Dibrugarh

Dibrugarh town is a beautiful town located by the banks of the river Brahmaputra in the Dibrugarh administrative district of upper Assam. A prime town focussed on quality education, the Assam medical College (AMC) at Dibrugarh was where the first X-Ray machine was installed under the direct supervision of Dr. John Berry White – a founder of the AR&T company under the erstwhile British regime. Dibrugarh also has the Dibrugarh University and an engineering college focussed on petroleum research. Dibrugarh town is fast emerging as a communication and industrial hub of North East India. With the location of a domestic airport at Mohanbari, Dibrugarh provides as being a gateway to various tourist destinations of Assam like Tinsukia, Digboi, Sadiya, Margherita and also Arunachal Pradesh in Pasighat, Aalo, Namdapha, Ring, Tezu, Namsai, Walong, Mayodia and in Nagaland at Dimapur and Mon, etc. With the Bogibeel Bridge – India’s longest road and rail bridge nearing its completion, Dibrugarh will be converted to a town of Lakhimpur and Itanagar thereby enabling faster and quicker communication leading to fresh trade opportunities and making the area a business hub in conjugation with Tinsukia town. Both Dibrugarh and Tinsukia hold the potential of becoming the fastest growing towns of North East India after Guwahati due to well communicated roadways and railway lines. From tourism perspective, Dibrugarh has also draws many visitors at the majestic heritage tea bungalows here.

The name ‘Dibrugarh’ is derived from ‘Dibrumukha’. ‘Dibru’ the Dibru river flowing across the town and ‘Mukh’ meaning mouth. The presence of this river has allowed the town of Dibrugarh to flourish from the times of British Raj as this place acted as a prt connecting it to other major cities in India. With abundant rainfall Dibrugarh is home to ample tea gardens around that contribute to approximately 50% of the tea production of Assam earning Dibrugarh the title as the ‘Tea city of India’. Dibrugarh is also home to the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary (connected with Tinsukia) that is one of the most pristine forest reserves in North East India as well. The Assam Medical College (AMC) in Dibrugarh was established by the erstwhile AR&T Company and is responsible for creating some of the finest doctors in Assam and as mentioned earlier this was also the first place in India where an X-Ray unit was established. The economic activities in Dibrugarh are based on oil and natural gas, power generation, tea production, tourism, fertilizers and small scale industries.

Some of the popular tourist attraction in Dibrugarh are ~

1| Heritage Tea Bungalows – Dibrugarh

Being the ‘Tea city of India’ it is evident that Dibrugarh would be having various tea estates around and each of these tea estates would be having a heritage Tea Bungalow that would serve as the home to the manager of the tea estate very much as it was during the time of the British Raj. Over time some of these Bungalows have been transformed to accommodate tourists and provide them a chance to live and feel the luxurious life of a tea garden Bungalow here in Dibrugarh. From being pampered in by staying in big huge rooms in the finest beds to being attended to all your needs by the team of butlers, sipping fresh tea in the open well trimmed lawns to dining on expensive cutlery, a stay in one of the Tea Garden Bungalows in Dibrugarh is close to experiencing royalty.

Some of the Tea Garden Bungalows in and around Dibrugarