the Bihu dance of Assam including a few foreign tourists as well.

Assam is a land of beautiful people and historic traditions and music and bihu performs a soulful part of the legacy of the state. Visitors to Assam are enthralled by the hospitality of its people especially the villages and they blend in to perfection with the local people of Assam. Next up was the performance of the Mishing tribal dance at the Kaziranga Orchid Park. A group of boys and girls all gathered on the stage wearing traditional attire of the Mishing people of Assam and they started performing a unique mishing dance. The Mishings of Assam dominate the Majuli Island and its nearby areas in Assam. As Kaziranga National Park is close to the Majuli Island the place had a fair population of Mishing people and so witnessing their culture is a must during the stay here at Kaziranga National Park. After the dance performances were over for this slot we went ahead to explore the Kaziranga Orchid Park in Assam. As we were near the cactus garden area so we decided to start with this green room first and then continue and walk downwards towards towards the entrance of the park visiting the other places of interest here. The green room has various species of cactus from Assam and other states mostly Sikkim. One of the cactus plants was almost 7 feet tall and each of the plants had their scientific name written alongside here at the Orchid park in Assam.

Next up we visited the souvenir shop area that has available for purchase various traditional food items and certain souvenirs made by the local people all handmade to be carried home by the visitors as a token of remembrance of their visit to Kaziranga National Park in Assam. There were various items like tea, pickles, medicinal herbs dried up and created into a powder form that could be used to treat certain body ailments. There were two sales girls here and they were explaining the contents of each of the packets to the visitors who were eagerly purchasing these products. As we didn’t plan on buying anything we moved on to visit the next attraction here the rice museum. As we were both from Assam we were hardcore rice lovers and although I have tasted around 6 – 7 varieties of rice of Assam I was surprised to see that there were even more varieties of this unique crop that is yielded by the farmers of Assam. The well known varieties that I have tasted are Joha, Aijung, Bora, Mishing, etc. but here I came to know that there are over 40 varieties of rice from Assam to be found. A local man was present and he showed us the various rice varieties and also explained to us the process of producing rice from planting the rice plants to the clearing of the husk and making the final produce ready.

It was nice to witness the details of the prime agricultural crop of Assam and North East India as well. The entire area of North East and Assam depends on rice as their primary food source from which they derive the energy. Next up we visited the display room that illustrated the various orchids of Assam and North East India in the form of beautiful pictures. All the pictures were framed and put up for public viewing here at the Kaziranga Orchid Park in Assam. A person on a wheelchair guides you across this beautiful gallery and his knowledge about the orchid species is amazing. He could tell us a lot about each of the species that appealed to us and he could even tell where these species of orchids could be found. We thanked him for his eagerness to show us around the place and then walked down to visit the handicrafts and handloom gallery. This gallery is just at the entrance of the park on the left hand side while the actual orchid green room is on the right hand side just opposite to this place. Once we entered this place we were greeted with various traditional handloom machines on which local ladies work and weave out the exquisite products of Assam. As mentioned earlier many of the mIshing people are working at this park and so we could see the women folks weaving out the colorful Mishing Gale here on the traditional looms of Assam.

There were around 5 to 6 looms present and the ladies were busy weaving here. Also there were on display various bamboo handicrafts of Assam used in villages like fish traps, boxes, storage containers, etc. These handicrafts of Assam are a unique art that has been passed down across several generations to the people who still practice this art as a source of their livelihood. These bamboo handicrafts of Assam look exquisite and are used by even modern families who use them to decorate their homes. bamboo handicrafts of Assam are in demand the World across and hence the pleasure to see the old handicrafts brought in from various corners of Assam was an interesting sight to behold. After this we visited the orchid green room where various species of orchids of Assam and North East India were on display under controlled environmental conditions. One important is the Kopou flower orchid that is the state flower of Assam as well. A young guide will show you around the place explaining about the species of orchids available at the Kaziranga Orchid park in Assam.

We finished exploring the place and then came out of the park. Just outside as several small shops that sell various souvenirs as well. I could see miniature rhino souvenirs carved out of wood and various other items here as well. After this Krishna took me to his office at the Kohora area of Kaziranga National Park in Assam before we ended the day. His office was located very close to the entrance of the Kohora safari range and is a nice office that organizes various safari bookings and tours across Kaziranga in Assam. He introduced me to his partners and jeep safari owners who work with them to organize successful trips for visitors. Then we walked to the Pelican Dhaba right across the road for tea and also to meet the owner of the place who is one of the reputed businessman of Kaziranga in Assam. Mr. Gogoi was there and he welcomed us and spoke to us over tea. Pelican Dhaba is one of the very good restaurants of Kaziranga and it takes pride in providing the customers with the fresh fish caught for the day. As there are numerous water bodies found around the the area of Kaziranga in Assam these water bodies are home to varieties of fishes. Although fishing is banned inside the forest reserves of Kaziranga villagers fish outside the boundary of the park and get their catch to the local market for selling.

At the pelican dhaba here at Kaziranga in Assam there are some regular fishermen who come here and sell their fish catch everyday and so visitors can be rest assured to find the best available fishes to eat. We finished having our tea here and then went to the local market to buy some fresh fish of Kaziranga at the Kohora market as the place where we would be staying for he night belonged to Krishna’s friend and we would be cooking our dinner over bonfire and also have a small celebration in the evening. As I had not opted an elephant ride and would explore the forest reserve of Kaziranga in Assam only on a jeep safari so I did not have to get up early in the morning that would give me enough time to savour some fine whisky and then enjoy a sumptuous traditional dinner cooked by Krishna and his friend here at Kaziranga in Assam. We bought a nice big Sital fish and some small fishes to be cooked by wrapping them in banana leaves and then heating it over the fire ashes.

After finishing our marketing we headed to the guesthouse where Krishna had booked our stay for the evening. It was located near the Bonhabi Resort behind Krishna’s office and it belonged to one of his friends who had recently started the place called as the Subhalaya Guest House here at Kaziranga in Assam. The owner knew Krishna and he had spoken to him about this place and if possible to send across guests who come to Kaziranga in Assam. He welcomed us to his place and showed us around the place. The place had 3 rooms with twin beds and the room rates were nominal as compared to the other guest houses around Kaziranga area in Assam. At INR 1,500 per night the rooms provided all basic facilities along with a nice attached western bathroom. Food service was not provided here although the other guests could get the food to their rooms where they would be provided with plates to have their food as there is a caretaker boy who would bring along the food to the guests from the Pelican dhaba if visitors asked him to do so.

As we were not the routine guests and the place did not have any other visitors today so the friend had agreed to cook dinner by a bonfire in the lawn area of the guest house. I went to my room to freshen up first as I had a long day of journey and I needed a shower to cleanup before I started to enjoy the rest of the evening. The boys got to getting the things ready by first lighting the fire and preparing the fish for the curry and the small fishes to be roasted in the banana leaf wrap. As the owner’s home is just behind the guest house his family would be cooking dal, sabji and some spicy chutney for us as well. I had a quick bath and then came out to see that the bonfire was ready and the fish cleaned and being fried to be prepared in a curry with mustard paste. The fish although it is very tasty but it has many bones in it and so one has to be very careful while eating it. One way to reduce the effects of the bone is to cut across the flesh of the fish and this reduces the impact of the sharp bones.

During the month of March Assam has a pleasant climate that is warm during the day and cold in the evenings. The weather across Assam remains favorable across the year apart from the month of August and start of September when it is very hot and humid. Although the temperatures do not cross 36 degree celsius but coupled with the humidity one gets a real feel of around 45 degrees celsius during August and first half of September. All the heavy rainfall from the monsoons spread across June and July starts to evaporate and this is what raises the humidity level in Assam during these months. As my visit was during March it was a very favorable climate ideal to visit the National Parks of Assam and enjoy the day’s safari here. The animals too keep roaming around in search of water as some of the water pools dry up due to the prolonged winter season without rains and so it is ideal to go for safari and see the animals who keep exploring the terrain of Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

I joined them and offered my help in the food preparations but the boys were quite skilled and they had taken care of everything already. The fish wrapped in banana leaves was getting steamed that we would be enjoying over our drinks. As I was tired they started the drinks before the fish was ready and the three of us poured ourselves 3 glasses of the Royal Stag whiskey brand to start our evening celebrations. We tried the fried fish pieces along with our whiskey until the time the small fishes was ready and the fish indeed was quite tasty. When you are in Kaziranga and no matter where you are staying here be it a luxurious resort or a small guesthouse you should try the fish recipes here for sure. Fresh fishes is what Kaziranga boasts of and it is for sure will be a culinary delight during your stay here in Assam. The friend even owned his own Jeeps and conducted jeep safari rides inside the forest reserves of Kaziranga in Assam. We spoke to him about collaborating on our tours here at Kaziranga where we would be using his guest house to accommodate small families and hire his jeep for jeep safari rides as well.

He agreed to extend all possible help to me and Krishna to make my new venture successful and this is the best part about the people in the smaller places in Assam where they are friendly and they extend all possible help to make people successful. They are not jealous of others and put in their hard work and accept the returns they get from it. The small fish was ready and they brought it out from the fire and opened up the wrapped banana leaf. A unique fragrance came out of it as it was opened and I could see that the fish along with onions, green chillies, coriander and the turmeric powder all were mixed together to form a wonderful fish dish. The fish bones were almost grounded after the long cooking process so we could chew through the entire fish. At around 9 PM the dinner was ready and the meal was put out in a table in the lawn area where the entire family got together for dinner here at Kaziranga in Assam. The meal was very delicious and the chutney they had prepared was with dry fish and the Bhut Jolokia of Assam that is one of the hottest peppers in the World. The spicyness added to the flavor of the chutney and the other items too were very delicious.

While having the Sital fish I was very careful as I faced an instance earlier when the fish bone had got stuck on my throat and I had a tough time trying to get rid of it. This fish recipe was a wonder and everyone enjoyed the meal. At around 10 PM I returned to my room while Krishna and and the family had a conversation. Tomorrow morning the jeep safari ride was scheduled at 7.30 AM at the eastern range of Kaziranga National Park at Agoratoli in Assam as I wanted to explore this range because I had already covered the Kohora and Bagori ranges during my earlier visits to Kaziranga in Assam with my family many years ago. I retired to bed and set up my alarm to go at 6 AM in the morning. I was up at 6 Am and after freshening up I came outside to see a Jeep already waiting to take Krishna and me to the Agoratoli range of the park. The driver and Krishna were speaking and the friend’s family had arranged for tea and biscuits and bread butter for us so that we could eat something before our safari ride.

The ride would take about 2 hours and so by the time we returned it would be 10 AM and I had to travel to Jorhat in Upper Assam after winding my visit at Kaziranga National Park. We started at 7.15 AM from the guest house to drive to the Agoratoli range of the park that is near Bokakhat in Assam. Itr was about 30 minutes drive to the entrance of this range and we reached at 7.45 AM. The forest check gate had two of the guards posted who verified our documents of entry charges paid by Krishna at the forest office and they allowed us to enter the range with an armed forest guard as Agoratoli is the range known to have a healthy population of the tigers of Kaziranga in Assam. We started on our jeep ride and went on admiring the various bird species we were sighting along our way. In sometime the forest guard suddenly asked the jeep driver to stop the engine and he asked us to maintain pin drop silence. We wondered to what happened and then he pointed his finger in a direction behind and the our surprise we could see a female tiger crossing the road.

It was one of the most rewarding experiences on my tour of the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam and we recorded a video of the animal crossing the road that is available for viewing at the homepage of our website. We thanked the guard for showing us this and he smiled stating that it was his pleasure. We kept exploring to sight various deers, hog deers, asiatic wild water buffaloes, wild boars, jungle fowls, various birds, monitor lizards, wild elephant herd and the pride of Assam – the indian One Horned rhinoceros of Kaziranga National Park. Our safari ended at 9.30 AM and we had come out of the range and it was a wise decision to chose to visit this range for our visit far away from the madding crowd at Kohora and Bagori. The animal sightings were rare and only a few people can get to see so much of fauna in one Jeep ride here at Kaziranga in Assam. Krishna captured some amazing photographs and we thanked the forest guard for accompanying us. After our ride we headed back to our guesthouse where I packed and thanked everyone in Kaziranga and looked forward in working with them soon.

I asked Krishna if he would be free for about an hour or so as I had to visit and checkout some of the Hotels and Resorts at the Kohora area of Kaziranga in Assam. He said he was free and so before the drive to Jorhat we started to visit some of these places so that I could send across the guests at these resorts and hotels at Kaziranga in Assam. We started off with the Bonhabi Resort that is located very near the place we were staying. The Bonhabi resort is an in demand budget resort in the Kohora area of Kaziranga. Individual cottages are present in this resort to suit the travel requirements of the guests here. It is built in a colonial style environment with its classic brick red color on each of the cottage. There is a classic British style dining area here as well with a nice big table and comfortable chairs and adjacent is the reception area and an open large area as well. A nice vibe greets you here at the Bonhabi Resort at Kaziranga in Assam. The cottages are concrete built and has a double bed, televisions, attached western bath, etc. The resort is spread across a huge area and the cottages are all at a distant from each other. We checked out two of these cottages and later visited the reception to speak to the manager who guided us with the tariffs and booking procedures.

Next up we visited the Borgos resort at the Kohora safari range of Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The resort Borgos is the luxurious 4 Star property at Kaziranga National Park favored by all travellers to Kaziranga who seek luxury as a prime choice for their stay here in Assam. A sprawling campus with Executive rooms, a Gym, a Spa, Multicuisine Restaurant, Bar, Lounge, etc. greets you at the Resort Borgos. While entering at the resort there is a huge board that details the tourist track map of Kaziranga. The rooms at the Borgos Resort are of the best standards and has luxurious interiors and an equally delightful bathroom as well. The restaurant is huge and spacious and offers multi cuisine fine dining experience as well. The bar sticks aged wines and premium whiskey along with an array of cocktails as well. We took a stroll around the campus of the Borgos Resort and in the interest of time left the place soon as I had to travel to Jorhat in Assam as well. So we enquired about the tariffs and booking procedure details and Krishna already knew the manager of the Borgos Resort as he has worked with him many times before and so he was aware of the tariffs and booking procedure here. They exchanged their greetings and we went ahead to view the next place at Kohora.

This time we went to a new place that was just about to start to welcome guests and falls under a 3 Star category called as Mandu – the Escape. This is located behind the IORA – the Retreat at Kaziranga in Assam that is one of the most popular resorts in Kaziranga especially among the foreign guests. Spread across a sprawling campus of 50 acres of land and overlooking the Karbi Anglong hills of Assam, Mandu – the Escape will certain be a crowd puller to Kaziranga in Assam. A lush green campus greets you here and when we were there the construction was still going on at the resort. The owner of the place was present there and he knew Krishna as well and welcomed us and showed us around. Along with Deluxe rooms there are Deluxe Swiss tents as well here at Mandu – the Escape. All rooms are filled with King size beds, air conditioning, wine bar and a deluxe bathroom as well. Each of the room is having a balcony and relaxation area from where you can view the entire landscape of the Karbi Anglong hills sipping over a cup of fresh Assam tea. The green tea gardens of Assam are also visible from here. There is a huge open area with a stage where visitors can witness the bihu and other traditional dance performances of Assam that would be scheduled during the evenings here. We spoke to the owner and got the details of when the place would start and the tariffs and booking procedure. It was already 11 AM and I had to rush so after dropping Krishna at his office in Kohora I started on my drive to Jorhat in Upper Assam to my Uncle’s house to visit the other Resorts and Hotels on my next visit to Kaziranga in Assam.

After dropping Krishna at his office I thanked him again for all the arrangements and I paid him my share of the amount due for all the arrangements that he refused but I insisted for him to take it and then I drove further again to Bokakhat. Bokakhat in Assam is another famous bus halt point where the various day busses plying along the routes of Assam halt. This place is renowned for its puri sabji and sweets especially the Bokakhat peda. This place was one of my dad’s favorite places to stop to eat during our travel across Assam during the summer and winter breaks from school when we used to drive all the way from Tipong in Upper Assam to Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Nagaon and finally reach Guwahati and later return back. He ensured to stop at Bokakhat in Assam to have the flavorful puri sabji and peda at one of the famous marwari hotel here. The unique thing about the puri dough made here is that it is made with a red atta and is so soft to bite and the sabji is an assorted one with the main ingredient being potatoes and it is served with a green chilly chutney on banana leaves and the entire natural taste was amazing and fresh. No wonder the owners of this place have been in business over the past so many decades with the simple business concept of serving hot and hygienic and delicious puri sabji and pedas only with other sweets and tea.

So I stopped near the famous Marwari hotel here at Bokakhat in Assam to savour some of the hot puris as I had a very early breakfast and lunch would be a little late as I would be exploring certain places along the way before arriving at Jorhat. The same ambience greeted me here and although I was visiting the place after so many years the quality of the food didn’t change. The puri sabji was hot and served on the banana leaf along with the spicy green chutney served on the signature banana leaf. They also served a homemade mango pickle along with the puri and it was so very delicious. I ordered tea as well and as I am not a sweet lover but still I couldn’t resist the temptation to try the peda here. I even packed a box of these sweets to carry to my Uncle’s home at Jorhat in Assam. I started my drive further to go to Numaligarh from Bokakhat in Assam. Numaligarh is a quaint town area of Assam which is famous for the Numaligarh Refinery Ltd. making it an industrial town of Assam.

But before its setup in 2001 the place used to be completely covered with forests and paddy lands and the road further would lead to Golaghat in Assam. I remember this as my mother’s ancestral home is in Golaghat and we used to go via this route on our journey from my father’s home at Nagaon to Golaghat. But i wouldn’t be going deeper into the area as I would take the straight highway to Jorhat just before making a stop here to visit the remains of the Numaligarh fort that was built by Ahom King Suhungmung when he started living here with a Kachari princess named ‘Numali’ and built a ‘Garh’ fort area around the place where they lived. However today only the ruins of this fort are present that can be viewed from the highway. I parked my car along the road and went in to checkout the remains if anything could be properly seen here at Numaligarh in Assam. I could get the fair idea that this place where I was standing on was a kind of a fort itself as the structure had high walls from the ground and it looked somewhat like an enclosure. These days in between this fort structure there is a local school and a playground.

Just adjacent to the area of the fort there is the Numaligarh market of Assam where every Sunday a huge market is held with various local traders bridging in their produce to be sold here. As there was nothing much to see I moved on to the next place at Numaligarh the Deopahar archeological site. The Deopahar also referred to as the Hill of the God (Deo meaning God and pahar meaning a Hill) is a prominent tourist spot among the people of Assam that falls in the Deopani Reserve Forest area that is a prominent Elephant corridor in Assam. Wild Elephants from the forest reserves of Kaziranga and Deopahar in Assam use this corridor to migrate to the Karbi Anglong hills in search of food and shelter. There is a holy tree here called as the False Hemp tree that is a heritage tree that is used every year by the giant wild migratory bees who travel across the foothills of the himalayas to build their hives here during the months of October through January. Atop the hillock of Deopani there is an ancient stone temple that was constructed during 7th to 9th century and is a Shiva temple.

I didn’t spend much time here and started on my drive to continue to Dergaon in Assam. At Dergaon I stopped for lunch at the Baba Hotel here. This place was introduced to me by my brother when he was studying at the Kaziranga University near Jorhat in Assam. He along with his groups of friends used to come here to enjoy a day off from his hostel mess food and savor on some hot pork recipes here at the Baba Hotel. I liked the pork sticks that they prepare here and so I decided to try the vegetarian thali and the pork stick here. Inside the place there is an air conditioned bar as well and before I knew the place was already filled with people sipping in cold beer here. I just ordered lunch and soon the food arrived. The thali was an assortment of the traditional meal of Assam with rice, dal, various sabjis, mashed pitikas, salad, chutneys, etc. Then came along the pork stick with a mix of fat and meat and the presentation was very nice. As mentioned earlier food is an integral part of the lifestyle of the people of Assam and people here take all measures to prepare an elaborate meal. Hotels and restaurants too offer various items in small quantities to appeal to their customers.

The meat was quite tender and the fats were cooked to perfection. No wonder this place attracts a lot of customers due to the food presentation and quality. I finished my meal and after clearing my bill I set out on my drive to Jorhat in Assam. The roads are not very good now and I had to drive carefully avoiding the occasional pot holes that greeted me along the way. I crossed the Assam police training institute at Dergaon and then a green cover of the lush tea gardens of Assam greeted me along the way. The parts of Upper Assam are known for the tea plantations and as Assam in the highest producer of tea in the World the area of Upper Assam plays a major contribution of these numbers. I could see the construction of the four way lane here in progress and this upon completion will give a major boost to the road infrastructure of Assam leading to trade flourishment. The beautiful blue sky cover along with the backdrop of the Assamese songs playing in my car ensured that I enjoyed every moment of my drive along the beautiful state of Assam. I finally reached the Kaziranga University campus near Jorhat and to its right was the memorial of the founder of the Ahom Kingdom King Swargadeo Sukapha and this place is called the Sukapha Samannay Kshetra.

An initiative of the Govt. of Assam this place aims to preserve the relics of the great Ahom Kingdom of Assam who ruled for over 500 years and did not allow the mighty Mughals to capture Assam. Sukapha was the Ahom King who founded this kingdom after migrating from Mon Mao in China during the 12th century. The Ahoms were brave and fearless people of Assam who used war tactics that were unheard of during their time thereby being successful in keeping invading armies away from Assam. This huge museum and tourist place at Jorhat in Assam plans to keep the legacy of the Ahom kingdom of Assam alive. I parked my car and entered the place crossing a huge gate at the entrance here. It is a sprawling campus area with a library, museum, guest houses, etc. The first thing we get to see here is the huge statue of King Sukapha at the center of the area here. King can be seen seated on a throne and the statue has been designed intricately and it looks life like. Variou tourists were here admiring the grandeur of this statue.

Then I explored the museum area here that had various relics from the time of the Ahom kingdom of Assam. There was a gallery depicting the famous Saraighat Battle that we had seen earlier near Guwahati in Assam at the Saraighat War Memorial. There are huge lawn areas and walking around the place made me digest the entire food I had. I bid farewell to this place to drive to the Kaziranga Golf Resort and the Burra Sahib Bungalow at Jorhat in Assam. This is a luxurious place of stay and I thought of bringing my guests here at the Burra Sahib Bungalow for visitors who wanted to enjoy the colonial environment stay that existed during the British Raj in Assam. The Burra Sahib Bungalow is a luxurious place to stay surrounded by the lush tea gardens and a huge golf course. This place is used a retreat by the doctors of Jorhat who are staying in Jorhat as a weekend retreat as well. After exploring the Kaziranga Golf Resort I finally continued my drive to go to my uncle;;s home in Jorhat, I arrived at 6 PM thereby winding another wonderful day of exploring Assam. My aunt welcomed me to their home as my uncle was still at his chamber as he was one of the prominent doctors of Jorhat.

I went in and my aunt offered me a cup of tea and asked me to check into my room upstairs as she had to go a social event at her friends house and she would be back by evening and then we would talk further. She asked me to come along but I was tired and didn’t want to go along and I excused myself. I went to my room for a shower and by the time I was done my uncle arrived and he called me downstairs to discuss how were things. We spoke for sometime and then my aunt came back home. Another round of tea followed and my aunt told me that they were having a ‘Naam’ or prayer session at the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar near Jorhat in Assam the next day and she asked me to come along to visit the place and also help her with attending to the people who will be present there. I had always heard of this place and the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar was built during the time of Sri Madhava Deva and it holds the record of having the oldest burning oil lamp in the World. I was eager to visit the place and as I would be staying for a couple of days in Jorhat I agreed to visit the place which I had planned to visit on my drive from Jorhat to Sivasagar in Assam. Anyways I had the day off tomorrow and was intending to explore the town of Jorhat before continuing on my journey to the Largest river in the World at Majuli in Assam from Jorhat where I was planning to setup a Camp to cater to travellers from across the World who come here. It was already 8.30 PM and my aunt wanted to cook dinner now but I was tired so I asked to order some food from a dine out restaurant. So I ordered for a nice meal of Pizzas and momos for us as all these days I was having various traditional meals and so thought for a change. After dinner we spoke for sometime and later retired to bed.

The next morning I was up and decided to visit the area around the Jorhat Agricultural University as this place has a beautiful campus where I knew a friend who was working as an assistant professor so I went to his home at Jorhat in Assam. It was a sunday so it was an offday for him and we were scheduled to leave to the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar at 9.30 AM so I had time in hands. I reached at 7.30 AM to his place and he welcomed me to his home in the beautiful Agricultural University campus at Jorhat in Assam. He was a bachelor and so his place of stat was not very well organized. He is a native of Dibrugarh and studied with me during my Standard XI and XII at Guwahati in Assam. Today he is an assistant professor guiding students about the various processes of sustainable farming. My friend prepared tea and we spoke about Jorhat and the fast developments that was taking place in this town. Jorhat too is a knowledge town of Assam as it is home to various educational institutes like Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat Medical College, North East Institute of Science and Technology, Kaziranga University, National Institute of Design, JB College, etc. Jorhat has a huge number of specialist doctors of Assam as well and this is evident from the numerous Nursing homes and Private Hospitals that are around this area of the town. After speaking for sometime I took his leave and got ready to go to the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar as well.

My uncle and aunt along with other family members and distant relatives had all gathered and they were preparing the things that had to be carried to the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar in Assam. Everyone was dressed in nice white mekhela Chadors and the men wore Dhoti and kurtas and I was the only odd one out wearing my signature black t shirt and blue jeans. Everyone was ready to have breakfast and today it would be a traditional assamese breakfast of Sira, Doi, Bora sawl, etc. I tried some of it but decided to avoid it as it was very sweet and I wanted to have roti and sabji on the way to the Namghar near Jorhat in Assam. I took my car along with me and it was stuffed with various offerings that y aunt was about to give at the Namghar. After crossing Jorhat we had to drive on the highway towards Teok and take a left diversion to the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar in Assam. I made a quick stop here as I had to eat breakfast and there was a small tea shop here. I saw the owner preparing rotis and my luck favored me today as I wanted to eat roti and sabji was a mix of vegetables and boiled peas. The food tasted delicious and I had it quickly as the other guests were all reaching the Namghar. It took me another ten minutes to reach the place and once I reached the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar the place was filled with devotees who had come here some to offer their prayers while some of them had come to attend the rituals with our family.

The Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar has a unique story behind its formation. It so happened that Sri Madhav Dev during his days of preaching and spreading awareness of the Neo Vaishnavite culture of Assam stumbled upon this place where he took shelter at the home of an old lady. The old lady was poor and she offered the saint guru a meal of rice and dhekia xaak (a very rich nutrient filled herb of Assam but often considered as a poor man’s food). She was utterly embarrassed as she did not have money to buy and prepare an elaborate meal to this holy guru and a already mentioned in the Assamese culture treating guests to a sumptuous meal is of prime importance. But Madhava Dev enjoyed the meal and he thanked the old lady and decided to light a lamp in her home and entrusted the responsibility to the lady of the lamp and to keep it burning. When the locals came to know the next day that the saint guru had visited the old lady’s house they felt blessed and on hearing that the guru had lit a lamp and requested it to burn continuously the entire members of the village in Assam decided to take up the responsibility and they took turns to fill the lamp with oil so that it never stopped burning. Later on the people of this village in Assam built a namghar here when one of the bhakats had in a dream that a piece of Sal tree trunk that was flowing against the nearby river current landed up at this place and the tree trunk was used as a base of the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar in Assam. Today the earthen lamp here holds the Limca Book of Record of being the oldest burning oil lamp in the World.

I started unloading the goods from my car and some local people helped me to carry the things inside the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar. The Namghar is spread across a huge area and the entrance gate has a huge stone figures of two elephants. At the entrance of the main Namghar in Assam there are the sculptures of two male monks performing the Sattriya Nritya dance for of Assam as well. Across the walls of the entrance hall there are many exquisite paintings of the life of Lord Krishna reminding me of the walls of the Namghar of the Barpeta Satra in Assam. All of my family members and guests gathered at the main prayer hall of the Namghar and the Bhakats took the offerings we had bought and they started their prayers. I was interested in looking at the oldest burning oil lamp in the World here at the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar in Assam so I asked a Bhakat if I could see it. He happily obliged and led me into the main Namghar premise where I could finally witness this one of a king oil lamp in person. The oil lamp was indeed big in size and over the hundred years of it burning continuously it had turned completely black.

I guess it was earlier a smaller size lamp when it was lit my Madhav Deva but gradually it was replaced by a larger one (I am not sure about this and it is just my theory as I don’t think the Saint guru at first lit a big huge lamp but it might be the same one as well). The main thing was that the fire in the lamp was burning continuously since the day it was lit. I thanked the Bhakat for showing me the lamp and it was honor to be a part of such ancient history of Assam today. The rituals began and everyone started singing the traditional ‘Naam’ of Assam. The occasion of this ritual today was that my aunt had lit a lamp here seeking for a wish and as that wish was fulfilled so this was a kind of thank you to the Lord for listening and granting her wish true. The male Bhakats were chanting the prayers and I took time to explore the Namghar premises and to interact with the local people who told me various other interesting facts associated with the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar in Assam.

It was afternoon by the time the prayers ended and people sat down to eat the offering of all the sweet items and the Khichdi that was prepared at the Namghar. After thanking everyone we finally bid goodbye to the Namghar to head back to Jorhat. I took time off to visit the Lachit Borphukan Maidam near Jorhat in Assam while my family members headed back home. A left diversion from the road leads to this ancient ancestral home of the legendary Ahom General of Assam Lachit Borphukan. Lachit Borphukan was a short and yet very brave commander who disliked negligence towards the service of the patriotism to his motherland that was Assam. Once during the Battle of Saraighat he found his own uncle was doing negligence towards his task on protecting Assam and when Lachit found out he confronted his uncle who came out with excuses as to why to work was not done. The brave general was so furious at his uncle that he took out his sword and beheaded his uncle for his grave negligence chanting the words ‘Dekhot ke Mumai Dangor Nohoi’ that translates to ‘My Uncle is not greater than my Motherland’.

Under his expert supervision the Battle of Saraighat was fought and the Ahoms successfully defeated the much larger Mughal army who had come to conquer Assam. So much is Lachit’s bravery respected across India that the best cadet from the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune receives the Lachit Borphukan award. And today was my eventful day of being a part of this rich history of Assam as I would be visiting this brave commander’s ancestral home. I reached the Lachit Borphukan maidam and I myself being a part of the legacy of Ahoms felt a sense of pride and elation once I reached here. But to my surprise the place was not at all maintained properly. At the entrance there was a heap of cow dung as no one had cleaned the place. I looked around but the gate was locked and I went to the nearby house to enquire about the key to the place. A young boy came out and he brought the keys to the place. I asked him as to why the place was so dirty and he informed me that there was no one to take care of the place as rarely people came here and so the place was not well maintained. I felt bad at the negligence of the people towards such a brave warrior of Assam and hoped the government officials looked into this as soon as possible. Anyways I went in to explore the Lachit Maidam at Jorhat in Assam.

A huge lawn area greets you at the Lachit Borphukan Maidam and located just at the center of the lawn is a huge statue of the great warrior of Assam present and I was told that this statute was donated here by my aunt’s mother which was a sense of pride for me as our family had played an integral role in preserving the legacy of the great Ahom warrior and our Ahom lineage as well. The lawn area was well maintained and the only thing that didn’t appeal to me was the dirt at the entrance of the place. Then on the right hand side there is a big house and its built in an ancient Ahom style architecture. This was the ancestral home of Lachit Borphukan and the interiors have been now transformed into a museum that preserves various ancient relics from Lachit’s ancestral home and the Ahom kingdom as well. But to my utter disappointment the museum was completely dark and as the room was kind of closed there was no sunlight falling properly in as well. The boy told me that the display lights had gone out quite a few months back and no one had taken any steps to replace them. I felt a rage inside me as to how some departments are there in the system that do not know how to function and cant even play a simple role of doing their jobs properly.

I thought in my mind to bring this to the notice of the Dept. of Tourism (Govt. of Assam) when I reached back to Guwahati. I could get a glimpse into some of the artefacts with the mobile light and I realized that it was not worth examining these ancient relics in this manner and made up my mind to come back again to the Lachit Maidam after a few months. So I finally wound up my visit at the Lachit Borphukan Maidam at Jorhat in Assam and I thanked the boy and paid him some money as a token of gratitude for helping me look around this ancient place and I started on my drive to Horhat to my uncle’s house. It was a tough day for me today as I was running on a strict vegetarian diet and I decided to feast on some meat before heading back to my uncle’s house who would have vegetarian food in the evening as well as today was a day of prayers. I didn’t want to hurt their sentiments by asking them to cook or order non veg food especially for me so I decided to make a quick stop at the market area of Jorhat near baruah Chariali area here and I knew of a nice Chinese food cart that served some real good chicken and pork recipes.

I used to visit this place during my visits to Jorhat in Assam earlier with my family and also during my visits to majuli in Assam. It is a quaint corner side place and is a mobile cart that is setup every evening near the Baruah Chariali point area of Jorhat. While one guy takes the orders, the second processes them and the third collects the money and cleans the plates. they have a unique no plastic environment where they make use of paper plates and bamboo sticks as forks for the guests. The momos are the ba had with hands and the chutney served along with the chicken and pork momos is very spicy and delicious. They were just opening up the place when I reached and the moms were steaming and the other items were being prepared. It would take about 30 minutes for the things to get ready and in the meantime I decided to take my car to a garage as there was a strange noise when I pressed the brakes. I realized that the brake pads were damaged and so I decided to get them checked as there was still a long drive ahead of me as I had to visit Majuli Island in Assam and then continue driving to Sivasagar and finally to Margherita in Assam.

Though I had taken my car for a service about 4 months back but due to a lot of travel exploring Assam I guess a sort of greasing on the wheels and oil check was necessary. So I went to the nearby garage at Jorhat in Assam., The place was empty to my luck and so the boy got to task immediately removing the car wheels and then checking the brakes. He replaced the brake shoe and then grease the wheels points. He also took a look at the oil condition of the car and topped up the brake fluids and the engine coolant. Otherwise he told me the car was running fine. It is a small Hyundai Eon I was driving and keeping in mind the road conditions of Assam especially in the outskirts of Guwahati I had to do a check on the car plus it had driven over 45,000 km and periodic maintenance was necessary. After this I went back to the chinese place here at Jorhat in Assam. My aunt called me to check and asked me how long I would take to return and thankfully I had the excuse of getting my car fixed and did not have to lie to her about my food plans. I ordered for chicken momos and a nice chunk of pork barbecue with spicy sauce and the group got to work with my order. They have a small grill and they put up the pre boiled meat mixed with a marinade and then grill the meat.

This helps to get rid of the germs of the pork meat with boiling and also ensures the meat and the skin is completely cooked. The moms were served first and they have a unique way of serving the momos with mayonnaise, a spicy red chutney , hot chicken soup and mix vegetable salad that contains mostly carrot shreds, cucumber shreds and cabbage shreds. And they provide six juicy chicken filled dimsums all for INR 50 and it is one of the best momos I have ever had across Assam apart from a few other places in Guwahati but the accompaniments of the salad is not to be found anywhere. The soup was hot and mixed with coriander and some herbs and pepper that tasted so well in the cold weather of Assam. The Barbecue pork arrived soon and it was a fairly sized chunk of a mix of meat and fat. The boiling of the meat helped a lot and the meat was so tender that when I used the bamboo fork to eat it the meat almost melted in my mouth. The seasonings were of oregano and chilli flakes and a spicy momos chutney to go along as well. The meat was so tasty that I ended up ordering another piece of the barbecue meat. I finished my meal and thanked the boys on this unique concept of cart food at jorhat in Assam and later headed on my drive to my uncle’s home to reach at 7 PM.

The next morning my uncle madea plan to visit Golaghat in Assam that is his (and my mother’s as well) ancestral home. I had various trips to Golaghat in Assam during my early childhood when as mentioned earlier we used to travel to spend our summer and winter breaks from school. It was a time when the entire mother’s side of my family used to get together at Golaghat and spend our days with my grandfather and grandmother and enjoy the pleasant weather and the laid back life of Golaghat. We used to have a fun time here when all we cousins got together and payed around the area of the house enjoyed a game of cricket, went for fishing and catching crabs, travel to a river bank for picnic, eat chat and samosa at the bihari vendor’s outlet, buy a plate of ghugni and fuska at the market, spend time shopping at the Doss and Co. – the first supermarket of Assam established during the British Raj in 1930 and much more. I do wanted to revisit these moments of my childhood at golaghat and thankfully my uncle brought about the topic for us to visit Golaghat.

Our ancestral home in Golaghat is still present and after my grandparent’s death in 2001 and as our visits to Golaghat declined our family had decided to put the place up on rent. These days a Marwari family stays here at our ancestral home and my uncle as he had much more memories than me at Golaghat in Assam we decided to visit the place and relive our happy moments here. And as I had never visited Golaghat as a tourist my uncle told me that Golaghat was one of the first districts setup in Assam when the British took over and hence this place holds an important part in the history of the British Raj in Assam and there are many important landmarks here in Golaghat that were first setup in Assam like the postal/mail service and the telecommunications system. Both these services were setup first in Assam in the year 1876 at Golaghat by the British. Some of the oldest working groups of Assam like the Assam Sahitya Sabha, the Golaghat Amateur Theatre Society, the Golaghat Bar Association were setup here at Golaghat in Assam.

The names of such historic associations of Assam intrigued my interest muich more and my uncle continued to tell me about the Golaghat British Cemetery (1876), Bezbaruah Higher Secondary School (1886), Golaghat Baptist Church – the oldest in Assam (1898) and the first Departmental Store of Assam Doss and Co. (1930) all made me more excited to visit Golaghat in Assam. byt the time we got ready and started on our drive to Golaghat it was around 8.30 AM. My uncle took his cat along and a driver would drive us today. It would be a break for me as well after continuous driving for so many days across Assam. Today I would simply sit back and enjoy the beautiful countryside of Assam. The drive from Jorhat to Golaghat would take about an hour and a half and there are two routes to reach Golaghat in Assam from Jorhat. One road is via Dergaon and then from Dergaon we had to approach a left and the other route in via Dholajan after crossing the Indian Air Force base in Jorhat. I have been through the Dergaon route many number of times sand naver accessed the other route and also as I had taken the route from Dergaon in Assam this time while coming to Jorhat I asked the driver to take us along the route via Dholajan. We crossed the Airforce Station in Jorhat and shortly the countryside of Assam greeted us filled with paddy fields and the occasional river banks and water ponds and lakes.

As it was during winter the water levels in the ponds and rivers had reduced but during the monsoons of Assam as I have seen in the news, these places in Assam get completely submerged in waters as the Dhansiri river starts to overflow and the incessant rains create a havoc causing much damage to the infrastructure and loss of human and animal lives. Floods in Assam have been a major problem and a source of environmental catastrophe every year. Gradually the lush tea gardens of Assam greeted us and the entire Golaghat region is known to produce some of the finest blends of Assam tea. Golaghat is the earliest tea urban centers in Assam as well. Golaghat played an important role in the tea industry of Assam. This place is home to the North Eastern Tea Association and the small tea growers movement started in Golaghat. Across Assam, Golaghat today ahgd the third highest number of tea growers and the third highest number of Bought Leaf Factories. So famous and fresh is the tea of Golaghat that it is often said that one can’t make a bad cup of tea at the entire Golaghat district of Assam.

My uncle was taking pride today in speaking about his place of birth and the part of his life where he spent on his education and becoming one of the prominent doctors of Golaghat and Jorhat districts of Assam, He started his career at the civil hospital in Golaghat as a resident doctor serving under the Govt. of Assam and gradually rose in position to retire as the Director of Health services if Jorthat district in Assam. he served across Golaghat, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Majuli districts of Assam. After driving for about an hour and half we finally entered the outskirts of Golaghat town. As we wouldn’t be making a long stop at my uncle’s ancestral home just to see how the family that was staying on rent were facing their time here and did not have any complains. So we decided to make a few stops at the places if interest at Golaghat in Assam. We would start by exploring the Golaghat British Cemetery and then visiting the Doss and Co. Departmental store at the place. Located at the heart of the city, the Golaghat British Cemetery is one of the oldest burial grounds of Assam dating back to the pre independence era and had burials of around 28 British officers of the tea estates and their families. The place is well maintained by the Golaghat Municipal council and is open for public viewing. Overlooking the buildings of the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd. at Golaghat this cemetery contains burials of the famous british officers like John Butler and John Gordon McIntosh. Mr. Butler was one of the the British Officer who led the expeditions to the Naga and manipur hills while Mr. McIntosh was the manager of the Bukhai Tea Estate in Assam.

Next up we explored the Doss and Co. Departmental Store. All these years when I visited the place I never knew the real story behind this place and always wondered why the products were placed differently than the other stores. And during that time in the 1990’s the concept of departmental stores was not popular in Assam and the very fact that we could find all the products for day to day needs always intrigued me. After knowing the fact that this was the first Departmental Store of Assam, my idea of the place changed completely and now I was not walking into any Departmental Store Today and instead I would be a part of one of an integral history of Assam. The Doss and Co. at Golaghat stores everything from groceries, electronics, cosmetics, wines, apparels, etc. Although the place is not very well organized unlike the new malls of these days but yet to be a part of this historic store one can always ignore such small things. The first attraction is the building that is over 120 years old and is still standing tall even today. The building has a unique rustic charm to it and speaks of the British grandeur of architecture. It resembles many of the old malls we see in documentaries in England and even some in the USA. It has a triangular shape where the entrance is across a narrow opening ang gradually the wall widens thereby allowing the roads to cross across the building reminding me of the Hard Rock Cafe in Bangalore. My aunt purchased some groceries from the place and after exploring a little more we left the Doss and Co. to head on to the next place.

We explored the market area of Golaghat next and it reminded me of the various times we used to explore around the place visiting one famous store that was owned by a Punjabi boy and he was unique because he spoke fluent assamese. his vocabulary was much better then me and even though I had studied assamese a a major language in my school there were certain terms and phrases he used during conversation that even I couldn’t figure out. This shop was known for various imported electronics goods and during the earlier times when the digital age had no come into adaptation much we used to love going to this shop and check out the latest remote controlled toys and robots during our time. Today his shop has become double the size and he caters to various electronic goods like mobiles, tablets, laptops, etc. in addition to the modern age electronic toys. It was about noon and my uncle took us to his ancestral home as the tenant who runs a hardware retail shop comes back home to have lunch and we could get a chance to visit the house as well as meet him.

We also had an invitation at one of my Uncle’s doctor friend’s house for lunch. We met this other doctor at the Doss and Co. and he used to be a college friend of my uncle when they had studied together at the Assam Medical college at Dibrugarh in Assam. They were meeting after a long time and their greeting was so emphatic. The other doctor refused to let us leave from Golaghat without us visiting his house and having lunch at his place near my home at Amolapatty area in Golaghat. My uncle had no choice but to accept his invitation and his wife was one of my aunt’s friend as well. My uncle had known that people would keep us inviting to their homes if they had known of our visit to Golaghat so he tried to keep our visit low profile without informing anyone because he did not want to trouble them with all preparations for lunch and stuff but mostly his friend in person he couldn’t refuse. After finishing our visit at the ancestral home at Golaghat in Assam we went to my uncle’s friend’s place for lunch. The doctor’s family welcomed us and we got to speaking as the two families were meeting after a long time. I was sure I would get bored so I took the car to visit the place nearby reminding of my days here when I used to come to meet my cousins at Golaghat.

I visited a very old movie theatre campus that is now closed and as I used to spend my evenings here with my cousins it brought back a moment of nostalgia in my mind. There was Namghar here as well and I remember my family often visiting this place to hold certain family functions when they used to offer prayers here and pay respects to a few holy Bhakats as well. It was already lunch time and before my aunt called em I decided to go back. When I reached the doctor’s home I could see the place filled with other cars as well. To celebrate my uncle’s visit the doctor had called upon some other families as well for lunch and all of them were doctors from other parts of Assam who had now settled in Golaghat after retirement and they knew my uncle as well. I went into get introduced to the other guests as well. As the notice was short so the food had to be ordered from a restaurant itself as there were many guests and only the mutton curry was prepared at home. The doctor’s wife was telling us that she wanted to prepare the lunch all at home but due to the short notice it couldn’t have been possible. The food was very nice and even though it was ordered from a restaurant it was a traditional Assamese meal itself and nothing very oily and spicy and filled with artificial colors. We enjoyed our meal followed by dessert and about late afternoon started on our drive to Jorhat in Assam.

This time we took the route from Dergaon and it was a very beautiful road across the countryside of Assam. The lush green paddy fields were a delight to watch and also the tea gardens of Assam as well. I used to remember my mother referring to the road as a very lazy road as it kept going on and on and we used to get bored on our drive from Dibrugarh to Golaghat in Assam. But now it seemed so beautiful as rarely in a city one gets to see such lush green views. We reached Dergaon soon and we stopped here to have tea at a small hotel. We ordered tea and some snacks and after this we started on our drive back to Jorhat to arrive by evening thereby ending our day of exploring the historic town of Golaghat in Assam.

Today I was all set to explore the largest River Island in the World of Majuli here in Assam. Nestled in the Brahmaputra river Majuli is known as the Neovaishnavite hub of Assam where the holy saint Srimanta Shankardeva established the Satras and preached the cult of vaishnavism of Assam. My motive of this visit was to explore the island and also survey a place where i was invited by one of the local person of Majuli to setup a camp. The person was none other than Mr. Danny Gam the founder of the first homestay at Majuli – the La maison De Ananda in association with two french architects. There was a time when tourism across Majuli was becoming popular gradually as with the advent of google and people from across the World were visiting various places exploring the traditions and culture of the place. Assam too was becoming increasingly popular in the tourist circuit of India and people were already visiting Kaziranga National Park in Assam and they were also coming to explore the mysteries of Majuli Island. During that time accomodation options in majuli were limited and the guests had to settle themselves in the dorms of the Satras present in the island and even though the places were nominally priced but were not very comfortable.

This was when Mr Danny Gam realized the potential of developing a comfortable homestay in traditional Mishing architecture of Assam and as the idea was gained with the discussion with the two french guests he decided to give it a name combined in french and assamese and hence called the place as the La Maison De Ananda meaning the house of happiness. The gamble paid off and this place started to see hundreds of visitors every year. The entire credited of promoting tourism in majuli is accredited to Mr. Danny Gam who has helped others as well to setup many more accommodations across the island as well in Assam. I was honored to meet him in Guwahati once and that time he had discussed a plan of starting a camp dedicated to all the backpackers who come to Majuli in Assam and look out for decent and yet competitively priced accommodation as they like to travel on a budget. Our initial plan was to setup a camp with a mix of tents and basic bamboo cottages to cater to the needs of such travellers. and I was here in majuli to explore the possibilities of setting up a camp here and do a site survey. I had also meet up with some locals of Majuli at Mr Gam’s place in Guwahati and we turned out to be good friends and they were also inviting me over to visit their village at Majuli in Assam.

So I was all set today to go to Majuli from Jorhat. I was not sure whether I would be returning back to Jorhat today or I would need to stay in Majuli for a day to explore the island and do the site survey as well so I decided to pack along some clothes as well. I spoke to my friend Mr. Rupam Regon who guided me the complete way to get to Majuli from Jorhat in Assam. I did not plan on taking my car as this was the first time I would be crossing the Brahmaputra river in Assam via a ferry boat and I was not confident as to whether I could load my car onto a ferry boat or not. So I decided to make use of public transport to go to Majuli. I had to take a shared auto from near the Jorhat Medical College to get ot the old bus stand area at Jorhat in Assam. the fare was a nominal INR 10 per person for this ride and one auto could accommodate upto 8 people. In short time I reached the ld bus station and here I stopped to have breakfast. I spotted a small tea shop and puri stall here and went in for the popular Indian breakfast of Puri with aloo sabji and fresh tea. Then I caught another shared Tata magic vehicle to goto the Neemate Ghat where i would be catching my ferry boat to embark on my journey to Majuli.

Majuli is not connected to the rest of Assam via abridge from this side of the state but at the southern side towards Dhemaji and Dhakuakhana there is a bridge that connects this river island to the other parts of Assam as the width of the Brahmaputra is lesser on that side. This side a bridge has been proposed to ease connectivity between Jorhat and Majuli but yet it is long since this would be completed in construction. The sharted magic vehicle was waiting for the passengers to board and we were to catch the 9.30 M ferry so the driver was trying to fill in the seats fast. It would be a 30 minute ride from the old bus stand in Jorhat to travel to Neemati Ghat in Assam and the roads are narrow but proper to reach the place. The shared vehicle got completely packed and we gradually started on our drive. Beautiful natural landscapes and a typical village environment of Assam greets you once you cross Jorhat heading towards Neemati Ghat.

We reached Neemati Ghat at around 9.20 AM and the ferry was already boarding. The people were loading their cars on to the ferry boat. There are 3 options of ferry boat services to majuli in Assam from neemati Ghat – one of a Govt. operated Ro-Ro Boat, another a Govt. operated large ferry bessel and the smaller privately operated ferry boats. The Ro-Ro is a recently introduced big ferry vessel that can accommodate around 12 cars and medium sized vehicles along with passengers, the Govt. operated boat on the other hand can accomodate 6 medium vehicles and bikes along with passengers while the third privately operated smaller ferry boats can accommodate 3 cars and bikes and passengers. The cost per person is INR 15 while for bikes one has to pay INR 40 per bike and for cars the rate is INR 702 to cross the Brahmaputra to reach Majuli Island. I was lucky as I didn’t bring my car as I would save INR 1400 on transportation costs. I had to travel to the Kamalabari Ghat from Neemati so there are two boarding points nearby to each other here in Assam.

I purchased my tickets and I would be travelling to Majuli in the second option that was a govt. operated ferry. Already 5 cars were loaded on the ferry and we were waiting to start on the journey. While I was waiting at the deck I saw here the most luxurious river cruise service of Assam – the M V Mahabaahu. Operated in a public private venture the M V Mahabaahu is one of the prime attractions in the river cruise tourism of Assam. This luxury cruise starts the journey from Guwahati in assam where tourists board the vessel after exploring the Kamakhya Temple and then they flow downstream on the Brahmaputra river visiting the iconic destinations of Assam and halting at Kaziranga national park for their safari rides and then exploring Majuli Island to finish the journey exploring Sivasagar in Assam. However luxury comkes at a price and tickets on this river cruise are quite expensive starting from INR 35,000 per person per day. The huge vessel was a pleasure to watch and our smaller boat started as well. The journey to Kamalabari ghat at Majuli in Assam is a downstream ride and hence takes lesser time when compared to the return journey back to Neemati as it is an upstream ride on the Brahmaputra river.

The beautiful sky horizon gets visible once we start riding on the Brahmaputra river of Assam and a cool breeze keeps blowing across the river. Inside the ferry there is a small shop that sells tea and snacks and I got myself a cup of black tea and a packet of bhujia to savor while I admired the natural beauty around. It is hard to believe that the river waters that are so calm now becomes so very fierce in the monsoons of Assam and causes heavy damage to both life and property. Majuli was once a very big island but continuous erosion along the river banks has now shrunk this island quite a lot. I could hear the people say that the waters on which the ferry boat was sailing was once a complete setup of a village with houses and people living on it but the wrath of the waters of the Brahmaputra completely eroded the entire stretch of this land. It’s hard to believe that the same nature that provide us food, oxygen and essentials for life could even damage to this extent. Anyways I looked around and admired the place and I could see fishermen on smaller boats plying on the river waters.

What these local fishermen of Assam do is they setup nets along small sand islands that a created due to the drying up of the river waters in the winter and then they setup small bamboo camps in these islands and setup their bnets in the late evenings and in the mornings they come over to pull out their nets and sell the catch of the day to the local markets. These river fishes taste much better than the ones that are harvested in the local fisheries and so are priced higher as well because of the demand. There are instances when these fishermen of Assam have caught huge fishes on the river waters as well. The ferry boat took a nice curve across the temporary sand islands and in about an hours time we reached the Kamalabari Ghat in Majuli. As there was another ferry boat waiting to take passengers to the other bank we had to wait for a little time while our boat docked and then disembark at the Kamalabari Ghat at Majuli in Assam. It was a nice feeling to be present at the largest river island in the World and I gradually got down from the boat and walked towards the shared taxi stand. There are various small shops on this side of the river as well. While some were selling goods like biscuits, tamul pan, etc. there were few other small hotels as well.

I could see these hotels serving rice thali to their customers and people of these places prefer to eat rice as their only form of meal as it was hardly 10.30 AM and for us people living in the cities it was not yet our time for lunch. Fresh fishes that were caught from the river were being served in the form of fish fry and fish curry as well. The sight of the fresh fishes caught from the Brahmaputra in Assam was a temptation I couldn’t resist and so I decided to make a stop to eat rice and fish fry here. The hotel owner welcomed me and offered me a seat and brought me a plate of rice, dal, potato sabji, a chutney and fish gravy along with a plate of fried fish. The fried fishes were small and in assamese language called as ‘Boriola’ fish. I must admit the fish tasted wonderful and it was simply mixed with a little salt and turmeric and deep fried. The turmeric adds the desired flavor and even helps remove the odor of the fish and this was one of the best fried fish recipes I had eaten in a long time. The fish was fried so well that I didn’t even have to pick the bones and I just chewed through them. The fish curry was cooked in a traditional assamese style by using dhekia xaak and elephant apple which imparted a sour flavour to the curry. And to my delight the bill amount was only INR 70 for all the food items. I must admit I did not eat much of rice because I knew that the people of Majuli are known to be the most hospitable in Assam and once I reached the Garamur area I would surely be offered lunch by my friend Mr. Rupam Regon and I wouldn’t be able to refuse the offer.

After completing my meal and to welcome myself to the largest river island in the I decided to try the famous Tamul Pan of Assam. This is basically betel nut and betel leaf that is chewed by people across Assam and it aids in digestion. Some people even mix a little tobacco and lime on the betel leaf during the time they chew it. I had often heard people say that their head started to spin after eating the tamul pan with tobacco and lime with reports of elevated blood pressure as well so I refrained myself from the lime and tobacco and just chewed on the betelnut and leaf. It worked with increased secretion of saliva in the mouth and as we know that saliva helps in better digestion of food. After this I walked to the taxi stand when another ferry had arrived by the time and I sat in one of the tata sumo vehicles that would take me from the Kamalabari Ghat to Garamur in Majuli in Assam. The vehicle got completely packed and as I was sitting on the front seat I did not have much of a difficulty sitting however. The fare is a nominal INR 30 per head to go to Garamur. At first the ride is a little bumpy as the roads are not good but I could see some construction workers building a pavement with concrete blocks so I assumed that a proper road was being built to access the Kamalabari ghat from Majuli town.

At first we hit a nice road that again is built with concrete blocks and I could see signages welcoming to Majuli Island Assam. A tourist information office was also being constructed that would help tourists coming to majuli to have better access to information on how to explore this beautiful island as well. Once we drove further I could see the traditional Mishing houses of Assam. Many of the people here are not very rich and they are engaged in agriculture and daily wage jobs. So they do not have resources to build big homes and also this is one way of keeping their traditions alive as well. What they do is they build pillars of concrete and rods so that during the monsoons the house stay above the waters and then on top they build a house that is made out of bamboo completely. The roof is either made with thatch straw or nowadays people use tin sheets as roofing as well. The floor again i made of bamboo and this serves as a way of discarding leftover food as well. Say for example if one is eating chicken and can’t chew on the bone he simply puts it down the chang and as these people rear pigs and dogs these animals come and eat the food. This living setup is very unique where humans and animals live together in tandem.

Another important thing is that I had heard of the Mishing people of Assam is that they have utmost respect to the pigs that they rear. Not only do pigs provide meat they also help to keep the place clean by clearing the dirt and garbage around and area an integral part of the Mishing household. If somebody kills a pig by accident then the person has to pay an amount as fine and also towards the expenses incurred in rearing the pig. The dead pig is also offered a funeral by the family that owns it as well. Such interesting facts are unfolded and discovered once a person travels across the remote villages of Assam. I was ure to discover more of such facts and my eagerness to explore Majuli in Assam increased. We reached the township of Kamalabari shirtly and the only traffic signal with a traffic police standing on it and providing directions to the vehicles greeted us. Well established shops are present in the Kamalabari township of Majuli in Assam. There is a petrol bunk on the right as well and as I had to go to Garamur and this would be the next stop. Our drive continued and I could get a glimpse of the true fell of a village life of Assam here.

Beautiful landscapes greeted us and there was a nice open lake area and there were hundreds of birds here feeding on fish in the lake waters. The landscapes looked very beautiful and I was now sure of opening my camp here at Majuli in Assam. This would provide visitors to Majuli an affordable stay option and also act as a retreat when I would come and spend my time here in Majuli. I do not like the noise and the hustle and bustle of a city life and always seek my way out of the city to go to some place that is peaceful and calm. My home at Guwahati in Assam as mentioned earlier is located at the Lokhra area that is overlooking the beautiful green hills of Garbhanga forest reserve so staying at home brings in a respite to me but i hate going to the center of the city where the streets are filled with noise, dust and environmental pollution. I hate such a life and being at Majuli in Assam brought peace to my mind and soul. We finally reached the Garamur tinali area at Majuli in Assam.

I got down from the shared sumo and paid my fare to the driver and thanked him as he was continuously speaking and guiding mee about Majuli. The people of this place are very friendly and warm hearted and they welcome visitors with open arms as can be seen in the other villages of Assam as well. I called my friend Rupam and he was waiting for a me at a small hotel that was recently opened by his friend Mr. Ramen. He welcomed me to Majuli and ordered for tea for us. Mr. Ramen is a famous bamboo handicraft manufacturer in Majuli and his works of craftsmanship in bamboo furniture has been featured in various hotels and resorts in Majuli as well as other parts of Assam as well. Behind his hotel he has a small workshop and his team weaves out exquisite bamboo handicrafts on pre order basis here at Majuli in Assam. We spoke for a while as we were meeting after a long time and then Rupam took me to the site where I was supposed to start my camp. The plot was located around 700 m from the main town center of Majuli at Sitadur Chuk. We had to cross a local market selling fish, chicken, vegetables, etc. and then reach a bridge. A huge lake surrounded the area of the plot and it was a barren land. The place had an area of around 1 bigha and it was mostly an agricultural land earlier.

Mr. Danny Gam had bought this land from a local assamese person and the plot’s land registration process was going on as per the rules set by the govt. of Assam. We reached the place and as the time was during winters the place was dry. Rupam informed me that the place is prone to floods and so it would be advisable to build something on a chang with elevated grounds so that the flood waters do not cause much damage to the property. It was good to have a Chang Ghar kind of an environment where we could put up tents on this platform and this way the flood waters of Assam won’t cause much of a damage and the tents too won’t be spoilt. We would build a shared bathroom kind of a setup for visitors to use the facilities. There would be a kitchen built in a traditional Mishing design as well. The entire structure would be constructed using bamboo and hay bringing in the eco friendly environment tag to the place. We examined the place for a while and later Rupam took me to his home at the futuki village in Majuli near Garamur in Assam. Garamur being the main town center of Majuli has the district administrative offices here. The office of the Deputy Commissioner of Majuli district is located here and the Civil Hospital of Majuli is also located here.

We crossed the office and then came to a pool crossing that had a bamboo bridge to cross a small pond that is present here. Rupam stopped his bike and he went to the pond where he got talking to a fisherman from his village who was fishing here. The traditional fishing techniques of Assam using bamboo fish traps was deployed by the fisherman and he was successful in trapping many fishes in these traps. He was also using fish net to catch fish in the pond here at Majuli in Assam. He showed us his catch on the nets and it was a mix of carious small local fishes and they looked very tasty to me. Rupam paid him only INR 100 and because the fisherman was from the same village he gave Rupam a lot of his catch of fishes from the net enough to feed the entire family of six and me twice. After collecting the fish we headed to Rupam’s house. As Garamur is not a very big place the houses and business areas are close by and it is a close knit community where each household in the village knows each other and they have community feasts often when the people in the village get together to celebrate any occasion.

We reached Rupam’s house that is located just next to the road. The house is constructed in a typical Mishing style architecture of Assam where the bamboo house with a tin sheet roof is built on an elevated platform that had pillars constructed using rods and cement to support the Chang. There were many trees around and the special attraction was a bamboo tree that covered a huge area around the place. Behind the house there was a vast expanse of paddy fields and the entire area ws open with a visible sky horizon. Next to his house was a small pond as well and I could see fish nets put in the pond so evening would be a feast of fishes for sure. My stay was arranged at the bamboo cottage owned by Rupam’s friend Mr Ratul Mili. Ratul along with Danny gham were the pioneers of the hospitality industry at Majuli in Assam. This camp called as the Majuli bamboo cottage is located in this village was almost 8 years old and he has credited himself in hosting tourists from over 15 countries at his camp her eat Majuli in Assam. Coming back to Rupam’s place underneath the chang there were traditional looms kept where his wife used to spend the afternoon time weaving out exquisite traditional Mishing handlooms of Assam. One thing about the villages of Assam is that the locals here have tried their best to preserve the ancient traditions that were passed on to them from their ancestors. In this case, Rupam’s mother had transferred her knowledge of the ancient traditions of handloom weaving of the tribes of Assam to the daughter in law who was Rupam’s wife and later she would pass on her skills to her daughter as well.

It was finally time to enter the house and it was my first experience of visiting a Mishing Chang Ghar. They follow a tradition of removing their footwear before entering the house as it a prevalent across the villages of Assam. People here do not roam about the house wearing slippers but remain bare foot. The house floor was again built with split bamboo sticks and there was a gap in between each stick just enough to put away leftover food as I had mentioned earlier. Rupam’s family had some pigs, ducks and country chicken that they were rearing in their house. The kitchen is a traditional one with a wood fire stove placed at the center of the place and the gas stove is kept on one side. Both modes of fire cooking is used in the kitchen. While the gas stove is used only for frying food items the curry and rice is prepared on the fire stove. The Mishing style of eating is very different from the others parts of Assam as they do not believe in preparing many items to be had along with food. They cook one curry that will be mixed with vegetables and meat/fish and it would be loaded with all natural ingredients like herbs and spices like ginger, garlic, green chillies, coriander, etc. They are also known to prepare various chutneys that are done with fish or vegetables roasted on fiore and then mashed together with green chillies, onions, coriander and some other herbs as well.

There were two more rooms that were used by the family to sleep and as living rooms. It was so unique style of living that I fell in love with the place. The bamboo structure ensured that there was a continuous flow of fresh air and even during winters it would wade off the cold winds. Rupam got down to prepare the fish we had bought along and in a first time I had heard he decided to cook it with bitter gourd a never heard recipe anywhere else in Assam. While I sat down speaking with his family in the kitchen he offered me a glass of Mishing rice beer called as Apong that is made by fermenting rice mixed with a lot of herbs that are formed into a powder after drying. He even offered em some fried fish to go along with the Apong. It was the first time I had been to majuli and looking at the hospitality of the people here I was sure to have a wonderful time here. The Apong tasted slightly sweet and like this there are other forms of traditional brewed alcoholic beverages as well like the rice wine called as ‘Sai Mod’ and the rice whiskey called as ‘chulai’. The rice whiskey is very strong and is generally consumed by the daily wage workers of the place who don’t earn much and I wanted to try it in during my stay here at Majuli in Assam.

I just had a glass of Apong while speaking to the family and I could already feel a little high. Rupam told me as this was the first time I was trying it I was feeling like this so it would gradually adjust to my system. The various indigenous people of Assam and across North East India as well there are various forms of traditional rice wine/beer. The Karbis have something called as Rohi, the Dimasas have the Judima, the Ahoms have the Xaaj, the Adivasis have the Haria, the Bodos have the Zu Mai, the Sonowal Kacharis have the Fatika, etc. Once you travel across Assam meeting the people belonging to all the tribes then you are bound to get a chance to savor their traditional beer, wine and cuisines as well. By the time I had finished my Apong glass lunch was also ready and it a late lunch because the family has a practice of eating in the mornings and then they do their daily chores and whenever they feel hungry they come and eat some rice and curry leftover. The fish curry with bitter gourd was imparting a wonderful aroma and so was the roasted brinjal chutney as well. The rice that they use for food is grown and harvested themselves at their fields and it is a unique rice indigenous to Majuli and it is brown in color with specs of white as well. The food tasted amazing and I never knew that bitter gourd when cooked into a curry losses quite a bit of bitter taste.

Only Rupam and I had the food as the family had already completed their lunch. After sitting for a while after lunch Rupam took me at first to explore a nearby paddyfield and later we could come back and remove the fish net that was put in the pond near his house. We walked to the nearby paddyfield and many of the local villagers were cutting rice plants to take it to their home barn. At Rupam’s field too there were some his distant family members engaged in cleaning of the field. What happens in these villages of Assam is that a joint family owns a lot of agricultural land and then they together sow the rice plants during the season. After harvesting the crop they take the produce to the barn and after cleaning the husk the rice is divided among the members of the joint family. This is prevalent across the houses of the various families in Assam and this way they are able to sustain their livelihood as rice is the most important meal of the people of the villages of Assam and they do not purchase rive from outside as the costs increase for the, and also the quality of rice found in the market is not good and are often reported to be mixed with certain chemical compounds that can cause various health ailments as well.

Rupam introduced me to his family members and they all welcomed ewm to Majuli in Assam. They asked me if I would like to learn the art of harvesting rice in the paddy fields to which I readily agreed as this enables me to get a true feel of the life of the countryside of Assam. They showed me how to hold a sickle and bundle up the paddy and make it into a heap to be later picked up by daily wage workers and transported to their barn. These workers are paid on a daily basis and they help the family in harvesting the paddy and collecting them and taking them home. It is a tough job and no wonder the people in the villages of Assam are so healthy. They have natural six pack abs and toned muscles and all of this doing their daily activities and eating organic food and not gulping down the protein powder that boys use in the gym. I managed to cut off some of the paddy plants and I already felt exhausted. Rupam called me and I thanked everyone for allowing me to try this and then we went back home. As in the evening Rupam had planned a feast we went to the market to buy some stuff. Rupam planned on cooking a country chicken at his house so he went to purchase a black lentil called as ‘Mati Dal’ in Assam as the chicken would be cooked with this dal and he also got some goroi fish to roast it and prepare a chutney.

We went home and then went to pull out the net from the fish pond. hundreds of small fishes were caught in the net and we took our time to remove them from the net and put them into a bucket. We were to put back some of the fishes back into the pond to keep the waters alive with fishes as well. These fishes would be wrapped up in a banana leaf and mixed with salt, turmeric and roasted over fire. In the village environment of Assam people go to bed early and get up early in the morning. So by around 5.30 PM all the preparations for the feast started. Rupam’s wife got to cleaning of the meat and fish and preparations for ginger garlic paste and cutting the onions and chillies. I helped her to chop the vegetables needed and Rupam got to arranging the fire and the actual food preparations. In these villages of Assam the men folks do most of the cooking and they do not mind helping out their wives in the kitchen which is hard to find across other communities where the female members are engaged in the kitchen while the men go to work and to take care of the business activities. Rupam’s friends Ratul and Amar arrived at his house and as they were coming over from Jorhat in Assam they had brought along a bottle of Signature whiskey to celebrate my visit to Majuli. Ratul had asked his caretaker at the camp to arrange for one room for my stay. As the tourist season was till on in Majuli there were few other guests staying at his place as well. He guided me on how to go about building my camp as the place was prone to waterlogging and even was his camp as it was located in a low lying area and it gets inundated with flood waters and his camp remains closed form the months of June through September.

Amar started to prepare the drinks for us and Rupam was busy with the dinner preparations. It was very interesting to see how they were mixing up the fish with some herbs, chillies and wrapping it up in a banana leaf completely to be put over fire for its roasting. Even the country chicken curry was a unique preparation and all the food being cooked over wood fire. Amar’s home was closeby and he wanted to contribute something as well so he had asked his wife to cook some pork as well and to be sent over to Rupam’s home. Amar’s family at Majuli in Assam are known across the area for their unique way of brewing the ‘Apong’ and it seemed the Apong brewed at his place is one of the best in Majuli. So he had also asked his wife to send across some apong as well for me to try it out. I was already tired after the day of travelling and I knew if I had much of liquor I would pass out so I had my whiskey slowly and engaged myself in the conversations. The pork and Apong arrived shortly and it was served on a unique beel metal saucer. The people of Assam mostly in villages do not use plastic or bone china utensils. They use bell metal plates, glass and saucers to serve the food. Beel metal as mentioned earlier has unique healing properties and once used to dine by the Ahom kings of Assam.

The pork tasted so different from the ones we find in the city because it was a local pig that they had used for cooking unlike the ones we find in the cities that are brought in from pig farms that are loaded with antibiotics and medicines. here at the futuki village at Majuli in Assam every three days in a week a pig is slaughtered for meat by some family and the meat is sold and some kept for the entire family. While some of the meat is smoked in the traditional mishing kitchens of Assam some of it is prepared in the traditional way using certain vegetables to be had along with dinner/lunch. This pork meat was cooked with turnip and the vegetables imparted a nice flavour and also helped in tendering the meat as well. The village pork of Assam has lesser fat content as compared to the ones reared in other parts of Assam because they are raised in a natural environment feeding on natural diet. Our talks continued and Rupam brought out the banana lead from the fire. Showly he untied the bamboo string from the leaf and the flavor that came out from the roasted fish was amazing. He took a little of it and gave it to us in a plate while the rest of it would be mashed up and served for dinner.

The goroi fish was almost done roasting and the chicken almost cooked with dal. The main ingredients as I saw him use were bay leaves, peppercorns, fresh ginger garlic paste, green chillies, salt, turmeric, cumin seeds, fresh coriander, etc. This style of cooking of Assam in the villages ensures the proper health of the people as well because all the ingredients used are natural and fresh free from any artificial flavoring and coloring as it can be seen in the restaurants in cities and towns where they make use of a lot of oil, artificial spices, color, flavoring, farm animals loaded with antibiotics. No wonder a majority of the people in the cities are obese and unhealthy and the hospitals have become a very huge business minting money from the people. If people had natural food like this it is sure that they would never suffer from any major body ailments for sure. Dinner was ready by 7.30 PM and the children and women folks were served food as they were tired after a long day of hard work. It was surprising that apart from Rupam everyone in the family gets up at 4.30 AM everyday and so especially I did not want them to stay awake just to attend to me. Our drinks was not yet over so Rupam served the food on the bell metal plates and his wife took the food to the other room where the family would eat while we stayed back in the kitchen finishing our feast.

Rupam asked me to taste the chicken curry and it was one of the most unique and best country chicken recipes I had ever had. As the entire dish was cooked over fire a unique smoky flavor filled the dish along with the mati dal of Assam that was completely cooked to perfection. The country chicken tasted quite good as well as it was not a very big rooster and a smaller hen. The old roosters take a lot of time to cook but they taste very much better than the broiler chicken that are found in plenty in the local markets of Assam. The country chicken is reared in the natural environment as well and they feed on all natural food and so they become quite healthy to eat and packed with nutrition as well. The country chicken has healing properties as well and as Rupam was telling me whenever someone in their home is down with severe cold and flu that they do as a remedy is they cook this chicken of Assam with a lot of pepper and chillies and this helps to get rid of the flu very quickly not having to rely on any medicines and antibiotics. Across the villages of Assam one can find people making use of the natural things around them to cure many body ailments. They make use of the leaves, bark, roots of certain trees to create medicines that can even treat cancer as well. Ayurveda as a knowledge was known to the village elderly who helped treat all major body ailments. Like Rupam was telling me in case of a person is suffering from severe loose motions then they had a remedy of a special lime pickle mixed with some whole spices that could cure the problem instantly. Even herbs are mixed and used to cure arthritis and even join broken bones as well.

Rupam told me that he would take me to an old person’s house tomorrow and this person knows a lot about the traditional medicines of Assam. he is often consulted by the village people when they are sick and he recommends certain herbs and fruits to be eaten to cure these ailments as well. Our drinks got over shortly and we went forward to have our dinner. The Mishing people tend to eat a lot of rice yet they are able to digest the food quite easily because all of them were very thin and I was the only unhealthy looking person among them even though I have a waistline of less than 32 and an appropriate BMI and I workout regularly. A visit to Majuli in Assam helped me open my eyes as to id a person follows a clean diet without eating any junk food the body stays in shape and healthy. The food they cooked is a thousand times tastier than the ones we find on fast food restaurants in the cities and towns of Assam and is so delicious and healthy. I made up my mind never to eat any food from outside at regular intervals like I used to eat out at restaurants every three times a week dining on food like noodles, biryanis, mutton curries, chilly chicken, chicken manchurian, etc. at Guwahati in Assam. I ensured to learn a few cooking tips from Rupam here in Majuli and whenever I felt the urge to eat outside instead I would bring home the raw ingredients and cook on my own.

People say that drinking is bad for health but I realized that drinking in moderation is not bad and a major harm that happens to a person’s body is from the unhealthy junk foods that we find across the fast food outlets not only in Assam but across the country. After dinner was over at 8.30 PM I thanked Rupam and his family for the entire day of their spending time with me and helping me to learn about the culture of Majuli in Assam. After thanking everyone Ratul and I walked towards his camp while Rupam and Amar went about discussing some business. Ratul’s camp is located nearby around 10 minutes walk from Rupam’s house. It is located in the paddy field area on his family land. He also owns a homestay that has been constructed at the premises of his house under the scheme of the Tourism Dept. Govt. of Assam as Amar alohi scheme where the Govt. of Assam sanctions loans and incentives to people to build their own homestays that would cater to the needs of tourists who not only get the opportunity to explore the vast natural beauty of Assam but also get a chance to stay along with the local people of Assam and get a chance to witness their traditions and culture. Homestays built under the Amar Alohi scheme of Assam has all deluxe options of stya in the room and it is a modern concrete setup while the owner stays close by in their own homes. This setup of tourism helps visitors to enjoy the local life and yet not compromise in the comforts and standards of living.

Walking across the dried out paddy fields we reached Ratul’s camp and it was all lit up nice with dim lights and LEDs and a few of the guests were sitting by the bonfire while the foreign guests had already retired to bed. This camp is a mix of tents and bamboo cottages and the tents are not just put up on the ground and instead Ratul has constructed individual chang platforms from bamboo for each of the tents. There were various tents from single person tents, double tents, triple sharing tents and the double occupancy bamboo cottages. The tents were nominally priced and so the backpackers preferred this place of stay quite a lot and even today many of the tents were occupied. For toilet and bath he had constructed a shared bathroom with shower and Indian and Western toilets both available. I was provided with a bamboo cottage for my stay as it was not occupied by any of the guests and also Rupam ahd placed a special request to Ratul to provide me the cottage itself when I had come to Majuli in Assam.

Ratul dropped em at his camp and then after speaking with the guests and the caretaker he went back home. The caretaker provided me with a bottle of water and then I retired to my room. The cottage was decent made completely with bamboo and had tin sheets as a roof and a false ceiling as well. It had an attached bath with western toilet and water tap along with a sink and bathing space. It was a long day for me and the liquor made me feel completely light. I had a quick bath with the water brought from a hand pump that was better warm than the tap water and later i retired to bed. The next morning I was up to the chirping of the birmorning sky here ds and the call of the roosters at the nearby home here at Majuli in Assam. The sun was up already and I came out of the cottage to admire the beauty of the morning sky here at the largest river island of Majuli in Assam. It was around 6 AM and I could see the people already out in the fields gathering paddy and villagers opening shops and getting by to their day to day activities. As mentioned earlier the people of Majuli in Assam go to bed early and get up in the early mornings. It is not that they do not have forms of entertainment like TV with satellite connectivity, mobiles with 4G connectivity but unlike the people in cities they prefer to start their work early and end the day early as well.

The other guests were sleeping and I went to the kitchen to prepare some tea.The caretaker boy was up and he was busy with the breakfast preparations. Ratul along with his wife come over to the camp at 7 AM to assist the boy with all the preparations. visitors need to place order for lunch/dinner before they leave the place so that the team can keep things ready. As Majuli doesn’t have many restaurants that stay open in the evening the guests prefer to have dinner at the camp in the beautiful solitude amidst nature and as they leave to explore the mysteries of the Majuli in the day time lunch is not often a requirement for them. For exploring the isladdn Ratul helps the visitors and arranges them options of cycles and scooter/motorbikes on rent so that they can explore the island. They boy prepared nice black tea for me and I took a walk around the place examining the techniques I could use to build my camp here at Majuli in Assam by the end of year 2017. I thought instead of putting up tents on individual bamboo changs I would put up more number of tents on one single large bamboo chang and have cottages alongside the area of the border of the land. This would provide more of space so that visitors could walk around and enjoy the calm of the place.

By the time I finished my tea Ratul had come over to the camp and he informed me that we would be eating for breakfast at Rupam’s home as he had bought some nice vegetables from his garden and would be preparing a nice curry to be had along with rice. It was very surprising to me that in other parts of Assam I have never heard people eating rice for breakfast and that too early in the day. However I remembered my days in Bangalore when I used to be surprised people eating rice for breakfast. In Bangalore there was a fast food joint very close to the rental place where I used to stay and every morning before going to office I used to stop here for breakfast at 8 AM and it offered various south indian delicacies like idli, sambar, vada, maddur vada, tate idli, lemon rice, puliyogare, bisi bele bath, vangi bath, etc. The last four items on the menu were all prepared from rice and the local people from Bangalore used to eat then with pleasure. I resorted to the idlis and vada as I knew rice would make me feel drowsy and also add to my waistline. As I was working in an IT firm most of my day would be spent sitting on a chair in front of a computer screen so it was bound that I would put on weight putting the misconception on rice that it would be the main reason behind the exceeding waistline. However coming to Assam and exploring the village areas especially where people start their day with rice and then go about the entire day doing their daily activities I realized that the people from Bangalore who used to eat the rice in the morning and yet stayed slim were mostly people engaged in activities that led them from one place to another working out and hence the rice did not affect their waistline.

But I must admit that there were others too who had rice and had protruding stomach as well (must be working in the IT industry), Anyways Ratul asked me to get ready and as today I would be exploring the various Satras of Majuli I had asked him to arrange for a scooty and he told me to take Rupam’s scooter and explore the island of Majuli in Assam while they went about their work and assured me to catch up in the late afternoon. I went to get ready before I went out to explore the mysteries of Majuli Island in Assam. It so happened that one of the foreign visitors at Ratul’s camp also wanted to explore the Satras of Assam and Ratul asked him t join me as I would be exploring the place myself. This would allow both of us to split the fuel costs as well. As most of them are backpackers who travel on a specified budget and cannot afford to spend INR 1000 just to hire a scooter as it would mean a cost of meals for them for 10 full days. As I did not have to pay money for the scooter hire just to add petrol in the scooter I agreed to help him explore Majuli in Assam at no cost. It was my way of welcoming him to Assam and understand that we don’t just do things for the money.

The visitors name was Amit and he was from Israel and I took him at first to Rupam’s house where we would have our breakfast and them explore Majuli in Assam. We reached Rupam’s house and Ratul guided Amit in and I joined shortly. Rupam was out on work as he works as a contract employee with Assam Electricity Department in Majuli. He went out early to report a case of electricity theft and to disconnect the supply for illegal usage of electricity. He would come back soon and I also needed his scooter to go out as well. We sat down to eat breakfast that was cooked by his mother a wonderful mixed vegetable curry with the Mishing rice of Assam. Amit did not want to eat breakfast as his stomach was upset and so Rupam’s mother gave him the medication of lemon pickle mixed with certain spice. He felt better after eating the medicine but yet he did not have the morning breakfast of rice. I too had little as I was not in a habit of eating rice in the morning and my morning food would mostly be rotis or bread. Rupam arrived in the meantime and he carried with him a nice Borali fish that he found in the morning market at Sitadhur Chuk at Majuli in Assam.

It was a nice river borali fish and I could feel that fish would be very tasty once cooked with the elephant apple as this was a river fish and the size of the fish was also big. Borali fish of Assam is a type of catfish and it becomes better when it grows bigger as the fish has a lot of fat in its body. It is evident when it is fried because of the oil in the body it keeps sputtering and indicates it is a tasty fish of Assam. I knew Rupam must have spent quite some money around INR 500 to purchase the fish along with the expenses for yesterday as well so I did no want to burden him with the expense for the day so I offered him the money for the fish and also I would sponsor the treat for today evening. I knew the mishing people of Majuli in Assam to be very generous and hospitable to guests and I was sure he wouldn’t accept the offer which he didn’t and so we agreed to go to some other place so that I could offer a treat as my token of gratitude for all they have done to make my stay here at Majuli in Assam a memorable one. After having our breakfast I took Rupam’s scooter and along with Amit I headed to explore the Satras of Assam. After crossing the area of Garamur I decided to stop at the petrol bunk to refuel the scooter. This petrol bunk is owned by one of the reputed businessman of Majuli Mr. Barua and it so happened that he knew my aunt and uncle from Jorhat very well. My uncle when he served as a doctor in Majuli came to know Mr. Barua’s family quite well and also one of my other uncle in Guwahati served as the Deputy Commissioner of Majli some years back. So Mr. Narua knew my family quite well and my aunt had spoke about my visit to Majuli just the evening before with him.

She had asked him to perhaps meet me and check if I needed anything to make my stay at Majuli easier. Just when I filled petrol and was about to leave the petrol bunk he had called me and asked me how was I feeling being in Majuli whether I faced any problems exploring and staying here. I told him that I had just finished refueling the scooter at his petrol pump and he asked me to wait there for a while. The manager of the petrol pump came running towards me and he told me that Mr. Barua had invited me over to his home for tea. It was a really warm gesture but as I was getting late I told him I would come come back later. But he refused to take ti and took me along to Mr. Baura’s home. It was on the way itself to the Auniati Satra that we would start our visit of the day here at Majuli in Assam. So I asked Amit if he had any problem and he was instead eager to visit local people’s home at Majuli in Assam. So we followed the manager on his bike to go to Mr. barua’s home. the house id present at the Kamalabari area of Majuli and is a nice house built in all concrete. Majuli in Assam is home to the Maishing people and also the people from the Satra community of Assam. THey are the traditional assamese people who are not from the tribal community and inhabit the Kamalabari area of Majuli. Mr. Barua and his wife welcomed me and Amit to their house and offered us tea and even more of breakfast. As I already had my breakfast I just had a cup of tea and as Amit was feeling better after having the traditional medicine he felt hungry and tried the roti and sabji that they had offered us.

Mr. Barua asked me why I had come to Majuli and I told him about my travel company and how I was exploring Assam to know more about the place. He was very surprised when I told him that I had quite my job at a big renowned corporate company of India and Assam as well to start my own business enterprise. He himself being a businessman and having started from scratch and building one of the most prominent business of Majuli today understood the pain it takes to establishing oneself and so he was surprised when I told him that i had left the comfort of a decent salary to an uncertain event of money making by starting a travel company and that too in Assam where business men are considered inferior than people with jobs and a steady income. But still he encouraged me and assured me of any help I needed in the entire island of Majuli. He being a prominent person could assist me with a lot of things I knew that very well. It was a pleasure to meet such a person who was so influential and yet down to earth. I thanked him and his wife who even invited me over for lunch today but as I was not sure of my schedule and where I would be during lunch hours I had to say no the invitation. He told me to keep in touch and in case I needed anything to call him. I thanked him again and then we started on our drive to the Auniati Satra at Majuli in Assam.

From the Kamalabari traffic police point I had to take a right to go to the Auniati Satra. Along the way the beautiful paddy fields greeted us and I spoke to Amit about his life and he told me that he was working in the wine industry. He was from Israel but had been on assignment across the various parts of the World. On his last assignment he was in France where he tasted wine for a large winery there and after the assignment he had planned a trip across India. He had started his exploration from Kasual in Himachal pradesh the backpacking den of all the travellers who come from israel and then continued to Hampi in karnataka, Goa and next New Delhi and then to North East India. He started his exploration of Assam by visiting Kaziranga National Park and then to Majuli and later he would go to Ziro Valley in Arunachal Pradesh and continue further to Mechuka. He had not known about Meghalaya and the Double Decker Living Root Bridge at Nongriat Village so I guide him on how to plan his journey to Meghalaya. I told him how I had planned to start my travel company and went further on building it helping people to explore North East India and especially my place Assam. There were so many destinations in Assam visitors were not aware of and I intended to put up all the information about Assam that would give a fair idea about Assam to travellers and they would explore more of my place as well.

In sometime we reached the Auniati Satra at Majuli in Assam. There was some religious ceremony that had happened here the night earlier and so the satra was bustling with people who were all packing to leave to their respective homes in Assam. Outside the Satra there were many makeshift stalls selling various food items and stationery as well. I parked the scooter near the Satra gate and then we both went inside the Satra premises after removing our shoes outside and buying some oil and incense sticks to offer our prayers at the most renowned Satra of Assam – the Sri Sri auniati Satra in Majuli Island. I had the experience of my visiting the Satras of Assam earlier and so I explained to Amit what exactly these religious institutions of Assam were. I spoke to him about the holy saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva and his disciple Sri Madhava Deva and how they preached the idea that all human beings are equal and should not be discriminated on the base of caste and religion. I spoke to him about my experience of visiting the Barpeta Satra, the Auniati Satra at Guwahati in Assam, the Bordowa Satra at Nagaon and the Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar at Jorhat as well. He was so intrigued with my knowledge of Assam and he told me that it was a wise career choice i made by planning to start my travel company and help people explore Assam. He told me that he sure wanted to know more about Assam and he woudsl plan a visit again as this time he was short on time and might not be able to cover all places. We went ahead to visit the main Namghar of the Auniati Satra on the right hand side of the area. The Auniati Satra covers a huge area and is almost as big as the Bordowa Satra. The Satradhikar of this Satra is a noted scholar of Assam who has published various books and documents about the Sattriya culture and the life of the people of Majuli as well.

On entering the Namghar area of the Auniati Satra we saw on an area where devotees had to light the incense sticks and the earthen lamps. I lit the prayers things I had bought along while Amit admired the sheer calmness around the place. There is a huge courtyard like area where the neovaishnaviote monks perform the daily prayers and I could see an old bhakat sitting on the courtyard area and reciting slokas from the Bhagavad Gita. A huge drum was also placed here and in sometime another bhakat came here and started beating on the drum in a rhythmic tune. The entire atmosphere was of one filled in peace and praise of the Lord and I wanted to spend more time here someday. Amit captured his pictures with a nice lens and then we went to visit the main shrine inside the Namghar of the Auniati Satra. Generally across the satras of Assam there are no idols worshipped and instead a Bhagavad Gita is kept at the center of the Namghar but here at the Auniati Satra along with the Bhagavad Gita there were idols of Gods and Goddesses also present. Although I couldn’t identity exactly the names of the which Gods were present the statues were very elaborately decorated and flowers were offered to the idols.

Three Bhakats were present here and they were helping the devotees to offer their prayers. People of Assam revere these satras and many of them follow the principles preached by the holy Saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva. Next we took a walk around the boundary of the Namghar of the Auniati Satra at Majuli in Assam. The house of the Satradhikar is located next to the Namghar and also we could spot a dead tree trunk here as well. Upon closer notice we saw that there was a small display tag that mentioned that this was a the trunk of the tulsi tree. As mentioned earlier we had seen the same kind of huge tulsi tree trunks that was present at the Barpeta Satra in lower Assam. During the earlier times the tulsi tree or the Holy Basil tree used to be a strong and sturdy tree but across the years the Holy Basil has now been reduced to a shrub. When I asked about the reason to one of the Bhakats who was standing next to us he informed us that earlier days were the days of purity when there was no hatred around and the people were clear in their thoughts. Today what he said was the ‘Kalyug’ has dawned and the people have lost all morals and become very materialistic, unreligious and unholy. This is a bad sign and this was a reason that the Holy Tulsi tree has now reduced to a form of a shrub.

It was very difficult to digest his statement to a person educated in science but maybe his thoughts were true I thought. I thanked him for sharing his knowledge and I translated his thoughts to Amit who listened to me with utmost interest. We visited the Satra ponds here and as it was the dry season not much of water was present in the ponds. This part of Majuli is not susceptible to floods and hence not much of damage is caused to the Auniati Satra of Assam. But otherwise floods cause a havoc in Majuli every year and not only is had shrunk the island but along with it the flood waters have even swept away many of the Satras present in the island as well. Next we visited the museum of the Auniati Satra. The museum here is a storehouse of various artefacts and relics from the time of the Ahom kingdom of Assam, the cult of Neo Vaishnavism era and the history of the Auniati Satra at Majuli in Assam. The museum charges a nominal entrance fee for all the guests who come here that is fixed at INR 10 for Indian citizens and INR 50 for foreign nationals. We entered the museum premises and started exploring the historical artefacts of the rich history of Assam. It was nice to see various relics from the time of the Ahom kingdom kept on display here.

There were ivory chairs, ivory chess boards, ivory walking sticks, swords, shields, robes of the Ahom kings and various other artefacts from the era of the Ahom kingdom. Also present were various handlooms and handicrafts of ancient Assam and relics from the various Satradhikars of the Auniati Satra. We took our time admiring the various relics and one interesting thing to see gere was the ivory footwear that belonged to one of the past Satradhikars of the Auniati Satra. The size of the footwear was huge and it was almost a size 16 beautifully carved out of ivory. Another important relic was the battle sword used by the great Ahom General Lachit Borphukan during war. It was surprising that a full grown Mishing person who was well built like Rupam couldn’t lift this sword with both hands while a short person like Lachit Borphukan used to carry this sword with one hand and even sway it easily during the wars on Assam. Other artefacts present were various bell metal crafts like saucers, gongs, plates, etc. At the museum exit there are various books kept for purchase to visitors about the details of Majuli island and the culture and heritage of the people of the place. I bought one of these souvenir books to carry along with me as I was fascinated with the details of Majuli that I wanted to read more about this treasure house of Assam and even Amit was so intrigued by the friendly people of the place that even he bought two of the books.

This completed our visit at the Auniati Satra in Majuli Island and we started on our drive to the next place – the Samaguri Satra that is renowned across the World for its heritage art of traditional mask making with hands. This Satra is located on the other side of the island and it was a long drive to the place from the Auniati Satra. We had to drive back to the Kamalabari police point and continue to drive further. Now the roads are not quite good and also as the dry season of Assam was going on with the monsoon rain coming only after about a month the place was very dusty with the sand residue from the Brahmaputra river of Assam flowing in with the wind and settling down. Both of us tied handkerchiefs around our face to protect us from the dust and then proceeded to drive towards the Samaguri Satra at Majuli in Assam. Beautiful local Mishing villages came to our sight along the drive and we also came across a center of Mishing handloom that promoted the culture of handloom weaving of Majuli in Assam. It was a long drive and I kelt following the instruction that was provided to me by Rupam to reach the place. The scooty suddenly had a flat tyre as we were about to approach the Samaguri Satra. So amit had to get down and walk a little distance to the Satra.

We finally reached the Samaguri Satra and upon entering we could see the various artisans working on building traditional masks of Assam that are used in Bhaona performances. The Satradhikar of the Samaguri Satra Dr. Hemchandra Goswami was present at the premises and he was instructing the students on how to create a beautiful traditional mask with one’s own hand. Dr. Goswami has been accredited with keeping this art form of Assam alive and he helps in transferring his knowledge of mask making art to other local boys who are interested to learn this art. We went in and I greeted and introduced myself and Amit to Mr. Goswami and he took us and guided us with the various processes involved in making these masks. He told us that at first the bamboo is used to create the structure of the mask and generally these are faces of various Gods, Goddesses and Demons of the Hindu mythology. After the structure is made then it is wrapped around with a fine cloth and later a special form of clay that is brought in from the deep banks of the Brahmaputra river is applied across the facial mask and left out to dry in the sun. After the drying process of the mask in completed then it is painted with natural colors that are derived from the leaves and barks of trees and the final mask gets done.

All these various stages of masks of Assam are displayed here at the Samaguri Satra and Dr. Goswami used these models to depict the mask arts to the visitors to the Satra. After this he asked one of his students to take us into the display room where the various masks are kept on display and an actual demonstration of how these masks are used in traditional performances are shown to the guests. As Amit was from Israel, Dr. Goswami showed him few pictures of another guest from Israel who had come to Majuli a few years back and stayed for almost a month learning about the details of the mask making art of Assam here at the Samaguri Satra in Majuli. Inside this room there were hundreds of various forms of these traditional masks of Assam were present. Some of them represented the Hindu Gods, Goddesses and Demons. While some masks were used in actual performances of the Bhaonas some were just souvenirs that are often picked up by tourists to carry home as tokens of their remembrance of visit to Majuli in Assam for a nominal price. Dr. Goswami had added a unique feature to the masks of Assam where the jaw of the mask of the mythological character was able to move accordingly to the movements of the artist wearing the mask and performing a Bhaona. This added a more unique life like expression to the mythological character as there would be dialogues and music playing in the background during the performance of the play and when the jaw of the mask moved the audience could relate that the artist was speaking himself.

The student wore a mask at a time and demonstrate the various movements of the mythological character using these masks. I was so intrigued with the performance and wondered how it would feel like to witness a real Bhaona in action. I came to know that Bhaona performances of Assam are scheduled across the satras of Majuli during certain holy months in the year and also during in grand fashion during the Raas Leela festival of Majuli Island. The Raas Leela is a grand celebration that is scheduled every year during the month of November and people from across Assam and the world come to Majuli to witness these 3 days of celebrations of the life of Lord Krishna depicted in an art form. Each and every household across the villages of Majuli participates in the Raas celebrations that are held across the various Satras of the island. As I would be starting operations at my camp by the end of October I would get a chance to witness the grand celebrations of Raas Leela festival of Assam this year. Dr. Goswami came in and he showed us a book that had cut outs from various national and international magazines about his struggles of keeping this artwork alive. His masks are present across various offices in the national and international places as well. It was indeed a rewarding experience visiting the Samaguri Satra in Majuli and we thanked Dr. Goswami for his time and his efforts as well in keeping this heritage art form of Assam alive.

There is a donation box kept at the Satra and all contributions from the visitors are used to keep this art form alive by transferring the knowledge to the other members of the village. We thanked everyone and then went out to our next destinations – the Salmora village to witness the heritage art of traditional pottery making of Assam with bare hands. Now the scooter had a flat tyre and so I had to get it repaired before I could move on to the Salmora village along with Amit. So we decided that I would move ahead in search of a shop to get the tyre fixed while Amit would slowly walk to the place and if the scooter fixed early I would drive back and pick him up. I did not know where to find a tyre repair shop here so I took a left on the main road and to my good luck there was a repair shop just present in the vicinity. I got down and asked the owner to help me get the tyre fixed and he got to work. There were three other men sitting at the shop and they asked me from where I was and what I was doing n Majuli and they asked me how i liked the place and I told them everything I liked about the place. The people were so friendly and they even offered em place to sit and even asked if I wanted to have tea. I told them that I was with a friend from Israel and he too would want to have tea and so I should wait for him and as the place was not quite far from the Samaguri Satra Amit too was about to reach.

I went back to the crossing where I met him and we both went back to the repair shop. The men welcomed Amit and they asked him a lot of questions. They offered us tea and biscuits as well and Amit was spoke to them in English and I had to translate back in Assamese and vice versa. At the end he asked me as to did I know the people from earlier and he was so surprised when I told him that I had just met them because he said the people were so friendly and hence is just a few minutes he got to know them so well. I told him that this was the magic of Majuli island and the people of Assam and he even agreed with me that ‘Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever.’ Out tyre was done and the person even checked the air pressure on the other tyre as well. We thanked everyone at the place for their time and after paying the person for his service we started on our drive to Salmora village in Assam. The roads are now even worse and it is a completely mud track and thankfully it did not rain otherwise the road would turn to be very skiddy and I would have had a tough time maneuvering the bike. It is not quite far from the Samaguri Satra and what Rupam told me one of the most pristine forest reserves of Majuli is located near the place and is the Salmora forest reserve. It is very interesting to see such a nice and big forest reserve located on the river island.

We did not go inside the reserve as we had to seek permission from the forest department of Assam before venturing in or else we might be prosecuted so we headed to Salmora village instead. This is atypical assamese village and the people here do not belong to the Mishing community and instead are traditional assamese people. Once we entered the village we could see the various kinds of traditional pottery art put in the sun for drying. The pottery of Salmora is renowned across Assam and people order these products from various parts of the state. What’s unique about the pottery art of Salmora village in Assam is that no use of pottery wheel is done to make these pots and instead the artisans use their bare hands to give shape and form to the pottery items. They use a unique mud that is dug out from deep inside the river banks of the Brahmaputra in Assam and this soil is mixed with cow dung and some other soil types to form a mould and this is used to create the pottery items. Amit was very intrigued with this art form and he wanted to see the artisans at work at the Salmora village in Assam and to capture some images. The village offers visitors a unique way of experiencing this art when we need to contact a family and then they agree to show us at a nominal price. I reached out to one family and they agreed to demonstrate this art to us for INR 500 which is acceptable as a lot of effort is involved in preparing everything before demonstration.

A lady from the local village was demonstrating this pottery making art of Assam to us and the entire process is an interesting sight to witness. She bought in some clay that was stored in a small room outside their house and mixed it with cow dung and another mud variety. It seems the clay is costly as the locals bring it in from far places where the Brahmaputra in Assam is having a wider width and so transportation costs get high. Although the family themselves go to fetch the mud at times but not very often so they have to use the mud judiciously to make a decent profit out of their work. Then she started to give shape to a lump of clay using here hands in the shape of a pot. She was doing the entire process with a lot of ease and it was indeed very nice to watch this art form of Assam in front of our eyes. She also made two more pottery items with the mud and after this she put all of these out in the sun to dry. It seems that these days with the introducing of steel and aluminium utensils the demand for these pottery items are gradually declining. But still there is a fair demand and vendors come to this village to pick up these pottery items and carry them on boats to very far off areas in Assam.

Amit captured the art in his nice camera and he was very pleased to witness this. We thanked the entire family for helping us see and feel the art and I paid them the amount we had agreed upon. They offered us a pot as a gift and I gave it to Amit who said that it would be a problem for him to carry it along and even I would not be able to carry it so we handed it back to the family thanking them and asked them to sell it off as they would be able to make some profit out of it. Rupam started calling as the lunch was ready and the borali fish he had brought in the morning was prepared with a special mustard gravy and some other vegetables as well. As we would not be visiting any more places for now we left the Salmora village to go back to the Futuki village at Majuli in Assam. This time I took a different route to go back as the one that we took while coming was very dusty. From the Salmora market in Assam I took a right and then started to drive straight as this road is much better paved and although it was narrower it can be easily navigated on a bike. Along the roads some other Satras of Assam we could see and a few other local villages as well. It was around 1.30 PM and we were already hungry after exploring the Satras and the Salmora village.

We reached Rupam’s house at 2 PM and him along with Ratul had fishing rods in their hands and these were brand new fishing rods that Ratul had purchased from Decathlon outlet at Guwahati in Assam and as I had come over they wanted to go out fishing at a nearby river near the camp area and also to the place where we would be spending our evening at another village here at Majuli in Assam. The family had finished their lunch as they had to go out to the fields so only Amit and myself were left to have our lunch. Rupam took us into his house and he served us with the food. Amit was feeling better now so even he agreed to have lunch with me. Rupam took out the rice on the bell metal plates and I got a shock at the quantity of rice he had put out on our plates. I told him that I was not used to eating rice in this much quantity and even Amit was surprised at the quantity. He was so intrigued with how the people of Majuli in Assam could eat so much rice and yet stay so slim and healthy. The fish was prepared with grounded fresh mustard paste and the aroma was just superb. He had mixed the curry with potatoes and some other herbs as well and the fish was so very soft and juicy. The fat in the fish could be felt when I was eating it and the potatoes were cooked to perfection.

He had also prepared a boiled vegetable curry that had cauliflowers, tomatoes and some other vegetables as well. Amit enjoyed the food and he said that he ever knew Indian food could be so less in oil and spices. As he was traveling across the country he mostly had food that was prepared commercially and loaded with heavy spices and oil and this food was totally the opposite. Rupam told me that he was planning to go to Lakhimpur the next day and he would stop by at Mr. Danny Gam’s brother’s home at Dhemaji before returning to Majuli and he asked me to join him and as I had never visited these parts of Assam earlier I agreed to go with him. We would be taking Amar’s car and so the four of us Ratul, Rupam, Amar and myself would go to Lakhimpur in Assam the next day. Lakhimpur was where my mother had spent some parts of her life during her school days and we had few relatives there. Although they were never known to me as I had never visited Lakhimpur I thought this could be an opportunity for me to see the place as well.

We finished our lunch and after waiting for sometime for the food to digest we decided to go out fishing with Ratul and Rupam. Amit was free and he was having a nice day with me accompanying him to the places so he agreed to come with us as this would give him an opportunity to witness the true countryside of Assam and also the villages of Majuli and how the people are friendly here as well in Assam. Ratul and Rupam had some Apong and even amit as well and he was trying this rice beer for the first time. I was full with the my lunch and did not have place in my stomach for anything more. It was around 3.30 PM and we started to go towards the river bank for fishing. I sat behind Ratul and carried the fishing rods while Amit joined Rupam on his scooter. We had to go to the banks of the river Luit here at Majuli in Assam and we had to cross the site where I would be setting up my camp later this year. We crossed some of the other Eco Camps and Resorts in Majuli like the Me Po Okum, Ayang Okum, Okekiga homes and the Dekachang Resort before we reached our fishing spot. Tourism across Majuli was becoming a global phenomenon and this is evident from the number of resorts, camps and homestays that were being built that signalled that this tinsel island of Assam is getting noticed and not only Kaziranga National Park but even Majuli is becoming a favored tourist destination for visitors who come here to enjoy a life of tranquil amidst nature.

We finally reached the spot and some of their other friends also joined us. They had brought along with them some smoked pork and the rice wine called as ‘Sai Mod’. It would be more of a picnic outing than fishing I thought as the boys had made an elaborate arrangement along with fire. This is so nice about the life in Majuli is that people do not have too much tension and worries in life. They are not bothered about lots and lots of money and they spend their time enjoying the bounties of nature instead of being glued to their mobile phone screens. The smoked pork would be put up on sticks and roasted further and later mixed with a salad of onions, chillies and coriander. I didn’t try the sai mod yet so I was eager to taste it. Rupam and Ratul got busy with the fishing rods and they found a perfect spot to put the rods and the place looked like it was teeming with fish. In this river water there are certain spots where the waters gets to a stand still and these are small crevices on the land. They planned on roasting the fish they would catch over fire while some of it they would carry to the house of the person we were going to go later in the evening and if left some they might take home as well. They used some rice and threw it into the waters to attract the fish and along with it they attached worms on the hook of the fishing rod as weel as bait.

Meanwhile the other men were busy preparing the smoked pork by roasting them over sticks and then putting it out on the plate and later mixing everything with onions, coriander and green chillies together. At first the catch was not looking good as the duo of Ratul and rupam couldn’t catch any fish for almost half an hour. It seemed it was not a fateful day for us and we might need to go back without any fish in our bucket. Then one of the boys had the idea and he went and stirred the mud in the river bank a little ahead. The fate changed and Rupam got his first catch in about 15 minutes. It was nice sized rohu fish and even Ratul caught a smaller fish as well. The total fish count went up to 12 and they were all of various species and sizes as well. Rupam was lucky enough to have caught a small Borali fish as well. The other men were also ready with the smoked pork and we poured the Sai Mod into our glasses and savoured it with the smoked pork. The Sai Mod is typically brewed from a special rice and is mixed with various herbs to get the desired texture and taste. It is called ‘Sai’ because it adds a unique smoky flavor that tastes a little like ash flavour and it is also sweet as compared to the Apong of Majuli in Assam. The smoked pork is another signature meat of the Mishing people of Assam. What they do is that they cut the pork meat into strips and at first they allow it to dry in the sun after smearing it with salt, turmeric and some other spiced and later they dry these pork stips in the traditional mising kitchen of Assam.

As the kitchen has a wood fire going on the smoke that is released from the fire circulates in the kitchen and it enters the body of the meat thereby imparting a distinct smoky flavor to the meat. Later these are stored and when needed they are taken and cut into small chunks and roasted over fire and also prepared in a curry as well. This makes the taste of the pork meat quite irresistible. I had once had this meat in a Bodo recipe of Assam where the meat was cooked with a black lentil (Mati Dail of Assam) mixed with ginger leaves and it was one of the m0st soulful meat curry recipes I had ever tasted. This way of mixing it with fresh onions, coriander and green chillies brought out a unique flavor of the pork meat as well. I must admit with the amount of green chillies added the meat turned out to be very spicy. We had a glass of the Sai mod along with pork and meanwhile the boys had put two of the bigger sized fish for grilling. They had a unique way of removing the scales where they used a sharp knife and completely scrapped out the skin with little flesh and mixed the fish with some salt and using bamboo skewers they put the meat on the fire for roasting. Amit and I were so thrilled with the cooking technique and this was the real countryside experience of Assam.

Amit went on capturing pictures until there was adequate light as the sun sets quite early in Assam in the winter season and by 5.30 PM it is generally completely dark. The fish meat was ready and they removed the bones from the meat and then mixed it again with lime, salt, coriander, onions and chillies. We had thankfully run out of chillies and I did not want to eat more of it as well. The tribal people of Assam can eat a lot of chillies and they say that it is one of the richest source of vitamins and helps to keep their weight in check. It was a hearty meal and we finished our day of kind of a picnic here at Majuli in Assam and headed onto the next village where we would be going to the house of Rupam’s friend – Mr. Mantu Kaman who works at a telecom office in Majuli. He had invited us for dinner at his place tonight. The village was closeby and the four of us reached his place shortly while the other men went back to their homes with some of the fishes and Ratul instructed them to keep the roads back at his place. Mr. Mantu stayed in a traditional mishing home built on a elevated platform with bamboo and tin roof and his house looked very similar to the one of Rupam’s and mostly all the houses in the village look alike while some are bigger and some are smaller.

We removed out footwear and then climbed the stairs to go on top of the house. His house was different from Rupam’s because here at first there are the two living rooms and the kitchen is at the back while at Rupam’s house the kitchen greets you once you enter. Mr Mantu welcomed us in and we all took our place near the kitchen fire. Rupam handed him some of the fishes he had caught and Matu Da’s wife took the fish to clean it and also she was preparing some other fish that Mantu Da had bought for tonight’s dinner and our evening drinks. They had brewed some special Apong for s and their family as well. The unique culture of Assam where the guests are treated like God was witnessed here as they offered Amit with a special welcome and they offered him a special Mishing towel and then asked him to sit on an elevated platform as well as he might not be in a habit of sitting on the floor and eating. Some of the fish was fried along with herbs to be had with the Apong and the rest would be mixed with the fish brought in by Rupam and will be boiled with certain vegetables into a thick curry broth and savored along with rice. As mentioned earlier the Mishing way of eating is quite different from the other parts of Assam where they do not believe in cooking too many dishes and only cook one dish that is loaded with all the necessary nutrients. For them taste is not the only concern and instead they eat a meal that is completely nutritious day in the curry for today id had the vegetables, the chillies, the raw ginger and garlic, fresh coriander, meat for the protein, turmeric and salt. In other parts of Assam say in my home my mom cooks rice, a dal, a vegetable dry, a vegetable curry , chicken or fish curry, etc. but here only only one dish serves the purpose.

The fish was served along with the Apong and the apong this time had a different color and it was not white but instead brown in color. Mantu Da told us that it was a special traditional rice of Majuli used to prepare this Apong and hence it had a different color. We started our conversation and I introduced myself and Amit to the family who were all very excited as this was the first time a foreign guest had visited their home. The people of Majuli in Assam are very humble and down to earth and they go all the way to make their guests comfortable and feel at home. The Apong tasted sweeter than the previous ones I had and also this was more thicker as it was brewed at home and not for commercial use. I must admit that drinking the Apong of Assam is heavy on the stomach and as it is fermented rice mostly it creates abdominal discomfort in the form of gas if you are not used to drinking it. It also gives a high to your mind if you consume it in higher quantity as well. I restricted myself to just a glass and even Amit as well as we had already had the Sai Mod and we didn’t want to reach our camp drunk. Rupam and Ratul on the other hand who were used to drinking it were going on pouring a glass after another admiring the taste of the bre and I wondered if they would be able to drive us safely back to the Camp at Majuli in Assam. But both of them seemed alright with the brew and they continued on with their conversations.

Mantu Da was speaking of how Majuli has changed across the years due to the course o flow of the Brahmaputra river of Assam and how if adequate steps are not devised the island may one day disappear completely eroded by the mighty Brahmaputra. He was also speaking of how initiatives were needed like building of proper infrastructure in the form of schools, colleges, hospitals, etc. so that people from across Assam wanted to come to Majuli to build enterprises and also for the civil administration jobs as well. The construction of a bridge on the other side of the island had eased the connectivity between the island and other prominent towns and cities in Assam like Tezpur, Lakhimpur, Guwahati, etc and the link to Dibrugarh as well once the Bogibeel bridge is nearing its completion. Rupam and Ratul were adding to the conversation while I was translating their thoughts to Amit who was eagerly waiting for his turn to speak and learn more about the village and the Mishing way of life here in Assam. Mantu Da spoke to Amit about their life in the village and their schedule of work and to why the houses are built on elevated platforms. He spoke to him about the farming practices of the people of Majuli in Assam and about community fishing and also about the women weaving the exquisite mishing handlooms and the men working out exquisite traditional bamboo and cane handicrafts of Assam as well.

The fish fry was done very nicely and it was a deep fried fish so the bones couldn’t be felt in the mouth. The fish was sprinkled with chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic chunks that were fried coarsely and topped with green chillies and coriander that made the fish more tastier. The Apong kept pouring on thj glasses of Rupam and Ratul and even we took another serving as well. Mantu Da was helping his wife prepare the fish curry and it was nice to see the family so happy even they didn’t have much money they were happily living their life without and worries. There is so much to learn from the families here where the women are treated with utmost respect as it is across the entire state of Assam and North East India but the men folks here help them out in the kitchen as well. It is not like they believe that a woman’s position is only in the kitchen and they do not involve themselves in cooking cut they try to do their share by helping them out and not bossing around. Women engage in conversations with the men folks and provide their ideas as well on certain topics.

Dinner was ready and Mantu Da asked us if we would have our dinner now and as it was only 7.30 PM yet as we had to go back to our camp and the next morning we would be travelling to Lakhimpur in Northern Assam we agreed to have our dinner early and return back to the Futuki village at Majuli in Assam. The fish curry was cooked with gourd, pumpkin, potatoes, a dal and some other herbs and it was cooked on firewood. The firewood imparted a wonderful smoky flavor to the curry and as it was cooked over a long time the vegetables had become very soft and fluffy. Mantu Da served the rice on the bell metal plates and again I had to ask him to serve the rice in less quantity for Amit and myself. All of them were surprised as to we had so little of rice and I had to explain to them that we were not used to eating so much rice and Amit was not at all used to eating rice and he did not want ro have an upset stomach like yesterday again as he had all the other stuff as well to eat across the day. The fish had quite some ones and so we had to careful while eating it. The vegetables tasted amazing and the curry had all the nutrients and the mix of the flavours of the vegetables and fish was indeed very tasty. The rice was locally grown and it had a slight sweet taste to it not like the ones found commercially in shops that are treated with artificial flavoring additives. We finished our dinner and thanked the family for taking all the trouble to arrange this wonderful evening for us at Majuli in Assam.

They were so warm and welcoming and I thought who couldn’t the people in cities be like them happy and cheerful. Not only in Assam but across the country if you visit the cities you will find the people so different from the ones in villages. The people in the cities are so bothered about making money that they do not have time for themselves and their family let alone for other people. In the process of staying busy and tensed they forget to laugh and go on buying things for comfort that in turn makes them lazy and prone to diseases. No wonder the money they earn are spent mostly in eating unhealthy and then turning to hospitals to spend it. Little if they could understand from the village people that it is only one life they have and it is always better to keep smiling and spreading love and not to stay stressed and only stuck in air conditioned offices and cars stuck in traffic. I led this life for many years and it was after a while I had realized that this was not how I will choose to live. God had presented our life with varied bounties of nature and food and it should be my endeavour to seek out to reach these places where my life would be amidst nature and choosing to breathe the fresh air and drink the natural water and savour naturally cooked cuisine and Assam is the perfect place to enjoy these bounties of nature. Breathing on polluted air, eating packed and processed food and drinking water from mineral water bottles is not how I chose my life to be and I decided to keep exploring more and more of Assam so that I could help others look around this wonderful state for the short duration of time that they visit and enjoy the nature to the best. It was my motto for the visitors to Assam to realize that ‘Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever!’

We took leave from Mantu Da’s house and I promised to return back to Majuli soon as I would be building my camp here and we started on the bike to go to the Futuki village. Ratul and Rupam were fine and they drive the bikes properly. We reached the Garamur market and the shops were almost closed because as mentioned earlier the people at Majuli in Assam retire to bed early and rise early in the morning t. Rupam wanted to chew on pan that is a favorite digestive food that people in Assam and across India prefer to have after a meal. A small pan shop was open and Rupam asked the shopkeeper to prepare sweet pan for me and Amit while both of them had the zarda pan or the pan with flavored tobacco. Our sweet pan tasted nice and Amit tried this for the first time as well. We reached Rupam’s home and he asked me to take the scooty to Ratuls’ camp and to come in the morning by 7.30 as we would be heading to Lakhimpur after our breakfast. We bid goodbye to him and returned to our camp where Ratuls came in to check on the guests and his wife and caretaker had finished serving dinner and allowed the guests to return to their rooms. We too ended our day and went to bed after a long day of exploring Majuli in Assam.

The next morning we started quite early at 6.30 AM to travel to Lakhimpur from Majuli. Amar took our his car and as all of us were staying close by we boarded the car and started on our drive to Lakhimpur. Breakfast would be too early at this time and so we decided to stop after the ferry crossing near the Khabolu ghat where one of their friends stayed and have our breakfast there and then continue to Lakhimpur in Assam and after exploring Lakhimpur town these guys had some work at an office there which we would wind up and travel to Dhemaji and come back finally to Majuli. We took the Khabolu Ghat to go to Lakhimpur and while returning we would be crossing the bridge over the river near Dhakuakhana and return to Majuli. The ferry boarding point here is not as crowded as the one in Neemati Ghat and there is a ferry boat that can accommodate upto 3 cars and few bikes and allow one to cross the Brahmaputra and then travel to parts in Northern Assam. There were no other cars as it was quite early in the morning but there were few bikes and it belonged to govt employees who were travelling to Lakhimpur in Assam from Majuli and this would help to allow the boat to leave early because they await for a certain amount of revenue to leave the ghat on time. We started at 7.30 AM from the Khabolu Ghat to travel to Lakhimpur.

On the way we stopped at their friend’s home to have our breakfast and this friend was a business owner at the place and this shop opening time was 10 AM and so he had ample time to welcome us and allow us to have breakfast at his house in Assam. The family members welcomed us and we took our seats at the table for breakfast. there was a huge pond area behind the home of their friend and fresh fishes were present here and they captured the fish in the morning and prepared a delicious fish curry and rice for us with a chutney and it was a tasty delight for us. The fish was a local Rohu and as it was freshly caught it had a nice taste to it and it was not a commercial pond so no medicine was added to the feed of the fish and hence it tasted natural. After the sumptuous breakfast we sat for a while at he friend’s home and he told us how he was planning to start a small restaurant at his village. This road being the connection between Majuli and Lakhimpur in Assam sees many tourist vehicles and bikes going to Lakhimpur from Majuli that acts as a shorter connection to Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh. Mechuka is the frontiers of India and Chine and is blessed with unmatched natural beauty and so with increasing tourist footfalls at Majuli in Assam as well he was planning to build a getaway kind of a restaurant where there would be various other activities along with fine traditional Assamese dining as well.

Ratul was known to this person since long and he was going to partner with him in opening of this restaurant here as he already had an experience in the hospitality industry and also both of them had worked together in few other business engagements as well along with Amar like constructions of bridges at certain area in Majuli and Jengrai as well. Anyways we thanked them for hosting us today and bid farewell to the family to continue on our drive to Lakhimpur in Northern Assam. The view of the lovely countryside of Assam greeted us and we were now out of the Mishing community area to land of the other tribes of Assam. Lakhimpur is a historic district of Assam and it was for long under the rule of the Chutiya kingdom of Assam and after the 16th century it came under the regime of the Ahom dynasty. As we approached Lakhimpur town we could see various monuments illustrating the past history of the land here. Today Lakhimpur is home to the Chutiyas, Ahoms, Koch, Deori, Bodo and the Khamti people of Assam who have brought in their traditions with a mix of cultural blend. Most of these communities rely on agriculture as their primary occupation with the major crops being that of rice, tea, mustard, sugarcane, etc.

The Brahmaputra and its four major tributaries flows across the district of Lakhimpur and this has resulted in the growth of numerous forest reserves around the Lakhimpur district in Assam with the major ones being the Kakoi, Dulung, Ranga and Pabho forest reserves. These forest reserves are home to varied flora and fauna of the likes of Simolu, Neem, Sum, Nahar and fauna species like Wild elephants, buffaloes, tigers, deer, etc. The word ‘Lakhimpur’ as called earlier as ‘Lakshmipur’ translates to the ‘City of wealth and prosperity’ mostly due to the fertile alluvial soil and the availability of fish, vegetables and milk in plenty here. It is also said that the waters of the Subansiri river flowing across Lakhimpur in Assam was filled with gold palates and the water was used for gold washing earlier. We reached Lakhimpur town soon and I called my mother after reaching to inquire about the ancestral home of her father here at Lakhimpur in Assam. She told me the name of the place and I asked Amar to drive to the place. They were aware of the whereabouts of the town as they keep coming here to certain offices to pass their bills that they incur during the construction work at Majuli and so he easily navigated the roads and took me to the place.

This home now belonged to my mother’s cousin who was the son of her Aunt (father’s elder sister) who had passed way and my grandfather had spent quite sometime of his life here in Lakhimpur and their home was a nice big place. My mother had called her cousin and informed him of my arrival and his family was waiting to welcome us. It was still in the morning time and as he had retired from his services at tee Govt. of Assam as a doctor so he spent most of his time at home with his wife as both his daughters were now married and staying abroad in the States. It was so unique to see a person’s life looking at him as he spent his entire life working to raise his children and now when he had time there was no children to spend time with. Perhaps that reason many of my family members have an affection towards me as most of my cousins live outside of Assam and I am the one person staying here trying to promote Assam to the World after quitting my cushy corporate life in Bangalore. My uncle took all of us inside his home and showed us around the place as it was a remnant of my grandfather. The place was modified and yet it retained a rustic charm to it and my mom too had many memories attached with this place and so I clicked pictures to how her of my time here at Lakhimpur in Assam.

My uncle insisted that we had lunch at his place but in the interest of time we had to decline and left after having tea and snacks at his place. I invited him to come to our place in Guwahati and he assured me that he would come once his daughters came visiting. Next up we went to the office where these guys had to submit a few documents and as it was around 10 AM the officials started coming to office. This was the best time to meet and submit bills as the officers come fresh in the morning and they do not have much of work before 11 AM. The official to whom the documents had to be submitted welcomed all of us and asked us to take a seat at his office while he examined the sanctity of these documents that had the details of the costs incurred and he was already informed about the total amount for this phase. After looking into it he handed over a cheque to Amar and also instructed strictly that the bills would be thoroughly examined and if any discrepancies were to be notes the next bill amount would be adjusted accordingly to which the men agreed and we thanked the official and left him to travel to to more of the sightseeing in Lakhimpur town mostly at the local market here where the wanted to buy certain mechanical items in the shops here that were needed for their work and were not available at Majuli in Assam.

Lakhimpur has a huge market area owing to the fact that this market has to supply goods to entire Northern Assam and also the parts of Arunachal Pradesh as well. Earlier when the Bogibeel bridge was not the there people of northern Assam had a tough time commuting to other major towns like Dibrugarh and Tinsukia and it meant a long ferry ride over the Brahmaputra thereby making the commute very difficult and people tried to avoid it so various parts of Assam and Arunachal pradesh considered Lakhimpur as a source of their daily need sand other basic marketing because the place had an airport to connect to cities like Guwahati and Kolkata so essential goods could be brought in and also there was a connectivity to Guwahati via road as well. As they would be taking a while to complete their shopping, Rupam and I set out to explore a nearby temple to the market and we agreed to meet up again at 12 PM at the parking area so that we could drive to Dhemaji in Assam at the house of Danny Gam’s brother Mr. Randeep Gam who would be hosting us for lunch. We walked towards the temple shrine and opened our shoes at the temple entrance because it is a custom followed across India where the devotees cannot enter a holy temple shrine wearing their shoes.

There was a small shop that was selling certain items for puja like flowers, incense sticks, dias, oil and other things and I bought a puja thali before entering the premises of this temple shrine. This was a temple shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva ahere at Lakhimpur in Assam and from the structure of the temple I could make out that it was several decades old and must have been constructed during the time of the reign of the Chutiya kings and is a renowned tempel in northern Assam and many devotees had gathered to offer their prayers here. We took our places in the queue and then entered the main temple shrine where there were priests helping people to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva. After we finished offering our prayers here we came out and gave away the sweet box that was present with us to the needy people who were sitting outside of the temple and they accepted it with a smile on their face and gave us blessings as well. After this we walked back to the parking area of the Lakhimpur market in Assam where Amar and Ratul were waiting for us as they had finished their marketing and some of the goods in the shopping list was not to be found here and they had to source it from Jorhat in Assam.

We loaded the stuff into the car trunk and then started on our drive to Dhemaji bidding farewell to the beautiful and historic town of Lakhimpur in Northern Assam. The beautiful country roads greeted us again and the soulful song of the renowned singer of Assam Zubeen Garg was playing in the car stereo and the voices of Rupam and Ratul to the song was enough to ruin the melody. Yet looking at the beautiful paddy fields, tea gardens and the backdrop of the eastern himalayas was enough to fill my soul and mind in peace. I like being closer to nature and try to avoid the hush and rush of a busy city life. Although I stay in Guwahati the largest city in North East India the area where I stay is surrounded by mountains and lush green forests are a view I wake up to everyday. The car drove swiftly across the villages and town establishments and and at around 1.30 PM we reached Dhemaji at the house of Mr. Randeep Gam. Moina as all of us called him was the youngest among all of us and he worked as a teacher in the education Dept. of Assam and taught at the elementary school in Dhemaji. He chose Dhemaji as his place of posting in Assam because of its proximity to Majuli and he had to take care of his aging mother who stayed near Rupam’s house in Majuli and Moina used to shuttle between Dhemaji and Majuli in Assam during the weekend and during holidays as it was almost a hour and a halfs drive.

As Danny Gam used to stay at Guwahati commuting to Majuli regularly was challenging for him and so Moina had taken the responsibility of taking care of his family. He used to stay in a rented house at Dhemaji and as his wife used to stay with his mother in Majuli he had to do the cooking and cleaning himself when he stayed here. Today he had taken a half day leave from his school to make arrangements for us and he welcomed us bottles of beer he had purchased and kept in his refrigerator to welcome us. This was the first time all of us were visiting his place in Dhemaji and he did not want ro leave any stone unturned make our visit a memorable one. He himself took time to prepare an elaborate lunch feast for us that had pork with herbs, a fish curry with pumpkin, a spicy smoked pork chutney and rice. It was really surprising to see these efforts from a person who never used to cook earlier and always depended on hotel food to survive. I guess after marriage he corrected his means and saw the best way to save money was to prepare home cook food instead. For the beer we took some of the smoked pork chutney and enjoyed it over the beer. Lunch was served and the food tasted brilliant cooked in the traditional way of Assam with less oil and spices and the pork with herbs was mostly a boiled gravy without any oil and the pork fat helped to cook the curry itself.

Moina was scheduled to come over to Majuli this weekend and seeing that we had brought the car he put in some of his clothes that we had to take back home for it to be celanas and some other things as well like groceries. After our lunch we thanked him and left Dhemaji at around 3.30 PM to drive to Majuli after crossing the bridge near Dhakuakhana. By the time we reached Majuli it was around 5.30 PM and Amar took us to futuki village and dropped us in front of Rupam’s house thereby ending our visit to Northern Assam and exploring the ancient home of my ancestors at Lakhimpur and the district of Dhemaji as well. As it was my last evening at Majuli today so Rupam’s family wanted to treat me to a traditional Mishing dinner before I left to Jorhat the next day after exploring the hotels, resorts, homestays and campsites at Majuli as this would help me analyze the needs of visitors from the world who would be availing my tour services and I could put them up in their choice of preferences like either a resort or a homestay. we climbed the wooden staircase to Rupam’s house before getting fresh and then set down by the fire that was lit in their traditional kitchen. Today Rupam’s mother would be cooking and in their tradition drinking with the family is not considered as a taboo as long as you stay under a limit of the influence of the booze and do not get over high with it and create a havoc.

I could see his wife cleaning a local chicken that hey had at their home and this meat is used for consumption along with the eggs that the hen lays. These are freely moving about chicken who feed on natural food and hence are much healthier than the ones that are reared in poultry farms. One drawback since no artificial growth hormones and antibiotics are pumped into the body of these country chicken they are very lean and do not yield much of meat and so the concept is to enjoy the gravy cooked our of this chicken because the meat yield for a family of six and three additional members of myself, Ratula nd Amar would be very less yet they ensured to keep one leg piece for me to savour. The meat would be cooked with a black lentil and garnished with ginger leaves with a lots of fresh ingredients like ginger, garlic, green chillies, peppercorn, bay leaves, coriander, etc. The dal was allowed to be first boiled properly over the fire until it melted into a thick liquid gravy and the chicken was cooked in a separate pan with all the fresh ingredients and later the dal was poured on the chicken and allowed to simmer. In the same fire there was two separate fish preparations being cooked as well.

On a banana leaf the small fish caught from the pond near Rupam’s house was mixed with salt, turmeric, oil and wrapped up and allowed to roast inside the leaf over fire while in another banana leaf a meaty boneless fish was chopped into bit sized cubes and mixed with some herbs and allowed to cook as well. This cooking style of the mishing people of Assam is completely traditional and filled with nutritional value from the naturally caught food and imparts special flavors from the spices. We poured in our drinks and discussed the prospects of tourism in Majuli.l Danny Gam had helped and contributed a lot towards the promotion of this river island in Assam at various platforms and since 2010 this island has seen a considerable increase in the flow of tourists and this had helped many locals to setup camps and homestays and with more of promotion especially with eh mask making art, pottery making , birdwatching and life of the local tribes it is sure that the tourism scenario at Majuli will be a one of a kind in Assam along with the famed Kaziranga National Park as well. The roasted small fishes were brought out from the fiore to be had as starters align with the potatoes that were put for roasting in the fire. These potatoes were grown in Rupam’s fields and they had a sweet taste to them as it was not grown with pesticides and fertilizers and was completely organic.

From the rice, dal, the potatoes, the garlic, the ginger, the meat, the fish upto the coriander and the ginger leaves everything was from Rupam’s fields and places nearby his house and I thought life could be no better than this. This is how God intended humans to live in peace and harmony with nature and to utilize the resources around him and the Mishing people of Assam staying at Majuli knew how to live upto it perfectly. The small fish tasted so nice and with just simple additions like slat and turmeric there was a wonderful flavour to it. Even though the fish was not gutted properly and cleaned properly before being roasted it did not taste bitter at all. It seemed the turmeric helped to get rid of the bitterness and so the fish was amazing. We felt tired after a long day and also with eh beer in the afternoon we couldn’t take more than 2 pegs and after roaming around Rupam’s house courtyard for a while we sat for dinner at 8 PM. The food had rice, chicken with dal, the roast potatoes made into a chutney and the roasted fish and it was one of the best meals in Assam I had. Cooked to perfection with time in a slowly cooking process over fire it was so amazing to witness how with simple ingredients and over fire everything was cooked. I thanked Rupam’s mother for the entire preparations and the efforts put into the dinner and she thanked stating that it was her pleasure to see me enjoy the food and the hospitality of the Mishing people of Assam is what makes them the most sought after tribes to visit in Assam as well. After the dinner was over we left to Ratul’s camp and the next day Rupam would take me around some of the places in Majuli before dropping me off at the Kamalabari Ghat to travel back to Jorhat in Assam.

The next morning I got up at ease and the caretaker of the camp prepared tea for me. After freshening up at 8 AM i went to Rupam’s house after bidding goodbye to Ratul and his wife at the camp. On the way I stopped at Amar’s place and bid goodbye to him and thanked him for his hospitality during my stay at Majuli in Assam. I even visited Danny Gams’ house and bid farewell to his mother and Moina’s wife and reached Rupam’s house at 8.30 AM. Rupams’ mother gave me some rice and curry from last night as breakfast along with fresh preparation of brinjal chutney and after having my breakfast I thanked everyone in his family and bid my farewell to come back to meet everyone in October to start with the construction of my Camp in Majuli. Rupam took me on his bike to visit some of the homestays at Majuli in Assam with the first being none other than the La Maison De Ananda – the homestay and the first property in Majuli welcoming visitors owned by Danny Gam. This place is located near the Sitadur Chuk chariali very close to the place where I would start my camp on Danny Gam’s land. A quaint bamboo structure welcomes you to the La Maison De Ananda. Just next to it isa another property in a Mishing traditional Chang architecture but instead of bamboo this is a concrete structure with deluxe interiors and bath. The old structure is entirely made up of bamboo with traditional mishing bamboo furnishings.

The caretaker Mahendra took Rupam and me in and as there were guests in the bamboo house we saw the concrete house and I admired the area of the place. I enquired about the rates at the La Maison De Ananda and later visited the property just opposite to it the Risong’s family kitchen and guest house. This property belongs to Mr Manjit Risong who was responsible for creating the brand name of the La Maison De Ananda as he was the mangher there and now he had started his own Risong Guest House and family kitchen to provide traditional home cooked Mishing food to visitors who came from across the world here. The Risong guest house is completely built with bamboo and has six rooms for stay along with a dorm as well. Each room had an attached bath facility as well. The next was the Happy Home – Me Po Okum that is another resort like setting in Majuli built with individual cottages on a raised platform. This is a big place with around eight cottages and is a favorite among guests who have enough budget to stay at Majuli in Assam. Each of the cottages at the Me Po Okum are elegantly designed and architectured to resemble a traditional Mishing home and is having an accompanied bath with modern interiors and bath fittings as well. There is a huge open area at the center where bonfires are held in the winter evenings. A fully equipped in house restaurant serves fresh and hot traditional mishing recipes to visitors along with other Indian and Chinese delights as well.

Driving further we went again to the banks of the Luit river to make our next stop at the Okegiga homes at Majuli in Assam. A beautiful campsite owned by a person named Dipmoina this property offers various accommodations ranging from dome tents, swiss tents and traditional bamboo cottages here at Majuli in Assam. The river Luit is a short 2 min walk from this place and this is also a budget stay accommodation in Majuli. Here too there is an open area surrounded by a tall canopy of trees where visitors can spend their time/. A cycle ride from the Okegiga homes to the town center at Garamur in Majuli is a must have experience. This place too has an in house kitchen that serves a variety of traditional cuisine of Assam as well. Next up located a little ahead is the most luxurious resort in Majuli – the Dekachang Resort that is owned and operated by one of the premier hospitality industries of Assam the Dekachang Resorts have their properties at Sonapur near Guwahati in Assam and also at Roing in Arunachal Pradesh. This beautiful place is located just by the banks of the river Luit and is constructed in a unique shape that attracts many visitors to this place if not for staying then at least to come for lunch and click a selfie of their memories at the Dekachang Resort in Majuli. We went in as Rupam was a known personality here with all the boys addressing hm as Rupam Da and helping us see around the place.

The Dekachang Resort hosts some of the most influential people from Assam especially because Majuli is the home constitution of the Hon. Chief Minister of Assam and hence several high ranking dignitaries come to Majuli visiting the island during the Chief Ministers presence here and so many chose to stay here and also the various celebrities of Assam who come to Majuli stay here. Rupam being a known person in the Garamur area often makes arrangements for the stay of the dignitaries hee at the Dekachang Resort and so the people know him well here. We walked around the campus of the Dekachang Resort that is spread on a sprawling campus. once you enter the entrance gate a beautiful flower garden greets you here. Upon entering there are various models depicting the Sattriya and the mask making art of Majuli. There is a reception area and the beautiful cottages that are equipped with all modern amenities and fittings. In addition to traditional bamboo cottages there are concrete rooms as well for the comfortable stay of the guests here at Majuli in Assam. A full on dining restaurant is present here that serves various delicacies from traditional Assamese to Chinese and North Indian as well. It was time to visit the next place the River View Bamboo Cottage after this which is located a little further ahead from the Dekachang Resort in Assam.

The River View is a newly opened Eco cottage campsite in Majuli with around five bamboo cottages built on an elevated platform. This place was constructed by Rupam’s friend Mr. Ramen who is the known bamboo artisan in Majuli and the person I had met on the first day here. He was working here today along with his staff and he took us into the River View Bamboo Cottage campus. An additional room was being built and Ramen took us into this place that had a nice area and had interiors built entirely with bamboo. As it was break time for the boys and they sat down to have some Apong and they offered us some as well. After having a little of Apong Rupam and I thanked Ramen and I bid farewell to him and scheduled to meet him in October as he would be helping in the construction of my camp here as well. We made a final stop at Garamur market area to check out the Hotel Srimanta Shankardeva before I would leave to the Kamalabari ghat boarding a shared magic vehicle as I didn’t want to trouble Rupam to take me all the way to Kamalabari ghat. This is the only hotel accommodation in Majuli and is located right at the heart of the Garamur market at Majuli in Assam. Located on the second floor at a nice building complex the Hotel Srimanta Shankardeva offers modern day amenities for its guests but the drawback is that there is no lift facility here and one has to climb up two storeys to reach the place. However the rooms are deluxe category and it has a double bed along with a single bed and the room is accompanied by television sets with cable and air conditioning as well.

The bathroom is elegant and fitted with a tile flooring and expensive fitting as well. Another drawback is the lack of availability of an inhouse restaurant here. For food option there is a small restaurant at the ground floor that serves traditional assamese meals in the form of veg thali and non veg accompaniments but then again there is no room service and one has to do all the climb up and down to access the restaurant. Otherwise this a very good option to stay even during summers as the rooms have air conditioning. After finishing my exploration it was around 12 PM and I bid farewell to Rupam and thanked him for all his hospitality and asked him to visit Guwahati soo so that I could host him there and also to meet him in coming October. I boarded a shared magic vehicle and awaited for it to fill with the passengers before it started on the ride to Kamalabari ghat. On the way I spotted another nice bamboo cottage resort called as the Yggdrasill Bamboo cottage but I did not stop here as I had to have lunch and then catch the ferry that left at 1.30 PM to Neemati ghat near Jorhat in Assam. The magic vehicle was full with people and they were discussing various work and do it did not stop in between to pick any more passengers however two of them got down at the Kamalabari township and we finally arrived at the Kamalabari Ghat at 12.30 PM.

The ferry boat had come in from the other side of the ghat and I could see people boarding the magic vehicles to continue to Majuli while I had to go to my uncle’s home at Jorhat in Assam the other way. I stopped for lunch at the same small restaurant where I had my lunch when I had come to Majuli and this time there were the freshly caught fishes again. The owner has to be very careful with the food here as the area around the ferry ghat is dusty and strong winds keep blowing so he had to keep all his food covered to avoid the dust setting on it and he did this to perfection,. I watched him how he had kept the rice covered in the pot where he had cooked it and slowly removed the lid and after scooping the rice slowly kept the lid back on again. The fish fry was kept in a small wooden cabinet like structure covered with glass and on one side there were sliding wooden doors to keep the dust out. I ordered for the rice thali and fish fry as the fish fry looked more interesting than the curry and he served we rice, dal, potato sabji, bitter gourd sabji, pickle and the fish fry along with raw onions and chillies. The fish tasted fresh but even after the efforts of this person trying to cover the food items from the dust I could feel some dust grains rubbing against my teeth while chewing. Yet the food tasted delicious and after lunch I went to the ticket counter to purchase my tickets to board the ferry.

A line of cars were awaiting their turns to board the ferry boat as well and the tickets to the car boarding are issued only when the ferry boat arrives and as it was already there this time the person at the counter issued the tickets. As I was waiting admiring the beauty of the calm waters of the Brahmaputra river during the winters that take a completely opposite turn in the monsoons of Assam when the river waters become aggressive and fierce and cause severe destruction by flooding various parts of Assam; in that time the cars started to load one by one on the ferry boat. Unfortunately due to the mismatch of the speed and pickup of one of the cars the driver was unable to match up to the height of the boat and the wheels of the rear started to skid along the joint of the boat and the dock. This caused the boat that was tied to one of the iron girdles at the bank shifted and created a gap in between the joint and the car wheel got stuck in this gap. It was a situation of panic that arose and people were seen trying their best to keep the boat tied to the shore while some were pulling the cat to keep it up. I tried to help but there was no place for me to step in. Then finally the boat members took control and they managed to pull the car on top of the boat. Thankfully it was a smaller alto car and not any midsize SUV otherwise we could have had a major catastrophe here at the Kamalabari ghat today in Assam. The car owner looked quite stunned as though he just escaped death and people were trying to calm him down. He asked the ferry boat members to help him offload the car once the ferry reached Neemati ghat in Assam and it was obvious I couldn’t blame him for his behavior as he was indeed quite frightened. If I had to face the same situation myself I too would have been scarred for life and perhaps even wouldn’t have chosen to drive my car on the roads of Assam any longer let one loading it onto the ferry boat.

Anyways all’s well that ends well and in some time the ferry boat started at 1.35 PM to go to the Neemati ghat near Jorhat in Assam. We started on the ferry ride and it takes about an hour and forty five minutes to reach the other side of the ghat and this is due to the fact that the ride is against the river current of the Brahmaputra. I was feeling a little tired and so I tried to sleep for a while on the chair of the ferry boat. Byt the time we reached the banks of the Neematio ghat it was almost 3.20 PM and there was a little delay because the boat had got stuck in the sandy shores of the Brahmaputra as the winters had reduced the level of water yet the driver managed to pull the boat out of the water and helped us reach safely to the Neemati Ghat in Assam. People started disembarking from the boat and outside there were numerous shared magic vehicles awaiting to ferry the passengers to Jorhat. I waited for a while as I wanted to check if the cars were offloaded properly or not as this would help install confidence in me to drive and bring my car to Majuli in Assam the next time I come in October. The ferry personnel helped offload each of the cars carefully and drove them to the top of the ghat as there is a slope way and cars have to climb up to reach the land area on top. After this I boarded one of the shared magic vehicles and started on my ride to my uncle’s house in Jorhat. The magic drove across the beautiful roads of the countryside in Assam and it arrived at the Jorhat bypass from where it took a right turn to go to the fire service station area and here it took a left to drive to Jorhat town.

The magic was scheduled to drop us off at the Baruah Chariali but at the end it dropped us a little ahead at the main market area of Jorhat. I didn’t mind because I wanted to explore the market area of Jorhat in Assam for a while and later travel to my uncle’s ho0use as they would be out for work and would come back only by 5.30 PM. I explored the market area and picked up some shampoo, soap and other toiletries as I had left some of it in Majuli and I needed a new stock. After this I hired a shared auto to take me to the JB College at Jorhat in Assam. One of the premier and old institutes of Assam the JB College has the repute of producing some of the reputed scholars of Assam. From lawyers, politicians, writers, film directors, bureaucrats, JB College at Jorhat in Assam has a rich legacy behind it and many people owe their success to the repuute of this college. For me this college is known as the place that has some of the most tasteful street vendors who sell chat and pani puri near the entrance gate of the college. I enjoy the spicy pani puri herre and so after getting down from the rickshaw I went to eat a plate of this wonder. For INR 10 these vendors serve you around 6 pieces of pani puri that is basically a small roti bread that is fried so that it rises and later dried. This helps to create a hole into the center of the puri where they add a spicy mixture of mashed potatoes, chillies, coriander and boiled peas that are loaded with spice powders and this puri is dipped in a pot of sour and tangy water and served on small plates. Generally people circle around the vendor and he goes on adding a pani puri in each of the plate until the circle is complete and then repeats it again.

Many vendors across Assam have different styles of preparing this pani puri and they keep changing the masalas that are added. While some store the masala water in aluminium vessels some do so in big plastic containers but the most tasty are the ones that keep this tangy water in a earthen pots. This helps to keep the water cool and also the pot imparts a special flavor to the water mix. I enjoyed a plate and as there were no people when I had it the vendor kept putting the pani puris on my plate one at a time. After this I started walking towards my uncle’s house at the jail road area in Jorhat in Assam near the Jorhat Civil Hospital and Medical College. The busy street traffic reminded me of my days in Majuli as to how calm and peaceful the countryside of Assam truly is free from all noise and pollution and the honking of the cars. At around 5.30 I reached my uncle’s house and my aunt was awaiting my arrival here. Today was one of my distant cousin’s birthday and so my aunt’s brother was hosting an evening dinner at a newly opened restaurant in Jorhat. We were scheduled to leave on the evening at 8 PM to the place so I got freshened up and had a cup of tea with my aunt and uncle I was scheduled to depart from jorhat to travel to another of my aunt’s place at Dibrugarh in Assam after exploring the historic town of Sivasagar but my uncle insisted me to stay over as he was free the next day and he had planned on visiting on our ancestral homes at Meleng in Assam.

I agreed to it as this would help me explore more of the countryside of Assam and also I would get a chance to explore more of Jorhat at the Tocklai Tea research institute and the Jorhat Gymkhana club as well. So I agreed to stay back and leave to Dibrugarh the day after tomorrow. At 8 PM we went to the Nova Akhol restaurant to have our birthday dinner. Only two families had gone together my aunt and her brothers and the owner of the place knew my aunt from earlier and he greeted us at the restaurant. It seemed the he owned a very renowned furniture store at Jorhat in Assam and now he had ventured into hospitality with his restaurant. The place had nice interiors and modern day fine dining as well. The ambience was nice and there were many people waiting to have their dinner at the restaurant today it being a saturday evening. My aunt’s brother consulted all of us and placed the order for chicken noodles, crispy baby corns, tomato soup, chicken fried rice, chicken 65 and chicken manchurian gravy for all os us. The food arrived soon and it tasted quite good and I got a break from the traditional food of Assam today and savored on the chinese delights. After dinner we left the restaurant to return home by 10 PM.

The next day morning I was up at 6 AM and I took a short walk around the place. I had heard of a small shop near the Jorhat Civil Hospital that served some amazing piping hot tea to its customers and I took my chance of visiting the place. As I reached the shop I could see the customers were all waiting there already to sip a cup of the tea from the vendor. It is a makeshift tea stall here at Jorhat in Assam and the unique flavour of the tea served here is what makes this place so popular. As this is a hospital area numerous attendants of patients who come along to take care and attend to the needs of the patients wake up in the morning and come for their early morning tea. The vendor here prepares the tea in a brass metal saucer and he adds some spices like ginger and cardamom to the tea that makes it all the more refreshing. Along with tea the vendor also serves some piping hot rice cakes called as the ‘Bhap Pitha’ in Assamese as well that sells like hot cakes. The tea is served in small disposable paper cups and is charged INR 5 for a small glass and even the rice cakes cost the same amount. Along with it there are various other offerings of biscuits, nimkis, cakes, etc. I just had a cup of tea as I had not yet brushed my teeth and so I didn’t try the rice cake of Assam and just had my tea and it was rich in flavour and no wonder the place attracts so many customers in the mornings.

I finished my tea and after exploring the area around the Jorhat Civil Hospital in Assam for sometime I headed back to my uncle’s house. My aunt was making arrangements for breakfast and she asked me to come over after getting fresh to have my breakfast before we left to Meleng in Assam. Meleng is the ancestral home of my grandmother’s side of the family and as she is no longer alive one of her younger sister is still alive and she stays at the ancestral home with her son and his wife and children while the other siblings have now passed away and so my uncle staying close to the family at Jorhat often pays a visit to the place to see if the family is doing fine as it was my grandmother’s wish she had asked him to keep. Meleng is a beautiful countryside of Assam and I remember I had visited the place once when I was very young with my mother and uncle’s family. During those times of my life I did not enjoy visiting villages and the countryside of Assam didn’t awe me much as I was brought up in an environment where aristocracy was of prime concern and people from villages disgusted me. I was always fascinated by the city lights and the glamour of the life in a city. But as time passed I started hating the noise, pollution and the selfish people of cities and gradually became attracted to the countryside and its people of Assam who are pure in their heart and even though they might not be rich with materialistic things they are rich in their heart and souls. So today was my opportunity to witness another part of the countryside of Assam here at Meleng.

We had our breakfast of hot puri sabjis, scrambled eggs and tea and then started on our drive to Meleng from Jorhat. I took my car as my uncle told me that the roads to our ancestral home was good and a small car could access it easily and also as all these days I was at Majuli the car had not started and I needed to warm the engine as well. The drive started and my uncle and aunt started discussing among themselves as to what they would carry as a token of gift for the family there. As it was in the wee hour of the morning the shops in the market would not open so they decided to stop at one of the shops to buy sweets for eh family and chocolates and chips for the children. My aunt had already bought clothes for the family members and she had taken it along with us to Meleng. Meleng is hardly 30 minutes drive from Jorhat so we reached the place at around 9.30 AM and headed to the ancestral home that is located slightly away from the main road. The road was dry as it was winters and with the grass covering the mud track not much of a problem would have happened during the monsoon as well I assumed. Shortly we arrived at the home and the family members were there to welcome to us. My grandmother’s sister was a very old lady and she couldn’t walk about properly on her own and her movements were mostly restricted on a wheelchair. She was almost 84 years old and yet there was a glow on her skin and a smile on her cheeks. Although all her teeth were gone and as she saw me after so many years she asked me to come near here and gave me a hug. She liked my mom a lots perhaps because she is a doctor and the only working lady in this family and she admired her for that. Though I was having a tough time understanding what she was trying to ask me because her words were not clear due to the absence of teeth the son explained to me what she was trying to ask me and I answered her back. The son was one of the wealthy farmers in the area as they had lots of land that was under agriculture and in addition to growing his own crops he used to lease out the land to other farmers who used to cultivate on his land and later pay him money for using the land and also a little share of the crops as well.

My distant uncle was however a very down to earth person and he spent a better part of his life in the upliftment of the village. He was earlier working as an officer at the revenue dept in Govt. of Assam but he realized his roots and gave up his job to take up agriculture and work towards the upliftment of his village folks a decision that lot of our family members resented. Even though he makes money from his agricultural activities he spends most of it on helping the more needy and less fortunate f the people of Meleng in Assam. My aunt gifted the things she had brought along from Jorhat and the kids were overjoyed to see the assortments of chocolates and confectionery food brought along because this being a village area there are not many shops selling such items. The uncle took me out to explore his fields and show me the processes involved in the agricultural fields of Assam. The area was entirely green and there were a combination of men and machines that were at work tilling the fields. With the advent of tractors most of the work is now done by the machine from tilling the land to reaping of the crop but some of the poor people still use conventional methods of working in the field where in thy use bullocks to till the fields. Assam is blessed with fertile lands and so agriculture field are in plenty especially in the countryside where people grow rice and various other crops and vegetables as well. We took a tour of the vast stretch of the agricultural fields on my uncle’s tractor and he explained me his plans of making the village completely independent of its food sources from the outside market of Assam and living on its own and also sending across the produce from here to other local markets as well.

I was deeply inspired by him and as to how one man could dream of such a thing and work towards his dream. This success he had today did not come overnight and I had heard my mom speaking of all the struggles he had to go through after quitting his job at the Govt of Assam and how the family had to go surviving because my uncle didn’t believe in taking help from others especially when people did not believe in his dream. If they had then it would be like people loaning him a short term loan believing him to be successful at his dream hoping one day he would be returning the money back but without believing in his dream it would be mostly out of pity as they would think we are family and we are bound to help him financially and even if our money does not return it would be alright and this would have made him feel miserable. Anyways, all’s well that end well and today he is one of the most prominent faces at Meleng in Assam. After exploring the fields we came back home and it was around 11 AM and my uncle and aunt wee exploring the homes of the people living around the place. As my uncle was the Director of Health Services of Jorhat district in Assam many of the people in the village knew him as they belonged to the same district of Jorhat and sometime in their life crossed paths with my uncle’s office and his line of duty as well. My uncle helped me look around the place while they came back.

I was taken to the kitchen where our lunch was cooking and today was a day of special preparations and as our annual festival of Rongali Bihu of Assam awas drawing closer to tbe celebrated on the 14th and 15th of April the kitchen was slowly being stocked with a variety of vegetables and the live stock was being made ready for the Bihu celebrations. Today we would be having a special pork recipe cooked with ‘Pitha guri’, Borali fish with Ou Tenga and small fish steamed over fire along with pumpkin curry with fish intestines and dal with herbs. It is so nice to visit these countryside of Assam especially for the food as these folks of Assam here have not heard of any of the modern day food items like noodles, momos, burgers, pizzas, etc and they do not use any artificial flavoring agents or spices to build the taste of the food and instead they cook everything fresh and directly from their gardens. Everymornign the aunt in this house goes to the nearby gardens and she brings along with her fresh vegetable produce like pumpkins, gourds, cauliflowers, ladies finger, raddish, carrot, coriander, various herbs based on the seasonal availability and cooks them. THe meat is from locally reared pigs or the country chicken ands the fish from the village ponds.

The rice is from the fields and perhaps the only things they buy from the market is the salt, onions, spices and the mutton which is an occasional visit to the market here at Meleng in Assam. They are so self sustaining and this helps them to survive past old ages and live fit and healthy. The life here is simple – get up early in the morning have a meal of rice and fo to work in the fields, complete your share of work out, come back and feast on the most healthy food and later go to bed. My uncle and aunt came back and we sat down for a very early lunch at 11.30 AM as we had to go back to Jorhat and my uncle had assured to take me to the Jorhat Gymkhana club and the Tocklai tea research center here. The pork was so tenderly cooked and the ‘pitha guri’ made the flavours more enhanced, the borali fish was caught from the village pond and it was naturally tasty as it feeded on the organic food in the pond ans the ou tenga was brought in freshly from the trees behind their house and it imparteds a sour taste to the fish curry loaded with vitamin C, the vegetables were also very flavorful along with the rice and the pumpkin curry with fish intestines. After lunch we had the customary Tamul Pan with a dash of lime and I was already feeling sleepy after the sumptuous lunch here at Meleng in Assam.

But as we had to leave I binged on some more tamul and I forget about my sleep and we started on our drive back to Jorhat. We reached the Jorhat market area and took a left to head to the Jorhat Gymkhana club which is one of the oldest clubs of Assam and was built during the time of British and has the oldest golf course in Asia and the third oldest in the World. Jorhat being the prime tea area in Assam had seen numerous British officers coming and residing here to manage the operations and the employees of the tea gardens here. And with the proximity to Golaghat that happened to be the oldest tea growing area in Assam proper recreation area was necessary for all the officers to come and spend their time. The Jorhat Gymkhana club in Assam was established in 1876 and has place for horse racing, lawn tennis, swimming pools, billiards, polo, golf, cricket, etc. My uncle holds a membership to the Jorhat Gymkhana club and his son used to come here everyday to practice sports while my uncle had once bought a golf kit and tried to play the game here but got bored soon and now the kit lies at a corner in his house. Most of my uncle’s friends are doctors and certain engineers who served at the Govt of Assam but now most of them are retired. While some of the doctors have their practices, private clinics and nursing homes some of them are free and they spend their time here at the club playing and socializing in the evenings. As it was early afternoon there were not many people around and my uncle took us to the restaurant area where he ordered coffee for us. We spend some more time at the club and later started on our drive to the Tocklai tea research center at Jorhat in Assam.

The Tocklai tea research center is located on the outskirts of Jorhat town but not very far from ans it is the prime tea research centers in India. Thes place was opened for public viewing since the past few years abtu my uncle had some contacts here and so he had requested them to arrange for our visit here and they happily obliged. Interestingly my uncle and aunt had never visited this place earlier. The Tocklai tea research center helps in making studies to make the tea plantations of Assam more yielding and profitable and also helps to maintain the taste of tea to a standard. We were greeted by the personnel; here who took us around the campus and showed us the various processes involved in the brewing of tea and tea tasting of Assam. It was a unique experience and after our visit ended we went back home thereby ending my visit of exploration of Jorhat in Assam. Tomorrow I was about to go to the historic town of Sivasagar in Assam and continuing further to Dibrugarh.

Today morning I was scheduled to complete a long time dream of mine and although I had visited Sivasagar quite a few times earlier and in those times as I mentioned the ancient monuments and history of Assam did not fascinate me and the fact that I belonged to the descendants of the most brave warriors and soldiers in the kingdom of India – the Ahoms also did not seem to intrigue me. The mighty Ahoms were the longest ruling clan of North East India and they were the ones who did not allow Assam to come under the control of the Mughal dynasty. At one time the entire region of Assam was the only part of the Indian Subcontinent that was not under the direct rule of the Mughals because of the brave Ahom Kings, Generals and the soldiers who did not allow Assam to be conquered with their brave warrior tactics. Sivasagar was the capital of the Ahom kingdom and the entire royal family was based out of the grand Kareng Ghar that I would be visiting today along with the other monuments like the Rang Ghar – the Oldest Amphitheatre in Asia, the Talatal Ghar – an architectural marvel of a fort that had numerous secret tunnels and mazes the finally the ‘Charaideo Maidam’ – India’s answer to the Pyramids of Egypt and the burial grounds of the brave Ahom kings and queens. So I started packing my bag and as I had to drive for almost an hours time to reach Sivasagar I planned on leaving at 8 AM to at first travel to Charaideo near Sivasagar to begin my visit to the Charaideo Maidam and then winding up my visit at the Kareng Ghar, Talatal Ghar, Rang Ghar, the Siva doul and to after having my lunch travel to Dibrugarh to reach by late afternoon.

My aunt prepared a quick breakfast of roti, sabji and some leftover chicken curry from last evening and the morning tea and after having my breakfast and thanking my uncle and aunt for their hospitality I finally bid adieu to Jorhat to head onto Sivasagar district in Upper Assam. On the way I refuelled and also had to check the tire air pressure as the car had been sitting idle for quite a few days. I crossed Teok, Jhanji and other smaller towns and finally saw the board welcoming me to Sivasagar district after an hour of drive. Just crossing this board I came across one of the very ancient bridge of Assam and my father used to tell me about this bridge during the time of the Ahom kings. The unique feature of this bridge is that it is carved out of one single piece of rock and hence it is a stone bridge and is called as the Namdang Stone Bridge. I stopped a little ahead after crossing the Namdang Stone Bridge as it is a busy highway stretch and I had to find space to park my car off the road. There is a board that has been put here by the Dept of Tourism (Govt. of Assam) that welcomes you to the Namdang Stone bridge and also details about the bridge. On the details it is stated that the Namdang Stone Bridge was built during the reign of the great Ahom king Rudra Singha who was a patron of architecture in 1703 with craftsmen who were brought over from Bengal. The Nagand Stone bridge is located over the Namdang river connecting Jorhat and Sivasagar districts of Assam and measures 60 m in length, 6.5 m in width and 1.7 m in height.

This bridge was cut out of a single solid piece of rick aged above 100 years and the unique mortar used in construction was with a paste of sticky rice, duck eggs, black lentil and lime. Built over 300 years ago one can only imagine the strength of the stone and the mortar because it stands strong even today and allow the movement of heavy ton trucks carrying coal, oil tankers and other good and as it is on a National Highway the frequency of traffic crossing over it is also huge. It is sad that not many tourists visiting Assam know about the Namdang Stone Bridge and the brilliance of its construction. Had it been in some other foreign country there would be a line of tourists waiting to catch a glimpse of this architectural marvel of the Ahom kings of Assam. I admired the construction of this stone arch bridge and was simply amazed with the strength of this bridge and this was the moment that made me feel proud of being a descendant of the great Ahom kings. With this pride in mind I started on my drive to Charaideo to catch a glimpse of the burials of these brave kings of Assam.

I reached Sivasagar and I stepped out of the car to get a feel of the place that has a rich history and the ancient capital of Assam. I went to a small shop nearby and ordered myself some tea and snacks and asked for directions to the place. The man told me to go via the Gaurisagar area and this way I could approach the Kareng Ghar on my way. So I started on the drive to Charaideo and I must admit the roads were not upto expectations and there were huge potholes on the way. I feel terrible as to the government’s stance at these historic places and the simple task of having good roads to such historical sites were not taken care of. Anyways I kept driving and along the way I spotted the Kareng Ghar and the sheer grandeur of the building attracted me to the place but I decided to visit on my return as I was having difficulty tackling the roads and I wanted to get over with the driving on the road as soon as possible. I some time I reached the Charaideo Maidams at Sivasagar in Assam. A huge area comprising of small hillocks greeted em once I reached the Charaideo Maidam and to my surprise there was no one around this historic place of Assam (must have been because I was present in the early hours of the day).

One caretaker was present at site and he opened the gate and welcomed me to the Charaideo Maidam. It was a historic moment for me not only being a part of the legacy of the great Ahom kingdom of Assam but also to be at the place that can be easily dubbed to be the ‘Pyramids of India’. The Charaideo Maidam is the resting grounds of the great Ahom kings and their families. A small moment kind of a structure is built on each of the burials here at these Maidams in Assam. As per the notes I have heard it even explained that when an Ahom king died it seemed that including all his valuable precious gold, ornaments even his wife, servants and pets were also buried here. Although there is no base to prove the truth behind these writings being comparable to the pyramids it could be quite possible because the Ahom kings never revealed their secrets to others and only to the family members who were close to him and so maybe to keep the secrets intact these close members too might have been burned while I do not have any factual evidence on this. Due to the stories associated with riches of the tombs here at the Charaideo Maidams at Sivasagar in Assam a lot of vandalism had occured at the place that has led to the destruction of the many maidams at this place until it was taken over by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that has now the control of preserving and maintaining the tombs here. Today there are 9 untouched tombs present here at the Charaideo Maidam while the others have been marginally vandalized.

The entire place is located on a green area of the Sivasagar district in Assam and one gets to witness mystic landscapes here as well. The caretaker left me to explore the area and I took to admiring the burial grounds of my great great ancestors from the Ahom Kingdom here in Assam. Each of the tombs is beautifully designed and crafted with ancient red bricks, the mortar of duck eggs, sticky rice, lime and a traditional Ahom temple building shape is constructed as it is at the Rang Ghar. A small raised piece of land is underneath this monument and under this is the burials of the great Ahom kings and queens. I spent some more time admiring the grandeur of the Pyramids of India here at the Charaideo Maidams in Assam and later bid goodbye to the place to travel back to Sivasagar and on the way visiting the Kareng Ghar of Assam. I started on my drive on the dreaded roads back to the Kareng Ghar. The Kareng Ghar or the Garhgaon Palace was the place of residence of the Ahom Kings and queens who ruled over the Ahom Kingdom of Assam and it is a beautiful palace that speaks highly of the great architectural poweress of the masons and artisans who were patronized by the Ahom Kings. From the main road one has to drive for a short distance to reach the premises of the Kareng Ghar. Being a historic place of Assam and having such grandeur of a construction that even after surviving two major earthquakes of Assam this place still stands tall.

I parked my car and walked towards the entrance of the palace and I was welcomed to what can be easily dubbed as the grandest examples of all Ahom architectures across Assam. The palace building was commissioned in 1751 and it stands tall even today with the structure constructed entirely of wood and stones and the entire area of this palace is surrounded by brick walls measuring upto 5 km in length. Over the years when various Ahom kings took their accomodation in this place did much renovation to suit the palace according to their needs and this had led to an irregular shape of the palace. Today one can see the inside of the Kareng Ghar and the variou rooms that run along the huge corridor area. The top storey of the palace was used by the King and queen while the ground floor served as the home of the servants, the store room and the stable room as well. All of these stories are well connected by staircase and on top there is an octagonal room that was used as a prayer room by the King and queen. I walked around the Kareng Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam admiring the grandeur of its architecture thinking in my mind that this palace had the potential to attract so many tourists especially because of its grand construction and the sheer beauty of its architecture.

The entire palace looks brick red in color mostly due to the special bricks used in the construction of this palace. If these historic monuments are repaired and promoted well across the various destinations in the World then Assam surely has the distinction of being recognized as one of the most sought after destination in India for historic tourism. There was one interesting room present at the corner of the Kareng Ghar where one could get a view of the beautiful forest cover that is behind the palace and it seems that this was the room used by the queen when she was confined. The area outside the Kareng Ghar has a beautiful garden with various flowers and bushes covering the stretch of the garden. The sprawling campus with lush greenery around makes you feel like a king itself when you are at the Kareng Ghar in Assam. I took a stroll around the campus and in the interest of time I decided to leave the place as it was already 11.30 and I had to cover more of the historic destination at Sivasagar in Assam before I headed on my way to Dibrugarh. I reached back at Sivasagar town and I could feel the rich history of the place with ancient gates welcoming me to Sivasagar. After driving around for a while I reached the grandeur of a fort of the Ahoms at the Talatal Ghar. Another prominent architecture of the Ahom kings is the Talatal Ghar – the Fort of the Ahom army that that housed most of the Ahom cavalry and even the ammunitions. Constructed in the traditional Tai Ahom architecture of the red bricks and mortar of sticky rice and duck eggs the Talatal Ghar is known to have a network of several underground mazes that connected the fort to the Dikhow river and the Kareng Ghar that I had just visited.

And considering the amount of time it took me to reach from the Kareng Ghar to the Talatal Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam I could easily estimate the distance to be around 20 km and the tunnel length could easily be around 15 km considering the straight length of the tunnel after one could successfully complete crossing the maze at the Talatal Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam. Atleast this historic place had quite a few visitors as this is on the way from the journey from Guwahati, Jorhat to parts in Upper Assam so people travelling across this route often stop by to catch a glimpse of this Talatal Ghar and the Rang Ghar. I parked my car and went in to explore this another amazing piece of engineering marvel of the Ahom kingdom after purchasing my entrance tickets at the counter. Just upon entering I could see three huge ancient canons from the time of the Ahom kingdom on display. These ancient canons are placed next to each other and it looks as if they are ready to fire when lighted. Even though these were several hundred years old it seemed as though they are almost as new speaking highly about the detailed craftsmanship of the Ahom artisans. A long pathway leads you to the Talatal ghar in Assam that is well paved and has a huge lawn area across it on both sides. I walked admiring the natural beauty of the place and finally reached the site of the majestic Talatal Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam.

A beautiful monument welcomes you here and one is left in awe with the sheer architecture of this place even though after many attacks only a certain part of this place remains visible to the visitors. These days visitors are allowed to visit the ground floor and the top floor of the Talatal Ghar and the series of underground mazes have been sealed off due to reports of many people getting lost in these confusing tunnel mazes and entire search teams had to be called in to look after them. But one can get to see the place from where these tunnels started. Not only the tunnels even when you go about exploring the ground floor of the Talatal Ghar there is a fair chance you might get lost trying to find your way across the place due to the shear area of the place. I walked around the premises of the Talatal Ghar in Assam admiring the architecture and trying to find my way across the place. After exploring the ground floor I went to the first floor from where I could get a view of the entire area of the place. The sun was right above my head and it was getting a little uncomfortable so I came back down and wound up my visit at the Talatal ghar in Assam moving forward to explore the next destination viz. the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar.

The Rang Ghar is a short drive away from the Talatal Ghar and is located just next to the main road that passes across Sivasagar town. One has to park the car along the roads where there is ample space for parking but keeping in mind the commute of the other cars that passes on the roads or else there is a good chance of having you car being towed away by the Sivasagar traffic police and the clear demarcation on the roads is in place to keep the vehicles parked and then go in to visit the grandeur of Asia’s Oldest Amphitheatre – the Rang Ghar. The name in English ‘Rang Ghar’ translates to the House of Entertainment and this was the Royal pavilion of the Ahom Kings where they watched various sports activities that were organized here like wrestling, buffalo fights, cock fights and the performance of the Bihu dance that happened on a grand scale here at the grounds of the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam. The Ahom kings were true patrons of art and architecture and this resulted in them introducing the Bihu dance of Assam and their renowned architecture could be seen across Assam in the form of various temples, monuments and forts. It was with their patronization that art flourished across Assam and people became adept weavers in bamboo and handlooms and various other handicraft works.

With their patronization the Holy Saint Guru Srimanta Shankardeva was able to successfully preach the principle of Eksarna where he preached that all human beings are equal and shouldn’t be differentiated on the basis of caste that had led to the abolishment of the caste system in Assam from a very early time. Coming back to the Rang Ghar I walked in to the site of the place after purchasing my tickets at the counter and a beautiful orange colored building greeted me that looked like an inverted boat shaped structure kept in top of the monument. Being a royal pavilion one could get a panoramic view of the entire performances on the grounds of the Rang Ghar. The Rupahi Pathar or the huge playground that is present at the entrance of this monument at Sivasagar in Assam is where most of the traditional games like bull fights, wrestling, elephant fights, cock fights, etc. were held. The games held at the grounds of the Rang Ghar got quite good recognition and patronization of from the Ahom kings and this helped in spreading these games to the other parts of Ahom kingdom as well. I walked into in to building of the Rang Ghar and the unique Ahom architecture could be seen here as well.

Built with flat red bricks and the mortar of lime, duck eggs, black lentil, borali mach (an oily catfish). This has made the Rang Ghar so strong that even after surviving the major earthquake of Assam it still stands strong major earthquakes of Assam it still stands strong. However due to drilling activities of the prominent oil exploration company of India ONGC that has its offices and operation at Nazira near Sivasagar in Assam has led to the development of cracks on the walls of Rang Ghar and the efforts involved in construction of this monument from the government could be seen as there was repair works going on the day I visited and works were going on the day I visited and workers were using up new bricks and mortar matching the color of the Rang Ghar in Assam to restore its in its earlier form and color. Rang Ghar is a two storied building that has a ground floor and on top floor. The top floor is where the king and queen used to sit to enjoy the performances. Although the monument looks very big from the front view the width is quite narrow and a steep fleet of stairs lead to the top floor. I climbed up and saw the place where the great ancestors of mine used to sit to enjoy the games and dance performances and one could get a wonderful wide angle view from the top floor of the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam.

The majestic green view of the Rupahi Pathar made my heart and soul fill with peace and I could imagine how royalty would have felt like. I got down from the top floor and then went behind the Rang Ghar to admire the grandeur of its construction and right here is a stone edifice that details the description of the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam. It would be noteworthy to mention that the construction of this House of Entertainment was commissioned by the great Ahom king Rudra Singha and it was at first constructed with wood and bamboo. However, later King Pramatta Singha allowed the construction of this historic monument of Rang Ghar in Assam with brick and mortar and it stands tall even today. I finished my exploration of the Rang Ghar by clicking a few pictures and bid goodbye to the place to head on to the next destination – the Siva Doul temple at Sivasagar in Assam. On the way to the Siva Doul temple I spotted a huge artificial man made lake/tank called as the Joysagar tank here in Sivasagar. I remembered my times during my childhood here when our family used to visit my mother’s elder sister’s family during our annual school vacations almost around 25 years back. I was still a child and my cousin was a year older to me and we had a great bond together and we enjoyed playing around the Joysagar tank.

This was the same aunt who had accompanied me to the Jonbeel mela festival at jagiroad in Assam and her husband was posted at Sivasagar as an engineer at the PWD of Assam. Their quarters were just adjacent to the Joysagar lake and we used to cycle around the area of the tank. Those times there used to be hardly any cars on the road as cars were considered to a symbol of luxury and the roads were ruled by the Ambassador and Fiat cars of India. We had a maruti 800 vehicle that was launched recently then and my parents were proud owners of one such smaller vehicle. The Joysagar tank is an artificially dug out tank excavated during the reign of the Ahom King Rudra Singha to mark the memory of his mother Joymatio. It was in the year 1697 and as per records this lake was dug out at approximately 45 days by an army of men. Covering an area of 318 acres half of which is under water the Joysagar tank is the largest man made lake in India. An interesting fact is that the waters of this lake never dry out and even though there is no other source feeding the tank it seems to automatically retain its content even after a long period of dry spell as well. Surrounding the tank are temples in all four directions and it was constructed in a manner to have all the temples in these directions and that too in a record time of only 45 days.

I did not stop at the Joysagar tank and instead took a drive around the perimeter of this tank and even got to see the quarter of the home of my cousin that I had visited quite a few number of times. After this I made the final stop before lunch at the Siva Soul temple at Sivasagar in Assam. One of the most holy temple shrines of Assam dedicated to Lord Shiva located here at Sivasagar in Assam. The unique feature of this temple is the ‘Doul’ or the dome atop the temple that is made of pure gold and is visible from a far off distance as well. The beautiful dome of the Siva Doul was sparkling as the afternoon sun rays were falling on it. As it was in the afternoon time not many devotees were around the place and this temple sees thousands of footfalls especially during certain holy months as per the Hindu calender. I got in touch with one of the temple priest who took around the Siva Doul temple. This holy temple shrine of the Siva Doul is actually a group of structures that comprises mainly of three temple shrines viz. the temples of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Durga. The temple shrine also houses a museum and a tank adjoining the temple area called as the Borpukhuri tank. These holy temple shrine was built in 1734 by the queen of the great Ahom King Bir Siba Singha – Bar Raja Ambika.

The Golden Dome on top of the shrine is 8 feet in length. The museum present here at the Siva Doul at Sivasagar in Assam illustrates the rich and varied heritage of the Tai Ahom people of Assam along with the description of the Ahom kingdom and artefacts as well. It might be noteworthy to mention that in addition to the temple shrine along the banks of the Borpukhuri tank there is a church and two mosques as well that symbolizes that people of all faiths who reside at Sivasagar in Assam live in complete peace and harmony. The temple priest showed me around and he helped me purchase a few items to offer for prayers as well. The beautiful temple shrine is simply breathtaking with its special Shikhara architecture and the Shiva temple forms the center tower here at the Siva Doul temple at Sivasagar in Assam. The entire masonry is with stone and bricks and the unique natural red color makes the building color look more attractive. The priest led me to the inside of the temple sanctum and ‘Garbhagriha’ as it is called has a stone structure that resembles a Shiva Linga. Every year during the Maha Shivaratri festival of Assam and India, lakhs of pilgrims from all over Assam and North East India come to Sivasagar to offer their worship here at the Shiva Linga at the inner sanctum.

As the temple shrine also had a Goddess Durga temple – the festival of Durga Puja is also celebrated with great pomp and vigour in the month of October. Some of the other festivals celebrated at this temple are the Doul Yatra and Rath Yatra along with the month of Shravan where the major attraction is the chanting of the Hare Krishna and Hare Rama chants across the night. The entire temple walls in the exterior are covered with sculptures and floral designs and the inner sanctum of the Siva Doul at Sivasagar has four identical towers called as ‘Angashikharas’. The priest helped me to offer my prayers at the inner sanctum along with a few other devotees and the atmosphere was a peaceful one with the occasional chanting of the mantras by the priest. We were offered the prasad and the flowers after the prayer and we came out of the inner sanctum of this temple shrine. At the outside I admired the statues that were carved out of stone along the walls of the temple and one unique state present at the Siva Doul temple at Sivasagar in Assam is that of Goddess Durga that is a huge idol with 16 arms that depicts Goddess Durga decimating Mahishasura – the demon king with a buffalo head. Goddess Durga is depicted killing Mahishasura by thrusting a spear across his heart and Goddess Durga is riding a lion and this represents the Shaktism cult that was adopted by the Ahom Kings of Assam across their entire kingdom.

It was already late afternoon and I decided to leave the place to continue on my journey but the priest insisted me to have a look at the Vishnu Dol as well as it si a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the architecture of this temple and so I obliged. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the Vishnu Doul is a honeycomb design that has a vertical elevation and undulating pattern. Alongside this temple there are two other temples dedicated to Rama and Hanuman as well. I thanked the priest for helping me see about this historic temple shrine of Assam and paid him some money as Dakshina and then started on my drive out of Sivasagar to Dibrugarh in Upper Assam. I stopped on the way at Hotel Monalisa at the Sivasagar bypass and decided to treat myself to a sumptuous Assamese cuisine meal before heading to Dibrugarh. I ordered for a Tai thali that had various traditional offerings from pork, fish, herbs and even the traditional Tai Ahom beverage called as the Xaaj. Xaaj is another for of traditional liquor of Tai Ahom people of Assam that is brewed by fermentation of rice. I used to remember my father brining this drink home and my mother getting angry due to the strong pungent smell of the beverage. I had once tried this beverage after stealing a glass of it while I was young but that time I disliked it mostly because of the taste and strong aroma to the beverage but this time I loved it. The aroma actually makes the drink all the more interesting. The meal was an elaborate display of the great Tai Ahom standards with pork being one of the important ingredients and this meal had pork boiled with bamboo shoot and a stick pork roast as well. The rice was the Joha rice of Assam and other accompaniments were black dal, yellow dal, sour fish curry with tomato, herbs cooked into a curry, etc.

After finishing this wonderful lunch my drive to Dibrugarh commenced and I crossed Demow town to reach Moran shortly. Moran is one of the other major tea growing towns of Upper Assam and along the drive from Sivasagar to Dibrugarh one can see the lush cover of tea gardens all along. From Moran town I had to take a left diversion to go towards Dibrugarh because the straight road leads to Naharkatia, Jeypore and further upto Duliajan to connect Digboi and Margherita in the far corners of Upper Assam but as I intended to reach Dibrugarh town today I decided to take a left and head further. The roads across are two way lanes and with occasional pot holes on the way and I could see the construction of a four way lane in progress that would give an immense boost to the infrastructure of Assam as these roads are used to commute by various people who travel in buses, private vehicles and trucks that transport goods and minerals as well. I reached the village of Khowang in sometime and this is the place where we used to stop during our trips across Assam during our school vacations while returning to home at Tipong and my mother used to purchase the fresh vegetables and fish that the villagers sell along the roads here. The river Khowang flows across this place depositing fertile soil along the river banks and the local people use this land as an opportunity to grow seasonal vegetables and later bring in their produce to setup make shift stalls alongside the roads and sell them to the passing cars.

This road sees sufficient traffic as it is the road connecting the mainland of Upper Assam with places rich in mineral deposits to the gateway of Assam viz. Guwahati and also the easternmost frontiers of India at Arunachal Pradesh and with the introduction of the Bogibeel bridge this traffic is destined to grow with connectivity to Pasighat and the frontiers at Mechuka. I stopped my car at one of the vendor stalls and I went to purchase some vegetables and fish to carry to my aunt’s home and perhaps have it over dinner as well. The pumpkins looked very nice and delicious and without the use of fertilizers and pesticides used to grow these vegetables it would be sure that these would retain their natural flavour and the vendor had cut pieces of the pumpkin and kept them for sampling for the visitors. Generally these naturally grown pumpkins don’t have a very orangey color and instead they have a tinge of green once you slice out the skin of the vegetables and these ones surely had the green along the borders. Also a very good sign to indicate that these were grown naturally was the infestation of worms on certain of the vegetables that indicated the no medicinal component were added to grow these vegetables.

I picked one medium sized pumpkin, some gourd, some bitter gourd, brinals and then I walked to the section of the fish vendors here at Khowang in Assam. The river Khowang is rich in marine life and various fishes are to be found in the waters here and this was on display with these vendors. From small river fishes to the huge cat fishes like Borali fish, Aari fish, Sital fish all were present here and at rates much lesser compared to the local markets in Guwahati. Some fish were priced 50% less compared to the ones we find at the Ganeshguri market at Guwahati in Assam. There was one drawback though the vendors here sold the fish whole and one couldn’t just buy a portion and so I had to choose one that was not very big in size as my aunt’s family at Dibrugarh has a family of four but both their children were studying at universities outside of Dibrugarh that would mean it would only be the three of us. I choose one Aari fish variety that weighed around one and half kilograms in total and I paid only INR 600 for the fish and I paid and extra 50 bucks for the vendor to get the fish gutted and chopped into smaller pieces so that my aunt didn’t have to go through the trouble of cleaning the fish. After this I left the place and by spending only INR 800 I had made a good deal here at the Khowang market in Assam.

The drive started and gradually I crossed the bridge over river Khowang and reached the area of the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer limited. A huge campus of the BCPL is located on the right hand side of the road crossing the All India Radio (AIR) station at Dibrugarh in Assam. The actual site area is called as Lepetkata and is near the Dibrugarh town. Assam is a state rich in oil reserves and other minerals and the local people have been demanding the government for the establishment of organizations that will be able to harness the potential of hydrocarbon and make the state on the leading producers of various products out of these natural reserves. The BCPL was one such agreement between the Union Government and the people of Assam that was signed as per the Assam Accord of 1985. The complex is set over 3000 bighas of land and today produces the products like High density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene along with hydrogenated pyrolysis gasoline and pyrolysis fuel oil. There is a huge security checkpoint at the entrance of the BCPL complex managed by CISF and the CISF themselves have a huge colony that is visible from the road here at Lepetkata in Assam. After crossing this place comes the site of the Bogibeel bridge and I had to take a left diversion to go to the Bogibeel bridge and as I was scheduled to visit the place tomorrow I decided to go further to Dibrugarh town to my aunt’s place as I had planned to reach before sundown so that my aunt doesn’t keep calling me continuously on my phone to check about my whereabouts.

Shortly I reached the Dibrugarh University campus and the series of speed breakers on the road just at the entrance of the university here in Assam is a sign that one is about to reach Dibrugarh town. The Dibrugarh University is one among the oldest universities of Assam setup in 1965 that is a teaching cum affiliating university and had a campus for computer studies, institute of engineering and technology, center for management studies, center for juridical studies, etc. A sprawling campus greets you here at the Dibrugarh university and I have few of my school friends who are associate professors teaching here. I did not enter the campus and drove past it and i approached Dibrugarh town in Assam and at the traffic junction I took a right to go towards Milan Nagar in Dibrugarh while the straight road leads to the heart of Dibrugarh town at the market called as the H S Road a place dominated by the Marwari community who are the principal trading community of not only Assam but across India. I kept driving and reached the Dibrugarh sports grounds and there was a book fair going on here. From here I took aright o tgo to Milan Nagads and finally reached my aunt’s home and my aunt and uncle were waiting at the gate to welcome me to their home. My uncle had recently retired from his services at the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited and he was holding a senior management position at this organization before his retirement and so he built his home here at Dibrugarh mostly because their family was staying in this part of Assam since a long time and also as my uncle’s village is closer to Dibrugarh at Jhanji and today this place in Assam is among the fastest growing cities in the state with access to best educational and healthcare sectors in the region.

The Assam Medical College that I would be visiting tomorrow at Dibrugarh is the oldest Medical college in the region and also the center where the first X Ray unit of India was established by the great British doctor and scholar Dr. John Berry White of the legacy AR&T company that was the pioneer in the discovery of Oil, Tea and coal in this region of Upper Assam. Some of the major hospitals at Dibrugarh are Sanjeevani, Aditya, NM Nursing home, etc. The rail and air connectivity present at the Dibrugarh railway station and the Mohanbari airport connects this town to major metro cities in India and this helps in the trade to flourish in the district as well. My father had earlier planned to settle down at Dibrugarh in Assam post retirement and he had even brought some land and started construction of a house here very close to the site of my aunt’s home but this was many years back. Even after 80% completion in the construction of the house my father decided that Guwahati would be a better place to reside after retirement and also as most of our family members are residing at Guwahati he would shift his base to Guwahati in Assam and so he sold this house at Dibrugarh at a very cheap rate and began construction of his house at Guwahati. My father had done some very regrettable decisions in his life and selling this house at the price he agreed was one among the prime among those decisions. Yet I remember when my mother’s elder sister the one who went with me to the Jonbeel mela and the one who was earlier staying at Sivasagar also owned a house here at Dibrugarh and they stayed here for quite a long time before moving to Guwahati. We used to come to my aunt’s home every friday evening and my father used to see the work at his house at Dibrugarh on saturday and sunday and we would return to Baragolai by Sunday evening.

Reliving those moments from my childhood here at Dibrugarh was a rewarding experience. Anyways I walked into my aunt’s house and gave the things I had brought along to my aunt who thanked me for it and we sat down to have tea. My aunt and uncle stayed at their home as their daughter and son were studying at Tezpur and Guwahati in Assam and so they came home only during their vacations. So it would be only the three of us to stay and my aunt got to discussing about my parents and how my venture was going about. My uncle brought out the topic of visiting the book fair because he knew that I was good at my academics during school and my father always used to take me to book fairs and we used to return home with a load of books. My prize at the book fairs of Assam would however be the WWF trump cards that I used to treasure and show off in front of my friends. It was the time when cable was introduced in Assam and I remember we had installed huge dish antenna at our bungalow in Tipong Colliery as the entire colony of CIL officials used to receive channels from this satellite network. At that time there were only three channels on cable we received Zee tv, Star Sports and MTV and I was introduced to the World of WWF as it was called during that time and as a kid I used to think that the beating the superstars unleashed on each other were actually true. My father used to tell me that these were all a make up and I remember fighting with him on the topic and telling him it WWF was false then all the boxing matches he used to see were also fake. Anyways coming back to the topic of the bookfair I agreed to accompany my uncle and my aunt would stay back home and prepare dinner. I freshened up and at 6 PM we went out to the Chowkidingee field to the bookfair.

The Dibrugarh book fair is one among the largest book fairs in Assam after the one in Guwahati and the vendors from across India come to participate here and attracts visitors from various parts of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. With the advent of the ecommerce websites and apps and the availability of the popular volumes on the internet for sale the craze among people had definitely gone down as compared to the earlier years but yet I could see a fair amount of people gather at the bookfair as this is a place to bond and spend time with the family. I could see around that while the parents were strolling about the stalls looking to identify the books they wanted to buy but the young children were mostly staying glued to the mobile phones and taking a corner seat. I would certainly agree that technology has helped a lot in the modern world and today having the world at your fingertips with the mobile phone and data services seeking information at an instant has become as easy as a piece of cake. From making video calls, searching for information, connecting with people and friends from around the world, sharing thoughts and views to people from across the world, watching movies and series on demand, etc the internet has made the World indeed a smaller place to connect to.

But as what costs? I certainly agree that I am myself a huge fan of the internet and I am what I am today because of the power of the internet that helps me connect with people from far off as USA, Australia, Russia, Slovakia, Canada, etc and this is the only mode that has helped me host tourists from as far as 12 countries in Assam but I can say that I spend most of my production tiem on the internet. But when I see these children, many from Assam who believe internet is just about facebook, instagram, youtube and the chinese video app of tik tok it really makes me worried about the future of Assam and India as well. Seeing people glued to the mobile screens really frightens me as the only thing they are doing is putting a lot of strain on their eyes and leading a sedentary lifestyle that is making the people obese and unhealthy. While I am in support of people trying to showcase their talent over the internet but jost posting a picture and waiting to get likes and comments I don’t think is an apt use of something as powerful as the internet. And one of the biggest apps that has created a lot of buzz in Assam and India is whatsapp. While it is one of the most powerful avaitable apps today that allows users to share pictures, videos and texts at an instant including the most popular video calling feature and voice over internet, people in Assam have taken this to an entirely next level of believing each and everything they receive on whatsapp. It is like a new channel for them and they believe anything and everything that is shared on whatsapp. This is very dangerous and there is no one to really verify what is being forwarded and with many of the people with the lack of basic education and with the possession of a smart phone and internet access in their hands this can prove to be a catastrophic combination.

Coming back to the Dibrugarh book fair I was in surprise with the stalls as they had a fair collection of books and I was delighted to see the volumes of John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon and Agatha Christie novels here. These were some of my favorites novels from school and I always loved reading these murder mysteries mostly because the ideas drawn by the author intrigued me. I bought a couple of books to read at my leisure time back home at Margherita in Assam and my uncle too bought a few book volumes here at the Dibrugarh book fair.At 7.30 PM we went back home to have our dinner and I too was tired after a long day and needed to rest before I spent the next day exploring Dibrugarh – the tea county of Assam. At home my aunt cooked the fish in a tangy tomato curry and the pumpkin was mashed and made into a paste with boiled potatoes, raw coriander and fried garlic and onions and black salt. The dinner also had dal and a ladies finger fry dish. The vegetables and fish tasted so very fresh and I was wondering how nice life would have been if one got to eat such naturally green food and naturally caught fish at our homes in the cities instead of having to rely on vegetables and fruits laced with fertilizers and broiler chicken and fish from the fisheries. After a sumptuous dinner we sat discussing for a while while my uncle brought out an aged bottle of scotch from his cabinet. He poured himself a glass and offered me as well. I was not sure to drink with him as it is a strict ritual in my family not to drink with the elders but my uncle was an exception and he was ok with it.

I helped myself with a little of it and my uncle poured some soda and the single malt tasted just wonderful and nothing better to relax after a drink and get a good night’s sleep. The next morning after getting up I took my cousin’s cycle and rode it to the site where my father had built his house at Dibrugarh in Assam and it is a very short ride from my aunt’s place. My aunt’s house is at the I lane of Milan nagar while the other house was at the J lane. So I roide and reached the place to relive the moments of my childhood here. To my surprise the new owner built huge walls around the house and also the gate was quite high. I walked in and saw whether the person would recognize me or not and he immediately did and he was a retired doctor from the Govt of Assam service and he welcomes me in and asked me about my parents and to convey my regards to my father and mother. The uncle was staying with his wife as both his sons were staying at Bangalore and were reputed engineers there working with an MNC firm. He spoke to me about Bangalore and how bad the traffic was there as he had just come over from there few days back as he went there to spend time with his children and grandchildren. The aunty offered me some tea and in sometime I left the place to go back to my aunt’s place to get ready to visit the places in Dibrugarh. I would start by exploring the campus of the Assam Medical College and later visit the Mancotta heritage tea garden bungalow to end the day by strolling at the banks of the Brahmaputra river. I would visit the Bogibeel bridge and my other aunt’s place the next day and the day after I would continue to travel to the Tai Phake Ecotourism camp near Naharkatia in Assam and later travel further to Margherita crossing Duliajan and Digboi.

I had a breakfast of hot rotis, a paneer matar sabji, pickle, boiled eggs, tea and then went out to explore the beautiful town of Dibrugarh in Assam. My main intention of visiting Dibrugarh was to watch the Bogibeel Bridge (India’s longest rail cum road bridge) nearing its phase of completion and to visit the Mancotta Heritage Tea Bungalow as many of the guests have been enquiring about the tea garden stay options in Assam and while I had been to the Wild Mahseer at Balipara in Tezpur and the Wathai Heritage Tea Bungalow at Tinsukia and also the Burrashaib Bungalow at Jorhat I had to finish exploring the Mancotta Tea garden bungalow at Dibrugarh and while I was at it I would also visit the Tea County Hotel here that is a premium boutique hotel in Upper Assam. So I drove past Milan nagar towards the town to go to the Assam Medical College and Hospital at Dibrugarh town in Assam. My mother did her MBBS from the Assam Medical College and she always wanted me to pursue medicine as my career option when I grew up. But hospitals made me sick and I always try my level best to avoid hospitals and only go there when its utmost required when any of my relatives happen to be admitted due to old age ailments. I must admit that I was once admitted to a hospital when I had kidney stones and I must blame myself for it because I was leading a life of unhealthy processed food and junk food during my times in college and the meals I would survive on would be meat and perhaps no vegetables at all.

This led to my blood pressure levels rising and also some other complications as well. After I came back to Assam I realized that it was due to the lifestyle and food habits I had that caused all the problems and so I changed my food habits and started the habit of walking regularly and this did wonders for me. The fish and natural vegetables I included in my diet helped me to shed weight and lower by blood pressure to a better normal. Coming back to Dibrugarh, I reached the market area of Dibrugarh town in Assam and then headed towards the Assam Medical College and Hospital area. I remembered visiting this place many years ago when my mother and father took me and my younger brother to show me the place where she had studied and my mother proudly took me around the campus and the hostel where she had stayed. After her graduation as a doctor she joined NECF (CIL) to work along with my father who was already working here at the Makum Coalfields in Assam. The Assam Medical College and Hospital is the first Medical College in North East India and with the import of 2 X Ray units from London in 1910 it was the first in India to have a radiology department. Today it is the oldest and the premier medical institute of North East India.

Dr. John Berry White one of the retired Brigadiers of the British Army and later a civil surgeon of the Lakhimpur district of Assam in 1870 who also helped establish the various industries during the exploration of upper Assam and he so much fell in love with the place that he decided to spend this lifetime savings of INR 50,000 to establish the Berry White Medical School here at Dibrugarh in Assam. Later this became the Assam Medical College and started admission of students towards various courses in medicine and today there is a 192 bedded super speciality hospital and along with it a 60 bedded ICU and various special departments like neurology, neurosurgery, nephrology, paediatrics, etc. here at Dibrugarh in Assam. My main intention was to visit the Dr. John Berry White medical school building here as this would be of prime importance to tourists who would want to witness the first radiology department of India here and so I walked through the campus inquiring about the place and one of the guards after checking my purpose of visit took me to the place. Today the Assam Medical College has a huge campus and the rustic colonial charm in present in the construction and this can be seen across the campus and along with it modern building construction have also come up.

I walked past these buildings and finally arrived at the Berry White Memorial School. Of late the Govt. of Assam had decided to preserve this building and construct a museum as well that would detail the old practices of medical equipment here in Assam and I could see consultants gathering data and information already to begin construction process for this museum. The building has been maintained but has lost its old glorious charm and hopefully after the construction begins it would relive its moments of grandeur back again. After spending some more time at the beautiful campus of the Assam Medical College and Hospital at Dibrugarh I left to travel to the next destination for the day. I could see various hospitals, nursing homes and medical stores now being built around the area of the Assam Medical College and Hospital. I drove around the area for a while and later went to the town again towards the Mancotta Tea garden Bungalow. The Mancotta tea garden bungalow is located close to the beautiful tea gardens off Mancotta road here at Dibrugarh town. A beautiful colonial environment welcomes visitors here at the Mancotta heritage tea garden bungalow. This bungalow is almost around 150 years old and was earlier home of the british tea plantation managers which has been converted to a place for tourists to witness and feel the royalty of the erstwhile British Raj here in Assam. Today it is operated by Purvi Discovery Pvt. ltd. that is also one of the oldest and premier tour companies of North East India. The group also operates the Wathai Heritage Tea garden Bungalow near tinsuki ain Assam as well.

I parked my car and went in to explore the beautiful area of the Mancotta heritage tea bungalow at Dibrugarh in Assam. I was welcomed by one of the staff and I told her my purpose of visit and she at first lost interest because she thought of me to be a guest at the bungalow but on letting her know how I intended to promote Assam across the internet she was delighted and showed me around the bungalow. The Mancotta tea garden bungalow is surrounded by the lush tea plantations a view that is very much similar across the various other tea estate bungalows of Assam the can be seen around Upper Assam and the bungalow has been redecorated to have both a mix of traditional Assamese and British colonial styles. Though it would be a delight to any tourist visiting this bungalow but since I have stayed in traditional British bungalows the most part of my childhood as in because here at the North Eastern Coalfields most of the homes of the managers and agents of the collieries were the British Bungalows and I stayed at ones in Baragolai, Tipong and Margherita as well. Yet the decor was delightful and what impressed me the most was the grand dining room at the Mancotta tea garden bungalow. The girl told me that the guests are served morning breakfast each day at the terrace of the Bungalow and the stay here at the bungalow is a experience to cherish for a lifetime during your visit to Assam.

The girl took me around the Bungalow and showed me the interiors of the deluxe and standard rooms at the Mancotta heritage tea bungalow. From each of the rooms one can get a wonderful view of the tea garden and the lush green Patkai mountain range of Assam. The activities organized at the Mancotta tea garden bungalow are boat rides in the Brahmaputra, visit to the nearby tea gardens and tea factories, cultural dance performances, short hikes, etc. The kitchen area here at the Mancotta tea bungalow serves some delicious and impeccable assamese cuisine and continental cuisine as well and the tea served here is brought in freshly from the nearby tea gardens around it imparting a wonderful aroma to the entire dining hall area of the Mancotta tea bungalow at Dibrugarh in Assam. I went to the front office area to enquire about the pricing and the booking procedure here and the manager lily explained the entire process of reservation to me and they even offered me a cup of fresh tea that was processed in their local tea gardens as well. I finished my exploration of the Mancotta tea bungalow and later went back to my aunt’s place for lunch. After lunch we would rest for sometime and then I would go to the banks of the Brahmaputra river to take a walk around and at 4 PM we had planned to explore the beautiful Jagannath Temple at Dibrugarh in Assam.

My aunt had prepared an elaborate meal for lunch and it was a mix of some traditional assamese cuisine and north indian as well. My uncle had invited some other family members for lunch as well who too were staying at Dibrugarh somewhere close to my aunt’s home. I remembered the family as they were the distant cousins of my mother and aunt and I had even visited their home once when I was a small kid. The families from the older times in Assam were a joint family and they used to grow up together and the family size was big as well. For example in my own family my mother had around seven siblings and from my father’s side he had five siblings. The concept of “Hum Do, Hamare Do” was a far flung idea that is mostly prevalent across India to control the even growing population of this country. This is proving to be a major problem in the country and without proper education people go on expanding their families with the hope that if its a boy child means he would be an additional hand to augment the income the family. Even today in many parts of the country the birth of a girl child is considered a bad omen mostly because a girl is seen a burden to the family because show would one day go off to another family in marriage and the father would have to spend a lot of money to get her married off as well. But the scenario is very different in Assam and other states of North East India where the girl child is not considered as a burden and instead the family rejoices the birth of a girl child.

Girls are equally empowered as the boys and they are not confined to the four walls of the kitchen and the house. Girls take part in every activity in the house from working in the agricultural fields and even running shops and business establishments as well. If you visit the state of Meghalaya you will get to experience this in front of your eyes where all ladies are running shops and supporting their families as already mentioned and same is the case in the tribal states of Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal pradesh and Mizoram as well. Coming back to the lunch we sat down to have a delicious meal of chicken curry, veg pulao, white rice, fish fry, mix veg sabji, chutney, dal and salad and the food tasted very sumptuous. The other uncle’s daughter had prepared a fruit salad for desert and along with it we had ice cream as well. After such a nice lunch I felt a sleepy and so i decided to take a short nap before I ventured out again to visit the Brahmaputra banks. But to my dismay by the time I got up it was already 3.30 PM and we had to visit the Jagannath temple at Dibrugarh in Assam. So I had to drop the idea of visiting the Brahmaputra and instead we drove to the Jagannath temple as we were more people we had to take two of our cars. We reached the huge temple complex of the Jagannath temple here at Dibrugarh in Assam. A beautiful temple complex welcomed us here and the entire area is huge and spread across a huge campus.

The Jagannath temple at Dibrugarh in Assam is a replica of the same and the more renowned temple located at Puri in Orissa and it is in similar grounds like the Balaji temple at Guwahati in Assam with a message to spread the word of peace across Assam and the North East Indian States which were marked with insurgency during the earlier times. The entire temple building looks dark orange in color and is spread across a sprawling lawn. The temple atmosphere is calm and serene and I could see the various families sitting on the lawn and spending their time at leisure at the temple. Our family walked around the temple admiring the beautiful structure and as the temple had been constructed and opening for darshans has started recently this was the first time the other members of the family were visiting the Jagannath Temple at Dibrugarh as well. We had to remove our shoes before entering the main shrine of the temple to seek our blessings and most of the priests here were from Orissa who had come over to Assam and settled here to spend their life dedicated to the services of the Lord again similar to the Balaji temple at Guwahati in Assam where all the temple priests were from Tirupati Balaji in Andhra Pradesh. One of the temple priests welcomed us in and helped us see the inside of the temple premise and also helped us offer our prayers here at the deity room and he also led us to the bhog section where we got a prasad of payasam and ladoos. There is a voluntary temple donation box at the outside and devotees offer their money to the development and maintenance of the temple at the Dibrugarh in Assam. My uncles and I donated some amount as a way of our gratitude for having such a divine place of worship at Dibrugarh in Assam and later we sat for a while on the green lawn of the temple and finally left the temple premises.

My uncle and family decided to go to the market area to do some shopping of household supplies and I made my way to the Tea County Hotel at Dibrugarh in Assam. Located at the Chowkidingee area this is one of the premier boutique hotels in Upper Assam and is a comfortables stay option during your visit to Upper Assam at the Tea County of India at Dibrugarh. A lovely reception area is there to welcome the esteemed guests. The unique part of this hotel is that it is away from the national highway and has a beautiful tea garden located just adjacent to the property. The rooms of this unique boutique hotel are very spacious (345 sq feet) and has adequate natural lighting and beautiful landscapes of Dibrugarh in Assam. I looked into the rooms here and enquired about the booking and pricing details and the lady at the reception area eagerly helped me with the details. My visit to the tea county hotel at Dibrugarh ended sooner than I had expected and so I called my aunt who was still at the market area so I decided to go to the market area at Dibrugarh. During my corporate years I used to often come to Dibrugarh to meet the dealers in computers, laptops and other computer hardware as I was working with a leading MNC distributing these components across Assam and North East India and so I had a good rapport with the shop owners who used to also work with leading government organizations here in Upper Assam like ICL, OIL, CIL, NTPC, BCPL, NEEPCO, etc. So I decided to go to the market and just say hello to them and see how their businesses were farign after I had left the organization to start my own travel company in Assam.

I reached the HS road market area in Dibrugarh town and luckily found myself a parking spot here. I went into the market and reached the shops here at Dibrugarh in Assam where I used to come and have long meetings with the owners. All of them recognized me and went on asking me for tea/coffee and they were all eager to find out where I had suddenly disappeared and I told them about my new venture and most of them were surprised as to how I managed to shift my domain entirely from IT to travel and leisure. I spoke to them for sometime and finally met up with my uncle and aunt and we drove back home ending another day of exploring the beautiful town of Dibrugarh in Upper Assam. At home, my uncle surprised us all as he planned a bonfire at his home on the terrace and had ordered catering for everyone so that my aunt didn’t have the trouble of cooking for all os us over again. Few of the neighbors were also invited as well and we would be having a Karaoke session and some barbecue as well. I freshened up and helped my uncle prepare the fireplace for the barbecue and as the wood was kept downstairs at the garage so I had to carry it a floor up to the terrace. The terrace was built with walls all around and one side there was a bigger wall that shielded the view for the other apartments that were standing tall and kept the view out of the others from my uncle’s house at Dibrugarh in Assam.

The neighbors started coming shortly and the house was filled with almost 20 people and my aunt led everyone upstairs where my uncle had arranged for seating on chairs. Some of them came with gifts in their hand and I wondered as to what the occasion was and it turned out it was the wedding anniversary of my uncle and aunt and I felt embarrassed as to not remembering the date and I apologized to my uncle and aunt for not wishing them earlier. Anyways the celebrations started here at Dibrugarh in Assam and the neighbors who were my uncle’s colleagues earlier and they too had retired from their services now. The catering arrived as well and it was an elaborate dinner as I could understand looking at the number of utensils they had brought along. They arranged the containers in the kitchen and my aunt would serve the food in casseroles and keep in on the table for dinner while refilling the containers that got empty. But looking at the quantity of snacks bought along I was sure the food would be left over and there would be no issues for breakfast and lunch tomorrow at the house. For the barbecue the skewers were prepared with chicken and paneer as few of the families did not eat pork and so it was best to avoid bringing that meat. The slow cooking process started with the men savorign their scotch and the pieces of meat and paneer being barbecued freshly and placed on plates for everyone to savour.

As everyone here had retired from their services in the Govt. of Assam they had ample time in their hands now and they had formed a committee that took part in various social causes, yoga classes and have get togethers like this one once in a month to celebrate some occasion in the neighbourhood and this was a way of bonding amongst themselves here at Dibrugarh in Assam. Everyone eagerly listened to my stories of the exploration of various states in North East India and my visit to certain destinations in Assam as well that they were not aware of. Surprisingly many of them had not visited the famous Kaziranga National park in Assam as well until now while they had explored almost the entire country. My stories of travel excited them and they informed me that they had no idea that their own state of Assam and also the neighboring states were so beautiful and I couldn’t blame them because the ‘grass always looks greener on the other side’. The karaoke was setup and the guests took their turns singing some old Assamese tunes and bollywood numbers of Kishore kumar as well and everyone was looking to have a real nice time as this get together event was held almost after 2 months. At 8.30 PM my aunt asked everyone to come for dinner as after dinner she had to arrange the emptied vessels as well. The food was arranged neatly on the table and it started with a veg fried rice, butter naan, mixed dal, mixed vegetable sabji, paneer butter masala, salad, pickle, fish curry and mutton rogan josh. It looked very delicious but then again I was sure that the health ratio of this food would be quite less as it was loaded with oil and spices. And no wonder there were numerous hospitals coming up in Assam because with the consumption of such food along with the fast foods are sure to land people in the hospitals after a due course of time.

Anyways I got to eating and I took small servings just to taste the food and I ensured to have enough lime on my plate to help ease away the spice in the food. The dinner ended at 9.30 PM and my aunt along with the other uncle’s daughter got to the kitchen to clean up the utensils while the men started to depart slowly to their homes after the bonfire went out by 10 PM. It was an eventful day and I went to bed shortly. The next morning was a nice sunny spring morning and as April had already set in and the flowers were all in blossom on the trees. It was the time for the grandest celebrations in Assam to begin from April 14-15 – the Rongali Bihu festival or the New Year of Assam. I had my morning tea and started to get ready to visit the Site of the future India’s longest rail cum road bridge – the Bogibeel bridge at Dibrugarh in Assam post which I would be coming back to town and we would visit my other aunt’s home at Chiring Chapori area in Dibrugarh. It was a huge home and as my aunt lived in Guwahati now there was no one staying here at present. My aunt wanted to rent out the place and so she had asked my uncle to help her get the house cleaned, painted and checked for minor repairs so that the tenants could move in. The top floor of the house would be put up on rent while the ground floor would be kept closed as it contained lots of furnitures that my uncle had bought during their times here at Dibrugarh in Assam.

I got ready and as I went for breakfast as I had anticipated, for breakfast I had some fried rice, paneer curry and then I started on the drive towards the Bogibeel bridge at Dibrugarh in Assam. I crossed the town area to reach the area of the University and continued further to reach the road diversion on the right to go on to the site of the Bogibeel bridge. From here it is another 15 minute drive across the beautiful countryside of Assam to reach the site where the bridge starts. The roads are good upto a particular stretch and then it gets bad as the construction work was under progress during my time of visit. I gradually crossed the road and the view of the grandeur of the Bogibeel bridge greeted my eyes. It was a mammoth construction project in place going on over the strongest rivers of India the mighty Brahmaputra and the water currents on the river was so strong that the engineers had a tough time planning and executing the construction of this bridge. The Bogibeel bridge at Dibrugarh in Assam connects the town of Dibrugarh to the south of Dhemaji in the Brahmaputra’s north and facilitates the movement of vehicles on the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh front thereby providing connectivity to over 5 million people in Arunachal Pradesh and Upper Assam as an alternate to the Kolia Bhomora bridge near Tezpur in Assam. Being the longest rail cum road bridge located in Assam the Bogibeel bridge will be upon completion a quick access for Indian army to transport troops along the border with Tibet to Arunachal Pradesh on the NH 15 that connects Dhemaji with Dibrugarh district.

I reached the Ghat where the ferry services operates at present transporting people and vehicles from Upper Assam to northern Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and this journey is quite lengthy as it takes around 2 hours to cross to the other side. The Bogibeel bridge will cut down this time to just about 20 minutes thereby providing relief to the people who need to use the ferry services to commute on the waters of the Brahmaputra. At the ghat, I could see various small stalls that served as restaurants and they were busy preparing for the day getting fresh fishes that were caught nearby and they were preparing food for the hundreds of people who would be crossing the ghat everyday. I was even scheduled to visit the Dhola-Sadiya bridge that was almost nearing its completion at Dhola ghat near Tinsukia in Assam and that would be India’s longest bridge and the longest river bridge in Asia and it was nice to see so many initiatives being undertaken by the Union Government to boost the connectivity infrastructure across Assam and this was good news for me as it would boost tourist inflow into the state and make Assam a favored tourism destination among the people of India and abroad as well. Coming back to the Bogibeel bridge I walked a little ahead near the construction site and the pillars looked quite strong to handle the flow of heavy traffic across the bridge as the Bogibeel bridge would have a double line railway route on the lower deck and a two lane road on the upper deck. As per reports this has been constructed in a manner to handle movement of battle tanks and even handle the landing of fighter jets. And also as the bridge is located in an earthquake prone zone, the Bogibeel bridge is the first in India to have fully welded steel concrete support beams that can withstand an earthquake upto a magnitude 7 on the richter scale.

After admiring the construction of the Bogibeel bridge I finally decided to return back after having tea at one of the small tea stalls at the ghat. One of the ferry that had left the other side of the ghat was scheduled to arrive in sometime and so the shop owners were all getting ready to welcome the guests who would take a break after the long ride and also the travellers who were waiting on this side of the ghat to board the ferry to go to the other side. I could see many tribal people from Arunachal Pradesh waiting here who had mostly come to the Assam side to shop for supplies to take them to Arunachal Pradesh at Pasighat mostly. As these people tend to eat rice mostly in the mornings so the vendors were all serving plates of food to the people who were getting ready to board the ferry once it arrived. I took my seat and saw one of the vendors frying fresh fish the was caught locally from the waters of the Brahmaputra and I couldn’t resist the temptation of having freshly fried fishes with salt, turmeric and curry leaves. I ordered for a boriola fish fry plate and the vendor got it to me in no time with a cup of tea. The fish was indeed very fresh and the seasoning of salt and turmeric along the curry leaves did wonder to its taste and the fish was so crunchy as it was deep fried and I helped myself with the plateful of fish and the black tea helped to ease it down my stomach as well. The bills was only INR 60 and after this I bid farewell to the ghat and the site of India’s longest rail cum road bridge to head on my drive back to Dibrugarh to visit my aunt’s home at the Chiring Chapori area. I called my uncle who was already present at the place and he had brought along a contractor and his team of workers who would be startign their work of cleaning and repairs at the house.

I reached in sometime and remembered all the old memories of visiting this huge house during my childhood. My days at this home were some of the most memorable days of my childhood as I used to get to play video games as my cousin had a gaming console way back in the early 1990s. My cousin’s father was an influential person and so he had money to buy my cousin a lot of expensive toys and he even owned a home inverter during that time when my parents who were both working couldn’t think of affording to buying of. For me all of the things at this house was a symbol of luxury including its construction that was a grandeur in itself with the ground floor having 10 rooms including a huge dining hall and living area and on the top floor having 5 rooms with a huge terrace and enough space to park five cars, house a small garden, a servant quarter and room enough to accomodate 4 pomeranian dogs as well here at Dibrugarh in Assam. I thought of telling my aunt that instead of putting this place for rent she could easily turn this into a guesthouse/homestay and visitors to Dibrugarh in Assam would simply love staying at this place. But as I mentioned earlier, the concept of business is a strong concept in my family and they are only into jobs and it so happened that my aunt had instructed my uncle not to lease out the place or rent to any person who practices business as a profession so I better dropped the idea.

Instead I relived my memoirs at this place as to when I had just started to play table tennis and my cousin who had just won the district championships in table tennis and seeing accolades from our family members so I took this as a challenge to beat him at the game and practiced hard so when we used to come to their house at Dibrugarh in Assam and the elder brother who used to come over from Bangalore as he was pursuing his engineering there we used to convert the dining table to a TT room and play our hearts out with my aunt shouting continuously for us to end the game. All these memoirs were com9ing back to my mind and I thought how nice the young life was free from all worries and enjoy the beautiful environment of Assam. One of my other uncles used to stay just two homes away from this house at Dibrugarh in Assam and he had invited us over for lunch at his house. My uncle went to pick up my aunt and I went along to the other uncle’s house. I spoke for the time until my uncle and aunt arrived about the various aspects of the developments in Assam and other progress in life aspects as this uncle of mine was a noted movie script writer and producer of Assamese movies and some of his movies were classics in Assa, and still screened across national television across Assam region.

He had a daughter and a son who were both elder to me and while the daughter was married and settled in Guwahati the son lived in Delhi and had married recently. My family had attended the marriage and this was a unique wedding in our family as the boy was an assamese and the girl he fell in love and got married to was a marwari girl. The family somehow accepted the relationship and finally one day they got married in a mixed of cultures wedding ceremony. My uncle was telling me about how different both the cultures were and how when he used to visit his son’s house in Delhi he would be having a challenging time to settle in as his daughter in law was a vegetarian and preparation of food was so different. But all is about the happiness of the children in the Assamese community (as long as you have a government or any job and not doing any entrepreneurship or business related activities). This aunt of mine was known in the family for cooking very delicious food and I was excited to have lunch today and my uncle believes in eating fresh food all raised in his garden behind the house. He believes that farm chicken is not good for health and as we eat lot of non vegetarian food in our diet he insists that people should eat everything but everything in small quantities. So whenever he sees people put mor rice on their plates he goes about telling them the ill effects of eating too much rice and how one should spread out their meals over the day and no wonder even at his age he was fit and toiled the entire day in his garden as he had now retired from the industry and spends his time at home with his wife with the occasional travel.

Lunch was served and it had a special assamese fern ‘dhekia’ cooked with duck eggs, a country chicken curry with pepper, eggplant stuffed with mashed potatoes, ladies finger cut and fried with potatoes, dal with papaya and carrot and a small fish roasted in banana leaf. My uncle served me with fresh cut Bhut Jolokia from his garden as I braved him that I could handle spicy food and I included Bhut Jolokia of Assan often in my diet. My words proved as a punishment for me as the Bhut Jolokia grown at my uncle’s garden was spicy as hell and no wonder it is the hottest pepper in the World and I could literally feel my entire face on fire after having just a small bite of the already chopped pieces of the chilly. My uncle then advised me that the best way to reap the benefits of this magic pepper while containing its heat is to smear the piece with some salt and this helps the saliva in the mouth to react slowly to the heat of this pepper of Assam. The local chicken is generally bony and one has to chew it up but this one was cooked over a long time in a slow cooking process and even the chicken was a younger one and so the meat was completely tenderized. This helped all the elderly -people who didn’t have strong teeth to be able to chew upon with ease. This lunch was very delicious and after last night’s meal of loads of spices and oil this food today heloped to be an ease on my stomach as well.

After lunch while my uncle and aunt stayed back at the place I decided to visit the banks of the Brahmaputra river to enjoy the view of the sunset and a stroll on the river banks and perhaps watch the local fishermen with the catch of the day. I took rest for sometime and at 3 PM I started on the drive towards the banks of the Brahmaputra river at Dibrugarh in Assam. The mighty Brahmaputra river flows as the Lohit in Arunachal pradesh and enters Assam near Dhola where it becomes the Brahmaputra river flowing all the way from Tibet crossing China and then entering India via Arunachal pradesh and finally flowing across Assam to merge in the Sundarban delta with the Ganges and the Yamuna river to flow into the Bay of Bengal. Although this river is a boon to the lifeline of the people of Assam it creates a havoc and chaos in the months of monsoons when the flood waters enters across many of the districts of Assam causing a lot of destruction to human and animal life as well as infrastructure. Every year the Brahmaputra displaces thousands of homes and leads to the loss of many human lives, But more than its destruction its revered for providing life to the people and the animals and in terms of fertile soils and numerous potential for agriculture. I crossed the District Administrative offices of Dibrugarh in Assam and there is an embankment along the way that prevents the waters of the Brahmaputra from entering the main town area in Dibrugarh. But with severe monsoons even this embankment doesn’t help and water somehow manages to flow into certain parts of the town leaving it submerged.

As Dibrugarh was earlier a very huge district before it was decided to make Tinsukia as the 233rd district of Assam so there are numerous buildings here that used to handle the proceedings in the district along with the district sessions court as well present here. I crossed these offices and took a left diversion to head to the banks of the river Brahmaputra at Dibrugarh in Assam. The river banks had dried up due to the end of the dry season and the monsoons expected to hit Assam is about another month. So the road was not present upto the river bank completely and to avoid getting stuck in the sand I decided to leave the car here and go walking a little ahead towards the river. There was a parking spot here and few shops around that were selling fresh fruits, snacks and tea. I decided to treat myself with freshly made pakoras after coming back from the river banks and the walk would help build an appetite as well. I started walking and after sometime I reached the beautiful banks of the Brahmaputra river of Assam. There were a lot of activities going on at the riverside with the local people going on their boats into the deeper waters to set up nets for fishing. On one side I could see tucks loading sand from the river side as this would be needed for construction purposes. Many visitors were coming over to spend their evenings here and there were makeshift stalls selling food items and hot beverages to the visitors. The river bank here at Dibrugarh in Assam was very clean when compared to certain beaches and other river banks and there were dustbins places at intervals for visitors to dispose off their thrash.

I took a short hike across the banks and tried to see what the fishermen had caught in the nets. They caught various varieties of fish from smaller ones to bigger ones like the catfish species of Borali and Aari and they were arranging them to be sent out to the markets to be sold while the smaller ones they kept for themselves to be taken home. The Brahmaputra river of Assam is rich in aquatic life and this could be seen at the river banks with the fishermen bringing in their catch and then it goes to the market. However at the market one has to be very careful while selecting the fishes because the traders here try to sell off the fishes bought from fisheries as caught from the rivers. One main reason to eat river fish is because it grows in a natural environment and hence it has a natural taste to it while the ones caught in fisheries are bred with artificial food and in a natural environment and so they do not taste quite good. It like similar to the difference between farm and country chicken. The country chicken tastes far more better then the farm chicken. I thought of buying a fish to take home and so I went about enquiring of any of them was ready to sell me a fish and finally I found a vendor who agreed to sell me one whole fish and I called my aunt to see if she would be interested. But she told me it would be a problem for her to cut it and I asked the vendor to do the cutting and cleaning for me and he directed me to another person who did the peeling and cutting of the fish for me for an additional amount.

After this I walked back to the parking area and here I sat in one of the shops that was frying some hot onion pakoras called as ‘Piyazis’ and serving a green mint chutney along with it. I had two of these big sized piyazis and asked the vendor to pack some of it for my uncle and aunt as well. I planned to cook the fish today at my aunt’s home at Dibrugarh in Assam and as it was a catfish with less bones, I decided to just fry it with some species and a coat of ‘rava’ a popular south indian snack food used to make south indian delicacies like the upma. I remembered eating this variety of fish in restaurants of Hubli and Bangalore in Karnataka when I used to stay there and the difference was that in Karnataka we used to eat mostly sea fishes and today I would be trying to prepare the same recipe with a river fish. The sea fish had a special salty flavor to it and so I was not sure how the river fish would come out when I used the same recipe and so I thought instead of spoiling the entire fish by frying all of them with the rava coating I would instead fry only three pieces and the rest I would simply fry it normally with the regular spices so that my aunt could keep the fish in the fridge and use it for making a curry later after I left Dibrugarh tomorrow o travel to Naharkatia to visit the Tai Phake Ecotourism village at Tipam.

On the way I stopped for buying certain condiments to be used while frying the fish and finally reached home in sometime. My aunt was really shocked that i had bought along the fish thinking that she would be needing to go through the trouble of cleaning it but when I showed to her with all things taken care of then there was a smile on her face. I told here my plans of doing the cooking for the day but at first she didn’t want me to do it as I had mentioned earlier during my visit to Majuli in Assam where I saw all the men doing the cooking something that is not so prevalent in my family because the men were supposed to hold positions of responsibility in offices and bring home the money while the women did the cooking. Say for in my house even though my mother is a doctor and earned a fair amount working as the Chief Medical Officer at the NECF (CIL) hospital at Margherita in Assam but even then my father never stepped into the kitchen to even boil some water and the entire cooking responsibility was my mothers and of course the workers who worked at my house. The only time I saw my father enter the kitchen to do some cooking was after his retirement from services when he had nothing more to do to kill time. Somehow I managed to convince my aunt to enter her kitchen and allow me to do the cooking. So I freshened up and entered the kitchen to prepare the fish fry in rave style here at Dibrugarh in Assam. I mixed all the spices on the fish pieces and the pieces were quite big as the vendor did not have a good knife and just chopped up the fish and handed it to me. I spread out a layer of the rava on a plate and before frying the fish I dipped it in the rava and started deep frying the fish. The aroma was nice and the final moment came when I offered my uncle a piece to taste andhe simply loved this unique way of frying the fish. So I fried a few more pieces and then we sat down for dinner of a simple meal of rice, dal, greens and the fish fry. Everyone loved it and after this I got to packing my stuff to leave Dibrugarh in Assam the next day to travel to Naharkatia at one of my distant aunt’s place.

Today morning I had to leave Dibrugarh to travel to Naharkatia and after spending 2 nights here I would be travelling to Namrup to visit the fertilizer and electricty town of Assam here and also visit home of Mr. Krishna my colleague who works with me in bookings across Kaziranga National Park in Assam. My aunt and uncle asked me to stay over for a few more days but I had a schedule and I had to stick to it as I was having an upcoming tour and I had to finish my exploration of Assam and return to Guwahati soon to begin this tour. So after breakfast I started on my drive to Naharkatia in Assam crossing Lahoal and Tengakhat. The roads are now narrower compared to all these days of drive and it is a two way lane with continuous traffic going on between each side as this road connects the two major towns of Upper Assam viz. Dibrugarh and Tinsukia. I have used this road numerous number of times for commuting between Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and further up to Digboi and Margherita during the tenure of my life in Upper Assam. This road along the way leads to Mohanbari as well that has the domestic airport that connects places in Upper Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and even some places in Nagaland to the rest of India as there are direct flights to Kolkata and New Delhi with connecting flights to other major metros like Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. I used to use the Dibrugarh airport to travel to Bangalore when my parents were staying at this part of Assam and are still staying here until they permanently move to Guwahati in 20198 after my mother retires from here services.

I had never taken the Lahoal route to Naharkatia earlier but I remember once I had taken this route long back to travel from Duliajan to Dibrugarh in Assam and also the route via Duliajan to Jeypore crossing the town of Namrup as at Jeypore NECF had its coalfields and my father had gone there to meet a colleague and took me along to visit the Jeypore rainforest that is one of the most pristine rainforests in Assam with lots of potential for development of wildlife tourism apart from the renowned National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam. I reached the town of Lahoal and here i had to take a right diversion to travel to Tengakhat to continue to Naharkatia. Tengakhat is a place that was once in the news in Assam because there was a gas cracker plant to be established here but due to numerous delays it was prolonged and various protests were held and finally the located had to be shifted from Tengakhat to Lepetkata near Dibrugarh in Assam. I stopped here to have some tea and this entire area is famous for its tea plantations and tea estates. The small shop vendor was very friendly and eager to see me clicking pictures round and he thought I was a journalist and he tried speaking to me about the various problems the people here at Tengakhat were facing due to road conditions, poor employability and wanted me to write about these in the paper. I did not want to break his heart and so I heard him out and told him that I would surely take this up with the officials through a news daily. To tell the truth I did not have the guts to refuse hom flat on his face because looking at the condition of the roads I was sure that people would have felt disheartened due to neglect and I did not want to be the one to be telling him that I couldn’t do anything about it.

I finished me tea and bid him goodbye to continue on my drive to Naharkatia in Upper Assam. I crossed a few more smaller townships and finally arrived at Naharkatia at noon. Naharkatia in Upper Assam is a busy town with a population of over 20,000 people with major economies being that of tea gardens and oil and gas. The town of Naharkatia has a spread out population of Assamese, Bengali, nepali., Bihari and Marwari community indicating that it is a prime business area in Upper Assam. Along with the inhabitants of the Tai Phake tribes who mainly stay at the Namphake village near Tipam where I would be visiting tomorrow to witness the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp. The major tributary of the Brahampura river viz Burhi Dihing flows across the town of Naharkatia thereby harboring various forms of aquatic life and fertile lands along the town belt. The town of Naharkatia holds an important place in the history of Assam as this was the place where it is said that one Ahom noble nby the name Kalia Chaodang was entrusted to kill a betrayer by the name Prince Nahar who was the adopted son of Tai Ahom king Siukhampa. Prince Nahar is believed to have cheated and insulted many of the Ahom nobles and ministers and Kola Chaodang beheaded Prince Nahar here at Naharkatia to punish him thereby the place earns its name as Nahar + Katia meaning killing or beheading of Prince Nahar. Various royals visited the town of Naharkatia earlier including Tai Ahom king Chaolung Sukapha, Kachari King Bicharoatipha, Jaydhrajsimha, Burmese General Ming Indra Tikre, etc. At Naharkatia there is also the oldest oil pool in the World.

I reached my aunt’s place and it was a tea garden bungalow here at Naharkatia in Assam as my uncle was the manager of a tea estate here and was however nearing his completion of tenure and was scheduled to retire in a few months. Most of the prior generation members of my family both from my mother’s and father’s side had retired from their services or had a few months or years of services left in their tenure serving the Govt. of India and the Govt. of Assam respectively. This uncle of mine had however chose to work in a tea garden as this birthplace was Naharkatia and so he stayed here most of his life. They owed another ancestral home in another part of town but as no one was staying there it mostly remained under lock and key with the occasional visits by my uncle and aunt to look for the maintenance of the place. I reached the entrance of the tea estate at Naharkatia in Assam and my aunt had sent her driver to wait at the entrance to take me to their place. In general most of the homes of the tea gardens especially of the officers and managers are independant homes and well apart from each other but as this was a place with a lot of the tea gardens around and also the officials of the oil and gas companies there was a colony here that housed combination of old british bungalows as well as newly built quarters for the officials. I picked up the driver and he greeted me and showed me the directions to the place.

I prefer fidning my directions this way as this helps me to meet certain people and strike a conversation with them and also to know more about the place I was visiting in Assam. We reached my aunt’s home and this was the first time I was visiting as earlier when my parents visited it was mostly with my aunt and uncle in Dibrugarh while I used to stay back with my cousin ethier playing table tennis or video games at his home at Dibrugarh in Assam. It was a real nice tea garden bungalow of Assam located amidst the tea gardens of Naharkatia and it was spread over a huge campus. A traditional British bungalow it had two stories with the rooms built on the first floor and the ground floor was used as servant quarters and the parking of cars and there were store rooms. This house was similar to the one where I used to stay during my time at Baragolai Colliery when my father was posted there as the manager of the colliery. If you see all these british time industries in Assam like tea, oil and coal industries people who work here still follow the culture that was prevalent in the time of the British Raj with big colonial homes with around 3 – 4 people working as gardeners, butlers and cleaning staff and the surroundings of the home similar to the time of British. The people would refer to the officers and their wives as Sahebs and Memsahibs as they used to during the british times. Even the day would start with a siren that would indicate the start of a shift and another one would go out at the end of one shift markign the beginning of the second shift.

The tea garden officials had to leave as early as 7 AM to work and come back in the afternoon at noon to go for work again at 3 PM and come back by 6 PM and at around 7 PM it was a mandate for them to go to the tea garden club where they would socialize and come back home at night to start their next day. They were provided with every facility needed by them and to follow a strict routine with weekly off on sundays. And this was prevalent in the coal industry of Assam as well but a mandate to visit the club in the evening was not necessary as most of the coalfields were spread out and there was only one club at Ledo. but still if the officers wanted to go they would go there and spend their time playing tennis, badminton or enjoy swimming and enjoy an open bar in the evening with drinks at subsidized rates. Some of the very popular clubs in Upper Assam are the Digboi Club at Digboi, the Zaloni club at Duliajan, the Ledo Club at Ledo , The Margherita club at Margherita, the Jorhat Gymkhana club at Jorhat, etc. At my aunt’s home I was welcomed with the workers greeting me and attending to my needs with one carrying my luggage and showing me the room and others preparing tea and lunch for me. My uncle was scheduled to arrive home for the afternoon and as it was a saturday today he would be having the afternoon off and so we would be having lunch together. I went into the room allocated to me and had a refreshing shower and then came out to have a cup of tea with my uncle and aunt.

The tea was fresh brought in from the local tea factory and it was brewed just by putting some tea leaves and powder in a saucer and hot water was poured in the saucer and later it was filtered out and served without any sugar and just a dash of lime and some black salt and it tasted amazing and rejuvenate oneself. My uncle was speaking to me about the tea gardens around and the rich history of Assam tea and how the Singpho people of Assam were the first to brew tea in the country and their unique process of brewing where they used to first dry the leaves in the sun and later stuff the tea leaves in bamboo poles and again roast them over the fire. And keep them stored in the bamboo tubes for a few months and later remove the tea from the tube that would take a cylindrical shape. And later pieces of this were cut out and boiled and served to drink with a piece of jaggery to get the sweet taste to the tea. This way of preserving tea helps to retain a variety of medicinal components of the brew and this had helped the Singpho people to stay healthy and free from various ailments including the likes of cancer as well. Lunch was served and the bungalow had a nice dining room with expensive cutlery highlighting the presence of royalty from an era ago. The cook had prepared an elaborate lunch and the major attraction was the whole ‘Puthi’ fish cooked with certain herbs and spices. The fish was sliced up and the marinade of spices applied along the body of the fish. Later it was fried in a mixture of onions and tomatoes and topped with coriander and the entire presentation looked amazing.

The meal had white rice, a dal cooked with various vegetables like pumpkin, papaya and carrot, a mixed veg sabji of okhra, brinjal and potatoes, chicken curry with a special banana stem along with the whole fish. The home here had fresh lime shrubs across and fresh lime of Assam called as ‘Kaji Nemu’ that has a wonderful citrusy aroma was sliced and placed in a plate with green chillies and some salt to accompany along. The lunch was very delicious and my uncle and aunt went to sleep for a while as Saturday was the off day they had and I took time walking around the colony of the place. A long stretch of tarred road was present and alongside the roads was the homes of the various staying here at Naharkatia in Assam. While some of the homes were typical British bungalows some were recently built with construction similar to the apartment buildings and in one building there were 2 parts where two families would be staying. The entire campus was filled with tall trees and it had a hospital and a school as well where the children of the employees along with other influential kids of the area studied. I came back home and my uncle took me to the saturday market at Naharkatia in Assam. I would have preferred to visit his tea factory and understand the process of tea brewing but he told me the best time is to visit during the early morning when the batches of freshly plucked tea leaves arrived in the morning.

The tea workers of Assam are very hardworking people and they are mostly migrant labourers from Orissa and Madhya Pradesh who were brought to Assam by the British long ago to work in the tea gardens and over the years they have settled in Assam and have become an important part of the population of the state. ‘Bagania’ people as we call them get up as early as 4 AM in the morning and get to work travelling to the tea gardens and plucking the fresh tea leaves and storing them in the bamboo baskets they carry on their back and later put them on a pick up truck that carries the leaves to the factory where the processing begins and the final product is made. Then the brew is sent for testing and later segregated for auction at the Guwahati Tea Auction center in Assam. So sunday morning would be a better option to explore the tea factory and later I could go to the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp and my aunt and uncle too wanted to join because they too wanted to visit this place but were not finding time to go there and so we decided my uncle and myself would go to explore the tea factory early in the morning and then after breakfast we would go to the Tai Phake Eco tourism caamp and after after having our lunch we would return back home. We drove on our way to the saturday market at Naharkatia and uncle wanted to shop for certain groceries for the house. Every saturday as he had time in the later afternoon he comes to the market to shop for fresh vegetables and meat/fish as he often hosts a small get together at his house for the officers at the tea estate and today he had invited two other families to join us for evening dinner and barbecue. he wanted to buy some pork meat for the barbecue and some fresh fish for dinner.

The market is a daily market here at Naharkatia town in Assam and the biggest bazar that happens every week is held on a tuesday when various local vendors come from the nearby villages bringing in their produce of vegetables, fruits, livestock and fish vendors all get together to sell their produce. The fish brought in the tuesday market are from the Burhi Dihing and Brahmaputra rivers of Assam along with the numerous lakes and fisheries. My uncle proudly said that the fish we find at the tuesday market here is some of the best river fishes one can find across Assam. I did not have any valid details to prove him wrong as I had never seen the fishes at this market and so to avoid stretching the argument further I agreed to his words and why not as he was hosting me so gracefully here. My uncle and aunt do not have any children and so they tried to treat me as their own and also owing to the fact that very few of our family members stay in Assam and rarely would they visit a place as Naharkatia. The shopping for supplies ended and my uncle took me to their ancestral home as they would need to shift here after his retirement and so the maintenance works were on he overlooked the progress every saturday and sunday when he was off from work and as tomorrow we might not find time he decided to spend an hour here and also show me the place as well. It was a nice Assam type house located a little ahead of the market area on the road to Duliajan. The Assam type home means that the roof of the house is made with tin/asbestos sheets that are inclined so that the rain waters doesn’t accumulate on the rooftop. In the monsoon time in Assam heavy rains lash various parts of Assam and of the roof is constructed on a flat surface then the rain water accumulates on the surface on top and even with the drainage outlets it takes quite a long time to drain out the watertherby the water gets an opportunity to seep into the surface of the flat roof top and thereby causes quite some damage creating cracks on the roofing.

So in the earlier days the people of Assam used to construct houses with a slant roof so the water didn’t stay on top and slides down. But nowadays with the global temperatures rising these constructions prove to be a problem especially during summers as the roof surface gets heated up and this causes discomfort to the people inside the houses while the opposite in winters happen when the night gets quite cold. The repair works were going on and it was mostly painting and fixing of certain tiles and fittings. Also the kitchen was being remodelled into a modular version and so there were quite a few men working at the site. My uncle had planned to build another few smaller homes in the campus and put them out on rent because this way they would have people to keep them company after retirement. After sometime we started on our drive back to uncle’s bungalow as by 7 PM the guests would arrive and the food had to be provided to the cook so that he can prepare the fish curry and leave home. The cook stays a little away from the bungalow and he comes in at 6 AM and goes back home to rest in the afternoon and comes back again in the afternoon and goes back by 6 PM. We reached home and my uncle got to preparations for the barbecue along with the security personnel who guards the house at the gate. He got the firewood and a custom built barbecue stand that was built at a local workshop with iron rods and had a box underneath where the charcoal used to be lit. Today as there was no charcoal so wood would be used to light the fire for the barbecue.

The pork meat was boiled and marinated with salt and turmeric. To garnish a spice mixture of cumin powder and some whole spices was made along with it freshly chopped onions, chillies, coriander and lime. My uncle opened his wine cabinet and brought out a nice bottle of scotch and for the ladies there was beer and breezer. My uncle asked me to make my choice and I was not comfortable telling him as he was such a senior official and this was the first time I was meeting him after so long and so I thought how my aunt would react but they were quite cool with it and so I agreed to have the scotch along with everyone. The preparations were all going on well and for dinner there would be a chilly fish, veg pulao, paneer matar gravy, dal fry, chicken curry along with papad, pickle and the very aromatic kanji nemu of Assam. The guests arrived at 7 PM sharp and I was really surprised at the punctuality of the tea garden officials because otherwise in India people follow the IST (Indian Stretchable Time) meaning if people are invited for any get together at 7 PM they will ensure that they never reach before 8 PM or maybe later citing various reasons while the only thing they would have been doing is watching television back home. As long as Indians do not follow or inculcate the habit of reaching on time it is long since it would become a developed country. I have hosted guests from various countries and one peculiar common thing about all the westerners is their time schedule. Be the time you provide them they will ensure to be ready at least 15 min prior to the scheduled time and they too expect the same from us.

Today the guests were the Asst. Manager and the welfare officer of the tea estate along with their families. My uncle introduced me to the families and told them about how I quit my job to start a venture to help promote tourism in Assam. At first the guests were all surprised because I was working with a company that had supplied most of the computer peripherals for the small IT set up they had in their tea estate from computers, printers, scanners, network devices, etc. And the company was a reputed organization across Assam as well and so I had to elaborate to them about how the organization had changed and it moved to a completely different vertical now and how I had this thing behind my mind of helping to promote Assam to the World and the various unexplored destinations utilizing the power of internet. I was sure that they had no interest in my talks and so I cut it short and asked my uncle to proceed with the barbecue and drinks. Along with the barbecue my aunt had put in some sweet potatoes, potatoes and a vegetable called as kosu in Assamese to roast in the grill as well. Also there were the potato chips and peanuts served alongside. For the children there was chicken 65 to go along with their soft drinks and they were having a fun time playing around the house and the open area. The guests all discussed among themselves about their work and plans to increase production and the socio economic welfare of the tea garden workers here at Naharkatia in Assam. The government of Assam has introduced several initiatives to help these tea garden workers as their wages are low as compared to the other industries and various schemes for their upliftment have been introduced. One main reason is the vote bank – these garden workers are an important part of the population of Assam and as this is an important industry of Assam spread across the entire state these workers have a fair number in the population as well so each and every government that comes to power ensures to keep these people happy to win over their confidence and get their votes. One government was specifically known to provide adequate gifts to these people to ensure they voted only for them and no wonder that party stayed in power for almost 15 years in Assam.

These tea workers are paid their wages once a week and this custom has been followed since long ago. But these tea workers have a bad habit of spending about their money on the local hooch that is brewed across certain households in the tea gardens of Assam. Some of these do no follow a proper process of distillation and I have heard of many of these people using things like battery acid to fasten up the fermentation process of the rice to make the drink called as ‘Hariya’ and this had led to severe health complications among the tea garden workers even reports of death were seen in the news because of the consumption of this spurious liquor. The welfare officer who was present was discussing on how to curb this malpractice in his area of jurisdiction to promote better health of the tea garden people of Assam. The pork was ready and my uncle garnished it with the freshly ground spices and topped it with the freshly chopped onions, coriander, green chillies and squeezed some lime juice and it tasted simply wonderful. The meat was cooked to perfection as it had been boiled priorly and one thing about the pork meat of Assam is that it doesn’t at all melt off during the preparations. For example the mutton that we get in the market if we cook it for long the meat pieces tend to reduce in quantity because of feeding the goat with a lot of water before slaughtering it. The scotch I had was on the rocks and the meat gently went down my body with the amazing flavour of the scotch. The roasted potatoes and kosu were also removed from the fire and the security personnel helped peel the vegetables and serve it to us after chopping them into bit sized pieces and serving it with toothpicks. The fresh potatoes from the nearby garden were juicy and succulent and the sweet potatoes were very sweet and juicy as well.

At 9 PM we all gathered for dinner and it was served in a buffet style and the cook was there today to help to see the needs of the guests along with another worker who stayed at the ground floor and they ensured to take care fo the guest’s needs. The food was very flavorful especially the fresh fish my uncle had bought along and everyone enjoyed their dinner. At 10 PM everyone returned to their homes and as the Asst. manager and the welfare officers;s home was close by they had come walking and the security guard and cook went along with them to drop them. The next morning we all got up a little late at 6.30 AM and my aunt prepared tea for us. The cook came around a little late a sit was a sunday and also yesterday evening as he had gone back late. The tea was served in the lawn where the sitting area was present here at Naharkatia in Assam and with tea we had freshly baked cookies that my aunt had made. The cook got busy with the breakfast preparation and my aunt had asked him to prepare dosas for us before we set out to visit the Tai Phake Ecotourism camp at Tipam village in Assam. We got ready and had our breakfast and the uncle’s driver took out the car to begin the drive to Tipam. My uncle owned a nice SUV and with the road conditions this kind of a vehicle would ease our journey tackling the potholes on the roads. The entire journey is so scenic and beautiful with the backdrop of the patkai mountain range at a distant, the lovely blue sky horizon and the beautiful tea gardens on both sides of the road.

If you admire nature and natural landscapes touch your soul then Assam is one destination that should always be on your list on top priority to visit. Even I have been staying so long at the place and I always get mesmerized with the beautiful landscapes once I travel across the interiors regions of Assam discovering new places that haven’t been touched with modernization and the air that people breathe here is still fresh and pure and the water they drink is absolutely clear. We reached a road diversion where the road from oran in Assam connected and then we headed straight to the Tai Phake Ecotourism camp. We reached a small township and here the driver stopped to check the air pressure on the tyres. This was an ancient place of Assam and there was a famous ‘Than’ here where the local people used to come and offer their prayers. We decided to visit this place on our way back to Naharkatia. The main industry here is that of hydro power generation and we could see boards of NEEPCO surrounding the entire area. The Burhi Dihing river serves as a source of the hydro power needed to drive the electricity needs of Assam and certain other neighboring states as well. The drive to Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp almost took us about an hour and we reached the place after crossing the Burhi Dihing river via a bridge built by NEEPCO. The beautiful countryside of Assam welcomed us at the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camo at Tipam village and the owner of the place came to welcome us. My uncle’s assistant had already informed about our visit to the owner and being the manager of a renowned tea estate nearby the owner of the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp ensured to be present himself to welcome my uncle.

This is a beautiful environment with bamboo cottages built for the comfortable stay of guests in a traditional environment of Assam and closeby here is the Tai Phake village where visitors can catch a glimpse of the rich culture and history of the Tai Phake people of Assam. At the camp we were welcomed with a traditional hand woven ‘Gamusa’ of Assam and a welcome drink made with a fruit called as ‘thekera’ that is a sour dried fruit that imparts a sour flavor to the drink and is rich in minerals and nutrients essential for the body. After spending some time at the Tai Phake Ecotourism camp the owner took us to the nearby village and the monastery as the Tai Phake people mostly practice Buddhism as their faith as they are the descendants of the Shan kingdom of Myanmar where Buddhism is the primary faith. They migrated to Assam and settled along the banks of the Burhi Dihing river at around the late 18th century. They were patronized by the Ahom officer Chandra Gohain who helped them settle down in their present habitat along the banks of the Burhi Dihing river. Today the Tai Phake people inhabit the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in the villages of Namphake, Tipam Phake, Namchai, Nanglai, etc. As most of the people here settled along the river banks with fertile soil, the Tai Phake people practice agriculture as their primary occupation with other animal husbandry activities like rearing cattle, buffaloes and also fishing.

These Tai Phake people of the Tipam village if Assam practice Buddhism from the Theravada sect with some old animistic beliefs. As we walked across the village we could see various traditional houses built using bamboo and on an elevated platform like the ones I had seen at Majuli in Assam. These are elevated bamboo huts and are called as ‘Haun Hang’ in the local language that are constructed with timber, bamboo and certain leaves. Each Tai Phake home has three rooms basically the drawing room, a prayer room and a kitchen area and in addition there are living rooms for the stay of the family members. The owner took us to one of the traditional homes and we were welcomed by the local family who showed us around. This however was the home of a well to do family in the village who owned huge agricultural fields and some family members ebern had Assam Govt. Jobs and so theirs was a combination of modern and traditional architecture of the Tai Phake community. At the front half the home was built with bamboo and wood structures while on the inside the wall surfaces were built with brick and cement. And the room was adequately spaced and the living room was nicely decorated as well. The kitchen was traditional and had a combination of bamboo and mortar and a wood fire was lit inside the kitchen to perform the cooking related activities. The family offered us tea which is very popular beverage not only among the Tai Phake community but also across Assam and later we walked out to go to the village again. My uncle and aunt wanted to see the traditional weaving of the Tai Phake people as these people used to come to the tuesday market at Naharkatia in Assam to sell some exquisite handloom products all woven by hand.

The Tai Phake women like the other indigenous people of Assam are expert and adept weavers and they all weave on their traditional looms that give an exquisite finish and color to the garment and the popular items they weave are towels, shawls and their traditional clothing. Generally the Tai Phake women outfit consists of a angle long skirt, a blouse in front and a white turban on their head. Normally the old women wear the turban on their head. They also include lots of ornaments on their body as well. While the men wear a woven check lungi, a shirt along with a turban. We saw a traditional loom at each of the households that was kept at the space below their houses and some of the local women were weaving. Normally they prefer to weave in the afternoon time after finishing their household chores but some of them do it in the mornings as well. We took our time admiring the intricate process involved in the weaving of these exquisite handloom products and the unique sound of the ‘Tak Tak’ that comes out once the top lever of the ‘Taat Haal’ comes in contact with the bottom portion of the loom. We admired the craftsmanship of the local weavers and my aunt even bought some of the handloom products to take home and gift to friends and relatives and she even gave one to me to gift it to my mother. After this we went to the Tipam Phake Buddhist Monastery that is located a little ahead of the village and towards the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp that is an old Buddhist temple located since the migration of the Tai Phake people happened in the 18th century. There is a beautiful forest reserve behind the area of the temple and a network of well paved stairs is present to the entrance of the temple. I could see the buddhist monks all meditating and praying at the temple and inside the altar is a huge statue of Lord Buddha with the various customary Buddhist prayer rituals.

It was so calm and peaceful inside the temple premises and one could feel the inner peace once you sit for your prayers here. A Buddhist monk took us around the temple and showed us the significance of the various stupas and pillars around and also helped to offer our prayers here. One of the monks at this monastery is highly educated inm modern studies and he knew how to speak in ten different languages as well. It was a truly rewarding experience here at the Monastery at the Tipam village as well as the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp as I got to experience a new virtue of life completely of Assam because I was not aware that Buddhism had so much of an influence in Assam> I thought Assam was mostly inhabited by the Assamese people and to frank I did not even know about the indigenous communities of Assam before the start of my travel venture and exploring the state. Because most of my life was spent amongst the people of NECF at Margherita area where we had a mix of various people from across India and later I came to Guwahati where the most I could mix with the general people of the Assamese community and the other business class people like the Marwaris, Bengalis, etc. It was only when I started exploring and meeting new people and discovering new places in my life that I realized Assam is indeed a kaleidoscope when it comes to people and their cultures. I heard of the bodo people, the karbi people, mishing people and now I was learning that the Tai phake people of Assam practice Buddhism as their faith. Not only the Tai Phake even the Tai Khamti, Tai Khamyang, Singpho people of Assam are also Buddhists which I would narrate later in my travel experiences of Assam.

After finishing exploring the Monastery we came back to the Tai Phake Camp and the owner of the place led us to the dining area. As today was a sunday few other guests had also come to visit the place and it turned out that my uncle knew all of them as they were colleagues from Neepco and few other tea gardens and they used to often catch up at the clubs that surrounded the place around Naharkatia in Assam. It was a kind of an impromptu get together and my aunt told me that these men will now sit down to have drinks for sure. And no wonder the owner of the place offered everyone a local alcoholic drink served with an assortment of delights of meat and fish all cooked in traditional Tai Phake cooking customs. The tai Phake people have a lot of boiled food in their menu and it consisting of pork, country chicken, fish and an assortment of vegetables. The use of oil is minimal and pork meat is allowed to use its own fat to roast and the chicken is boiled up with the fats from its body filling the bowl of its cooking. The fish is roasted and often boiled along with vegetables. The local wine was made with fermentation of rice and all of us were served with a glass of this wine and I must admit it had a strong flavor to it. But it had a sweet taste and for the people who were not used to hard liquor the owner even had a lighter version of it that was brewed with more water and some herbs to sweeten the flavor of the drink further. The roast pork was delicious and there was once with pork skewers roasted and served with a spicy green chutney as well.

The men had a few more rounds of the strong wine and I could see a few of them feeling tipsy already. So my aunt asked the owner to serve the lunch so that people enjoy the flavor of the food and do not just fill their stomach with the liquor. The lunch had the special ‘tupula bhat’ of the Tai Phake people that is basically a sticky rice that is cooked by wrapping a handful of rice in a special leaf and allowed to cook over steam. Some of the other traditional items on the menu were ‘Panao’ which is dried fish that is pounded with salt and stored in bamboo sticks for a few days served with vegetables, dry meat or ‘Ngu hang’ the meat is dried in sun and mixed with salt and again stored in bamboo to last for several months, ‘Patek’ a preserved raw fish where the freshly cut fish is mixed with local spices and turmeric and kept in bamboo sticks and served, along with it was a boiled vegetable curry that had a mix of various leafy vegetables, mushrooms, pumpkin, etc. The food was served in plates made of a certain leaf and to be able to hold the plate in our hands a plastic plate was kept at the bottom. The unique presentation of the food was a plus point here at the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp and the owner told us how their food was prepared with minimal use of oil and market bought spices. The turmeric they used was also from their local gardens as well.

After this sumptuous lunch we sat for sometime in the lovely beautiful and natural environment of the Tai Phake camp. The owner was kind enough to allow one cottage for visitors wanting to take an afternoon nap and my uncle headed to take rest for sometime. My aunt was worried as we would get late ro reach home and so she informed the cook to come over and cook dinner for us and then leave by 6 PM and we would reach by then. walked across the open fields to admire the gardens and the paddy cultivation around and the owners’ son who studied at Dibrugarh had come over to spend his holidays at home. He took me around explaining the potential of agriculture and how this can be a tool to transform the economy of the place. He was proud of being born in a family or rather a community that practices agriculture as their profession and as he was studying economics he planned to return to his village after his education and use his knowledge to find more sustainable ways of farming and take the production to a higher level so that the entire community could earn a standard living from the agriculture and not keep their produce confined to their consumption only. After spending some time in the fields we came back to the camp and everyone was preparing to leave to go back to their homes. After taking rest for sometime the people looked fresh and the owner settled the bills and we bid goodbye to everyone at the Tipam Phake village and the Tai Phake Ecotourism Camp and started on our drive to Naharkatia in Assam. We crossed the same places as it just one route to go back and I had to drive back this same route again to go to Namrup tomorrow. But my uncle insisted I stay back for another day as he wanted to take me to the tea factory which we missed to visit today and I planned to leave namrup after lunch as it is just about an hour’s drive to cover 20 kilometers and so everyone agreed.

We reached home and the cook had just about started to cook dinner. Generally he doesn’t come on sunday evenings as he takes the day off after the morning breakfast but today as we were out he had to step in. I could sense the displeasure on his face but there was nothing much to do just to cook a sabji and dal for dinner. My uncle offered him a bottle of the rice wine he had brought along and this brought a big smile of his face and he then started to cook with a smile on his face and even made tea for everyone. We went to freshen up and today we decided to have an early dinner and retire to bed. The next morning my uncle woke me up at 5 AM and he took his car to take me to the tea estate and it seemed we were late at 5.30 AM in the morning to witness the tea plucking. These tea workers both men and women of Assam venture in at 5 AM to the tea gardens to pluck the tea leaves that are generally fresh in the morning after the nightfall of dew and the leaves retain the water from it. The tea pluckers have an art and they ensure to pluck only the young tea leaves from the top. They wear a basket made of bamboo on their back and they put the plucked tea leaves in this basket and after the basket is full they load the contents into a pickup truck that waits for them on the muddy tracks inside the tea gardens of Assam. After witnessing the process of tea plucking my uncle took me to the factory where everyone was surprised to as to why he had come in so early. Some of the employees started to ask my uncle if everything was alright with the operations or anything had gone wrong and my uncle just to tease them told that there was a major problem and so had to come in early.

Everyone started running about and a little later my uncle jokes to them that he had just come in to show me the operations at the factory. Everyone took a breath to relax and then welcomed me in to the tea factory at Naharkatia in Assam. My uncle assigned me to an executive who looked after the operations in the evening shift at this factory and he took me around the campus to show the various processes involved in the manufacture of the world famous Assam tea. The process involved first sorting the leaves in a machine and later proper cleaning of the leaves and then they are sent through a drier and into a big machine that processes the tea. The entire aroma of the factory was so fresh and I could feel a sense of rejuvenation with the aroma of the fresh tea of Assam. The final product differed as there was the CTC tea, tea leaves dried and mixed with CTC and a lot of other by products. This ended my exploration of the tea factory at Naharkatia in Assam and my uncle took me back home. At home we had breakfast and I had tea time for leisure so I decided to catch up on television as it was many days I didn’t see any proper news and looking at the huge TV my uncle had in the living room I couldn’t resist myself but enjoy the picture quality and technicalities on his LED TV. My uncle would come early for lunch and after lunch I would go to Namrup in Assam. I watched TV for a while and got bored soon and so I went to the kitchen to see the food preparations and my aunt was busy with the preparations for lunch along with the cook. The house had a big campus and as it was an old British Bungalow it had all the ancient ways of doing things like it had a central boiler that could provide hot water to the bathroom and it reminded me of the bungalow I used to stay at Tipong. There used to be a huge boiler that used to be fed with coal and the steam allowed the water to boil in the tank and it used to be transferred to the bathrooms via pipes. This house had a similar setup as well but the boiler didn’t work as it was not in use for many years and also finding coal or firewood was expensive to use and not to mention the efforts in putting the material into the boiler it was always a feasible option to use electric water heaters.

There were two kitchens in the house while one was on top the other was downstairs. It was how these bungalows were constructed in the earlier times. Now the kitchen downstairs was used only when there was a party at the house to cook for more number of guests with the mode of cooking being firewood. I walked across the house feeling the beauty of nature all around me remembering the times I had spent my young days at the bungalows at baragolai and Tipong and learning how peaceful and calm my life was at those times. My aunt called me and asked me to taste the fish curry she had prepared and we spoke for sometime about our family and how my parents were doing and my other relatives as well. My aunt told me with the hectic schedule of my uncle it was tough for them to travel far and meet the other relatives and after retirement they planned to travel a lot and look around new places and she asked me to help them them around as well. My uncle came back in sometime and at 12 PM we sat down for an early lunch as I planned to leave to reach by late afternoon. I thanked my uncle and aunt for all their hospitality and later started on my drive to Namrup in Assam. The roads were the same and only this time I had a tough time driving as it was my smaller car and unlike my uncle’s SUV we took yesterday. A very beautiful landscape to drive on the great Patkai mountain ranges covered the entire scenic getaway and this was the best example of countryside driving. The river Dehing greeted me alongside the road and along the drive to Namrup in south eastern Assam. I could spot the beautiful paddy fields, orchards, the lush green tea gardens and the forested hills along with the occasional Assamese villages. Namrup in Assam is a historic town that finds mention in the pre Ahom history of Assam.

At Namrup I was scheduled to meet Krishna, my colleague and associate who works with me in my travel itineraries across Kaziranga National Park. A passionate wildlife and landscape photographer Krishna too was earlier in the corporate world handling the finances of a major cement corporation of Assam but quit to pursue his passion for photography and showing the beauty of Assam and North East India to the world via various social media platforms captured through his lenses. Being an avid wildlife lover he has travelled extensively across the various National Parks of Assam and so he efficiently handles, organizes and guides visitors from across India and abroad to these places. He stays in Guwahati but his parent lived here at Namrup in Assa, as his father was working at the APL in Namrup and had a few years of service left and with the Rongali Bihu celebrations of Assam approaching he came here to spend some time with his friends and also his sister’s wedding was scheduled towards the end of the year and there were a lot of preparations to be done for his family. This visit to Namrup would help me explore this ancient town and also a chance to catch up with Krishna to plan for our upcoming tours and also to visit one of the most pristine rainforests in Assam – the Jeypore rainforest that is located near to Namrup. I kept driving and admiring the beautiful countryside along the roads here and thinking about how to promote these destinations so that tourists start coming here as well after winding their visit at Kaziranga National Park and Majuli Island in Assam.

In sometime I approached Namrup town and it was a completely different experience here altogether. After driving across such quaint countryside of Assam you suddenly come across this bustling town an you wonder of how you have not visit this place after so many years of staying in the state. There were high rise shopping complexes along with apartment buildings and a huge market area as well. With a population of over 20,000 the major communities of Assam staying in and around the area of Namrup are Ahoms, Chutiyas, Kalitas, Brahmins, Sonowal’s, Tea tribes, Tai people, etc. In addition, owing to various industries present in this town there are skilled and unskilled workers migrating here not only from Assam but various other states of the country as well. Over the years many have also migrated to businesses and commerce as well as transportation business of Namrup as well. As per the ancient history of this town, Namrup was an important part of the Ahom Kingdom as this area is the region of five rivers (‘Nam’ meaning water and ‘Rup’ meaning five). namrup in Assam was the seat of the ‘Roja’ or the king of Namrup who represented an integral part of the Ahom dynasty. A secret place called as ‘Corai Kurung’ near Namrup was used as a hideout and safe house for the Ahom Kings in case there was an attack by the outsiders on the Ahom Kingdom. Namrup in Assam also had a jail called as the ‘Kolia pani’ that was used during the Ahom era to house criminals and conspirators. The ‘Dho dor Ali’ that connected Garhgaon with Joypur via Namrup that was constructed 400 years ago is still present today thereby speaking of the historic importance of the place from the ancient Ahom era of Upper Assam. Today however Namrup that falls under the jurisdiction of the Dibrugarh district of Assam had come a long way in terms of modernization and industrialization owing to the presence of three major industrial units most the BVFCL, APL and the NEEPCO.

The thermal power station of Namrup is a very important power generation unit supplying power to all the major districts in Upper Assam. It can be said that Namrup is the most industrially advanced town in Upper Assam and this had led to a good quality of life around the area with very good infrastructure of hospitals with advanced center for treatments including govt. dispensary as well. In terms of education as well, the infrastructure is good with quality schools and colleges. Across the town I could assume that the major mode of public transportation are cycle rickshaws and the very newly introduced e-rickshaws. Both these methods of commute are pollution free and acts as a source of income generations for the locals as well as the migrant workers who can be seen pulling the cycle rickshaws. Namrup is well connected by means of roadways and railways as this acts as a major linkage township between Jorhat and Tinsukia and a network of state run busses connect Namrup to major towns in Assam. Krishna was waiting for me near one of the movie theaters of Namrup town and I picked him up to go to his house at the APL township. But before that he had to pick up certain items from the market for an evening feast and so we visited the market area of Namrup in Assam. I( was wondering as to how many more parties and get togethers I had to attend to because from the past three evenings I was a part of one and this could prove bad for my waistline especially with all the delicious food to eat and the food was cooked in such a way that I couldn’t reduce my temptation to eat it. Anyways hopefully today would be the last one as the next day I would be out to Duliajan but then again my uncle there would insist on having a gala food for sure as I would visit there after long. Once again I would reiterate that the people of Assam love their foods and they would go to any extent to prepare delicacies to please their guests. So we went to the Namrup market to carry on with our shopping.

The Namrup market is a well known market area in Upper Assam region mostly as there is a large population of the indigenous people of Assam present in the area so the place attracts a lots of vendors from these communities who bring along with them various traditional and local produce. There are shops that sell ethnic Tai Ahom traditional food items and clothes while some sell traditional Kachari goods, etc. The exquisite handloom garments of the indigenous people of Assam can be seen across the Namrup market. Krishna had to buy vegetables, meat and fish and so we headed to that section of the market at Namrup in Assam where fresh vegetables and meat were being sold. Fresh vegetable produce brought in from the local villages near Namrup in Assam was to be seen around and Krishna picked up adequate quantities to feed a group of 30 people who were moistly officials from the APL family who would be coming over today. For meat Krishan picked up around 5 kg of mutton and then we went to the fish section. Krishna’s father doesn’t eat meat and so he insists that people in his family shift their diet from meat to fish and he is fond of good and flavorful fish. Krishna had learnt to select the good quality fish from these vendors after years of accompanying his father during his early years here at Namrup in Assam examining and selecting the right fish. So he went around some of the fish vendors enquiring about the rates and the search was narrowed down to a big Aari catfish of Assam that was being sold at a competitive price as compared to the others and so Krishna examined the freshness of this fish as it was no longer alive so the gills had to be checked for a pink color consistency and the body of the fish had to be felt with the tip of the fingers as well.

This would help identify whether the fish had been kept lying in the frozen boxes or not. It turned out that this fish was just brought in from the Dihing river and so Krishna paid the vendor the price and he got to cleaning and cutting of the fish. We looked for certain other cooking essentials after this and later we headed to the APL township at Namrup in Assam. I must admit that the township is quite neat and clean and Namrup could be compared to Tezpur as among the cleanest towns in Assam. Krishna told me that the industries here take CSR as a prime factor in their daily activities and out of their budget for a financial year a substantial amount is dedicated towards the welfare of the society and no wonder if you see around any park, dispensary, etc. will have the names of the either of three companies here that dedicate the structure to the people of namrup and they organize cleanliness drives regularly to keep the surroundings clean and green. At the APL township I could remind myself of the township at Digboi where I had done my early schooling in Assam and the township here was maintained by IOCL (AOD) and used to remain so clean and beautiful. I remembered my friends at Digboi saying that the personnel here were so well paid in this organization that even the cleaning staff who were on regular pay roll of the company used to come in their cars to clean up the roads. They used to be able to afford second hand cars at that time when many people in Assam couldn’t even think of owning cars and these cleaning personnel had them and they used to come in regular clothing to their site of cleaning and here they used to change into their cleaning clothes, get the cleaning jobs done and then switch back to the normal clothes and drive back to report to their place of work.

This was the power of oil at its peak and everyone who worked at IOCL (AOD) lived a high standard of life here at Digboi in Assam. We finally reached Krishna’s family quarters at the township and his family came out to welcome me and Krishna’s mom offered us tea and his father and sister got to sorting the items we had brought to begin preparations for the evening dinner. Today was the day of celebrations as Krishna’s father final promotion before he retired from services. He had got a promotion about a month back and all his colleagues from his department requested him to treat them for his promotion that is a common culture across the corporations in Assam. As it was only for the department employees so he hosted the dinner at his home instead of their club. A cook and helper were hired to look after the dinner preparations for the evening and we spoke for sometime discussing about the life at namrup in Assam and how Krishna and I planned on working together to get the tourism track on the right circuit. After this Krishna took me to see around the campus and it looked nice and organizar and there were adequate street lights along the camus directing vehicles on the roads. At the center of the campus there was a school and a little further was the hospital of Namrup in Assam. There was a water supply point and along with it was a electrical transformer the at catered to the power needs of the campus. The Namrup APL club was located at the corner and Krishna took me to show the club.

The club looked vintage and it seemed that it was constructed prior to the establishment of the colony and I was right because this was an earlier tea garden club that is now used by the officials of this place. Krishna took me to the bar and he ordered vodka for the two of us and as we had to attend the evening dinner where there would be more of wine we restricted ourselves to only one drink and then head home. There were some of the officials and their family at the club who had come to enjoy a game of badminton and the play cards as well. At 6.30 we left home and the guests were starting to come over and all of them were congratulating Krishna’s father on his promotion and some of them bringing in gifts as well. The cook was running a little late and so Krishna stepped in and I went to help him arrange the starters on the plate while Krishna’s sister got to helping in peeling and cutting the remaining vegetables. For the starters the fish dry fry along with onion pakoras and papad were almost ready and Krishna served them on a plate while I garnished it with the raw tomatoes, chopped coriander and green chillies. One by one we started to take the plates and place them near the table at the makeshift bar area. The guests had almost all come in by now and the men were helping themselves with the scotch and vodka while the children and ladies were served soft drinks. One of the guests took charge of the bar and he started to help pour the pegs in the glasses.

Krishna’s father rarely drinks and so he just went around welcoming everybody and to check if they needed anything. We were introduced to the guests and everyone asked us about the places in Assam and North East India that they might be interested in visiting and how they could plan their visit to these places. Krishna wanted to arrange a short seminar for the people of APL at their club to demonstrate the beauty of Assam and the other states of North East India captured through his lenses to the township people and this was a short way of saying that ‘Charity begins at home’ because before we went around showing these pictures to the World it would be a short demonstration to the local people as well and so he planned to have any questions answered a this seminar that he suddenly scheduled tomorrow. This impromptu decision of his was mostly because I was at Namrup in Assam today and though I was scheduled to leave tomorrow to Duliajan now I had to stay back because he needed me to be there to support him to tackle these questions the guests would put forward for travel across Assam and other states of North East India. I asked him to allow me to go but he was stubborn and he lured me into staying by assuring to take me to the favorite picnic spot near Namrup and along with it to explore the ancient heritage sites of ‘Koliyapani’ and ‘Coraikhurung’ here at Namrup in Assam. The get together was going well and at 8.30 PM dinner was served as the people here report to work at 7.30 AM and so prefer to retire early to bed. The children were asked to have their food first and the mothers helped them to serve the food that had veg pulao, mutton curry, fish chilly, mixed vegetables, paneer kofta, salad, pickle and papad. It was a simple menu nothing very elaborate and yet the food was very delicious. After the children finished the elders took to eating and by 9l30 everybody almost finished as started to leave back home congratulating Krishna’s father and assuring Krishna of their presence at the seminar tomorrow evening.

After dinner we spoke for a while about the various ethnic people of Assam in the Namrup area because it was my first time hee and knowing about the people interested me and as Krishna’s father worked closely with the them understanding their cultures so he gave me a detailed explanation about the people. I sometime we retired to bed. The next morning we got ready after breakfast to go to explore one of the pristine locations near Namrup that turns into a picnic spot during the months of December and January when hundreds of people from across the Dibrugarh district of Assam come to celebrate a day of picnic by the banks of the river Dehing. This spot is a beautiful confluence of two rivers that are major tributaries of the Brahmaputra river in Assam and this had given rise to a bountiful natural surroundings and fertile soil all around. During winters this site becomes a wonderful place for bird watching mostly as the area is sparsely populated and birds find it peaceful to reside here. We reached the picnic spot of the Dilli Ghat in sometime and the natural beauty of Assam here just left me mesmerized. The backdrop of the Patkai mountain ranges, the clear blue skies, the distant view of the forested hills, the river banks, the soulful chirping of the birds these all made my heart and soul fill in calm wondering how noisy the city of Guwahati was. Along the banks the local people were farming and fishing and this gave a clear picture of the lovely countryside of Assam.The rich green paddy fields and the backdrop of the tea garden estates at a distance was a cream on top of a pie.

Krishna knew one of the local families here and he took me to their cottage home that was nearby the place in a local village. The family welcomed us in and they were seeing Krishna after a few years and the owner was real excited to see him as he was earlier working with Krishna’s father as a contract driver in their company but due to certain issues he had to quit the job and take care of his household and now her was earning much more with his farming activities than what he used to earn at his earlier job at Namrup in Assam. The man’s wife started preparations for us and she roasted some pork meat and served us some rice wine all in the morning itself. I didn’t know whether to start drinking in the morning or not but the man told us it was just for tasting and this was a traditional way of welcoming guests at their village. Though it sounded strange was of welcoming yet I decided to try some of this wine and Krishna atoo joined me. The pork roast was very tenderly cooked and the skin slice had become hard due to the roasting and it added to the flavor of the meat as well. The rice wine had a strong flavor to it and I could feel my throat burn after the first sip. As we had some exploration to do around Namrup in Assam so we decided not to try more than a glass and just enjoy the culture and traditions of the people at this village. The beautiful village at Dilli ghat in Assam was a local village of around 20 households and most of the people here were engaged in agricultural activities. They had big farmlands and they used to grow organic vegetables and some had rice cultivations as well.

The man who hosted us had a big garden behind this house that had a vegetable garden where he grew potatoes, brinjals, gourds, pumpkins, chillies and many other seasonal vegetables as well. The river bank was located a little ahead and so he did not have any problems with irrigation water and the harvest was bountiful. The traders from the markets in and around Namrup used to come to this village every week and do negotiations for the produce and later carry the produce in pickup trucks back to Namrup in Assam. It was nice to see people relying on farming as a source of occupation and this helped the people to be self sufficient. The fishermen too work hard in this area and they leave early in the mornings at 4 AM in search of deeper waters at the Dehing river where they would setup their nets and this would help them to catch bigger fish that they sell off to the traders in the market. We took leave from this village and thanked the owner for his amazing hospitality and drove back towards Namrup in Assam where we would make our stop at the ‘Coraikhurung’ that has a kind of a fort like ancient structure where the Ahom kings used to spend their time in protection and hiding in case there was any attack on the kingdom from outsiders. This was an old fashioned fort with high walls and the ‘Dhodar Ali’ road connected Namrup with Garhgaon near Sivasagar where the Kareng Ghar – the Summer Palace of the Ahom Kings of Assam was located and so in case there was an invasion the king and his principles would be notified who would escort the king via the Dhodar Ali path and bring him to the ‘Coraikhurung’ at Namrup in Assam where the King would wait in patience for his commanders and soldiers to fight the invasion and after winning over the king would return back to Garhgaon in Assam. A very useful contingency plan it was surprising as to how the people in ancient times had such resilience in their warfare tactics as well.

We walked around the fort like structure admiring the travel of a construction several hundred years back and these rich ancient heritage structures were kept in negligence by the govt of Assam when it could be developed into heritage sites because the Ahom kingdom was one of the longest ruling dynasties of North East India and their bravery was unmatched that even the mighty Mughals couldn’t defeat them here in Assam and I was left wondering whether the king even got a chance to leave the comfort of the Kareng Ghar royal palace to come and spend their time here at the ‘Coraikhurung’ or not. Anyways we left the place to drive along the Dhodar Ali path to reach the infamous jail of ‘Koliyapani’. This place was located a little ahead of Namrup town along the Naharkatia – Moran highway and surely this would prove to be short cut to Sivasagar in Assam as it was a straight road from here and one didn’t have to take the longer route via Dibrugarh. The engineering wonder of the Ahom kingdom of Assam were numerous and this road construction of the Dhodar Ali during the ancient time was one mighty example of it. We reached the Koliyapani jail near Namrup in Assam and it was another mighty construction. Though the place had now fallen into ruins it was a grandeur of an architecture as the place was carved out of a small hillock and ancient brick and mortar construction could be seen. The cell blocks could be imagined and how the prisoners were housed in these cell blocks were also a sight of amazement as well.

This was indeed an amazing place to be and to witness the rich architecture of the Ahom period of Assam and I always thought that the Ahom architecture was to be witnessed only at Sivasagar area in Assam and few of the other temples around Guwahati but actually it was to found across the state and Namrup was another example of this. After exploring the wonder of the architecture of the Koliyapani we proceeded back to Namrup to Krishna’s home as we had to prepare for the seminar today evening and Krishna had to setup the laptop and projector at the Namrup APL club and I too had to revisit some of my earlier explorations to be able to answer the questions the guests would put forward to us. We arrived in time for lunch and Krishna’s mother had prepared a simple lunch of rice, dal, fish curry along with the leftover mutton from last evening. Lunch and after a short rest we got to work with Krishna arranging the pictures to be displayed along with a small presentation of a brief about the places and the options of sightseeing. At 5 PM we left home to travel to the APL club at Namrup in Assam. Krishna got ot setting of the projector at the small auditorium as he did not want to take up a big space for a small crowd at the larger room. 

The visitors came in by 6 PM and they went to play a game of badminton, Table tennis, cards, etc. And by 7 PM we were ready for our short 60 minute presentation and picture slides of the beauty of Assam and North East India captured through Krishna’s Nikon lenses. By 7 PM we started our presentation and along with it the guests were served tea and some finger chips as snacks and everybody admired the beautifully captured images of the Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya Temple in Assam, the capture of the bird species at Manas National Park in Assam, the Rhino image captured upclose at Kaziranga National Park in Assam, the Feral horses at Dibru Saikhowa National Park in Assam, the Bihu dance at the Rang Ghar at Sivasagar in Assam, the Living Root Bridge at Mawlynnong in Meghalaya, the Waterfalls at Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, the crystal clear waters of the Umngot river at Dawki in Meghalaya, the frozen roads at Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, the Tawang Monastery at Tawang, the Apatani tribes of Ziro valley, the Head Hunting tribes of Nagaland, the Loktak lake in Manipur, etc. People even stood up with a standing ovation for the quality of pictures captured by Krishna and they encouraged him to take up photography as his profession as well. Then he handed over the dias to me to explain about the various sightseeing options at these destinations and I took over although I was not much prepared yet I had travelled across these places and I was sure most of the questions would be related to Assam, meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh and so I was confident to explain and later take up the questions as well. 

I started with Assam with the details of the various National Parks and the important Wildlife Sanctuaries along with popular destinations like Hajo and Suwalkuchi. I made it a an interactive session as well wherein I asked of how many people had any idea about Digboi and Margherita in Assam. While many of them knew about Digboi as a place with oil but not many were aware that Digboi in Assam had the Oldest operational oil well in the World and the likes of th Oldest Operational Steam Locomotives at Tipong Colliery and the India’s only Coal Museum at Margherita aes well. . Nor were they aware the every month on the 120th, 20th and 30th Indian nationals could travel to Burma from Pangsau Pass with just a few valid documentation from Arunachal pradesh. Many of the people here even though they visited major tourist destinations in India and abroad they had not yet visited Kaziranga National Park and Majuli in Assam not even Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. I gave a brief description on how to travel to these places and which were the decent and clean accomodation at Budget they could reach out for their bookings as well. One destination that interested everyone is the snow covered Sela Pass and Tawang Monastery (the largest Buddhist Monastery in India). While some of the guest  had visited Tawang before, they were narrating their journey and as to how horrified they were with the roads but I told them that now things had changed and the road conditions are fair enough for visitors to travel to Tawang because the roads have been widened and army personnel along with he BSF take adequate efforts to keep the roads motorable for tourists. Many even asked about the festivities of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland and I explained onm how to plan their visit to Hornbill Festival. As they were closest to the town of Sonari in Assam they had an access to Mon village in nagaland easily but due to road conditions the best way they could travel to Kohima is via the Nambor route from Golaghat in Assam to first arrive at Dimapur and then travel to Kohima by road. 

I had to frankly tell them that during the Hornbill Festival most of the hotels in and around Kohima get booked quite early and so in case they planned to visit towards the end moment they would need to book accomodation at Campsite itself. This would mean they would need to compromise on luxury and used shared bathroom at these sites as well. And also the traffic at Kohima comes to a standstill during the festival days so in case they planned to explore Kohima it is advisable to arrive before Hornbill Festival and after Hornbill festival. The people liked the presentation and they all thanked us at the end of the Q & A session and they took Krishna’s number in case they needed any further information or even help them to plan group tours to these places in the near future. After the presentation people got to the bar to savour their scotch and there was a dinner being hosted as well due to an occasion of celebrating of the company meeting their production targets. Every official at the APL were invited and Krishna’s family too came over at 8 PM to have their dinner. We both got to the bar to grab a drink or two before finishing our dinner to continue back home and I planned on leaving the following day to Duliajan in Assam after winding up my visit at the Jeypore rainforest on the way. The snacks served were unique today and the cook prepared a special chicken gizzard and liver fry that was a bit spicy but the deep fry made the fish crispy and I loved it. So were the finger chips and the peanut mixed with onions and coriander and raw chillies. Dinner too had chinese menu and there was chicken fried rice, chilly fish and chicken manchurian with vegetables gravy and for the kids there was momos. The preparations was nice along with the presentation and the people celebrated to a good production target achievement. After dinner we left home and retired to bed. 

The next morning I was up early and after taking a walk at the APL campus at Namrup in Assam, I freshened up to go to another oil town of Assam at Duliajan after crossing the Jeypore rainforest area. I bid farewell to Naharkatia and to Krishna and his family after thanking them for their amazing hospitality and started on my drive towards Jeypore that is around 10 km up towards the Namrup town in Assam and is one among the most diverse rainforests of Assam. The other major rainforest in the region is that of the Namdapha National Park in Arunachal pradesh. I kept driving and admiring the beautiful landscapes around and shortly I reached the Jeypore rainforest area. Thought eh operations of NECF are no longer present in this area but I knew of a person who stayed here along with certain other staff members who were taking charge of the equipments present here and so I drive along to the guest house where they stayed. They welcomed me to the place and I knew this person from my old times at Tipong where he used to work and I used to meet him after school when he would walk me home carrying my school bag. They had prepared tea for me and they had just finished their breakfast. We spoke about how their life was going on in the wilderness of this place as I could see that most of the operations are now closed and they were the only people around and they told me that it was their job assigned to them and so they had to be present at the place to look after the surroundings and to see that miscreants do not take away the expensive machinery present here unless these are taken to a safer place. 

After finishing our tea this main person agreed to accompany me to the Jeypore rainforest and we started on our drive again to the area. The Jeypore rainforest has a tourist setup since the inception of the Jeypore rainforest festival that was started in the year 2011 and drew thousands of people to witness the rich flora and fauna of this place. The Jeypore rainforest is home to various indigenous animal species (including endangered ones) of the likes of 46 species of mammals, 283 species of birds, 276 butterfly species, 102 orchids, 71 reptile species, etc. As per one research done here there were seven cat species found in the 570 sq km area of the Jeypore-Dehing forests here. alone. Jeypore is a part of the Dehing Patkai elephant reserve that is almost comparable to the rainforests of Amazon. With such diverse animal and plant life to be found, authorities have been trying hard to promote the Jeypore forests as an ecotourism destination in Assam mostly because of the presence of the several indigenous communities living around these area. For visitors to Assam who would like to witness the culture and traditions of the Sonowal kachari, Singpho, Wangcho, Naga, Nocte, Tai Phake people, etc. can come to the Jeypore rainforest area to witness this. The rainforest has a vast variety of orchids growing inside the premises and this can prove to be a major tourist attraction here at the Jeypore rainforest if the tourism infrastructure is developed here properly by the Govt. of Assam. Some of the orchids species here also have medicinal uses as well. 

Also there are five endangered species of Hornbill birds to be found along with other bird species like White Winged Wood duck, Greater adjutant, Lesser adjutant, painted stork, marsh babbler, oriental darter, etc. While the common mammals species found are the Asian elephants, Tigers, black panthers, leopards, gaurs, chinese pangolins, leopard cats, golden cat, marbled cat, barking deer, sambars, hoolock gibbons, himalayan black bear, etc. After walking around the place and admiring the beauty of the landscapes of the Jeypore rainforests we went back to the guest house at Jeypore where I dropped the person and I stopped for another cup of tea before my drive to Duliajan in Assam. By the time tea was being prepared I walked across the colliery area of Jeypore and took a look around what was once a nice place for coal excavations in the 1990’s but had to stopped due to environmental clearance from the Govt. of Assam and also due to lack of resources and manpower. The equipment were still available there and rust had taken its course eating up the iron and so they had to be protected or else some miscreants would carry away these expensive equipments and sell them in the local market for throw away prices. I came back to the guest house and the people here along with tea even prepared some sandwiches for me and I thanked them for their kind gesture. For my father’s reputation at NECF people knew him well and knew him to be one of the most hardworking officials they had ever met, so they ensured to take care of y needs and send me back satisfied.

I finally bid goodbye and started off on my drive to Duliajan in Upper Assam. The roads across this part of the state is one of the most beautiful to drive across as along both sides of the slightly narrow pitched road are the green forests of the Dehing patkai. The Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary starts from the Jeypore area and continues further upto interiors of Digboi and the most divine forest reserves of Assam is present here. Acors the drive with the windows open one could hear the cry of the hoolock gibbons, the chirping of the birds, the cries of the monkeys, the roar of certain wild animals. However, these places were once during the earlier times were marred with insurgency and the notorious militants of Assam had their camps here. Those time during the early 1990s were not at all safe to travel through this roads and people avoided their drive and took the other routes to avoid any encounter with the militants especially during nights times. But as mentioned earlier, Assam has now come a long way from those dreaded days and today the state has reduced its militancy to almost nil. I enjoyed the view along the drive and crossed small townships and local assamese villages top reach the oil town of Duliajan in Assam. Another of th4 oil townships pf Assam, Duliajan is the headquarters of Oil India limited – one of the premier Navaratna companies in India that has interests in Oil drilling and explorations but not refining. OIL India have oil operations at Digboi, Kurseong and certain other parts of Assam and they have oil pipes running across the country transporting crude to various refinery the town one can get the smell of crude oil. The cleanliness of this oil town of Assam will leave visitors mesmerized because it’s hard to find such clean surroundings across India. 

A beautiful market area welcomes visitors to Duliajan and the campus of the Oil India office are located along the road where one can see the various oil tankers parked and awaiting their turn to take permits to carry crude oil from one location to another. With the oil money flowing in this town of Duliajan has one of the best standards of living anywhere in Assam as well. I drove across the township and my uncle has asked me to come over at their township near the middle of the town and so I drove there to reach by later afternoon. The bungalows and houses at Duliajan were also from the times of the British era while mostly they were newly constructed. For me Duliajan name reminds me of one thing – the Zaloni Club of Assam. This is the most prestigious club of Assam and people from upper Assam who are aware of this place try to visit this place one in for sure. The Zaloni club has facilities for lawn tennis, swimming, cricket, badminton and a host of other activities and also along with it a full fledged bar and it is mostly known for hosting some of the very nice bands from across India for their events and jam sessions. Regular DJ nights on saturdays is a common festive occurrence here at the Zaloni club at Duliajan in Assam. My uncle was back from office early today and he was standing in front of his house to welcome me.

The OIL township at Duliajan is well planned and organized manner and the roads are all spread out connecting each and every quarter of the officials and when you drive around you get a feel of staying somewhere abroad because everything is so planned and organized while the streets in some metros where there are only homes and no streets that connect them properly. In between there are dividers that are having gardens along it and this gives a beautiful view to the already clean and green township here. The uncle of mine is known across our family for being very energetic and no wonder once I met him I could feel the vigour in his soul. I met him last around 10 years back at a marriage event and I could remember him as so very energetic welcoming everyone to the event and showing around everyone to the food and bar and he was not standing still for even a moment and now even after 10 years I could feel the same energy within him. He was almost 59 years old with only a year left for him to retire from his services and he was still fit and fine. He attributes his energy to the practice of yoga and regular walks in the day.  Otherwise with the kind of food he eats he would have been a huge person with a big protruding belly. He is a foodie and loves to eat various traditional cuisines of Assam. 

My aunt too was there and their daughter all stayed stayed in Delhi and so my uncle and aunt only used to stay in this big house of theirs at Duliajan in Assam. My aunt prepared tea for us and some nice hot dal pakodas as well and after the long drive without lunch as I had sandwiches late at Jeypore I was famished and the pakoras were ike wonders to me. My uncle planned to take me to the Zaloni club in the evening and os I took time to refresh myself. At 6 PM we left to Zaloni club and as mentioned earlier the sun sets quite early across Assam especially during the winters and so people try to come home early in case they go out and retire to bed as their mornings start usually early because here at OIl India the offices start at 7 AM in the morning itself so people come back home from office early as well.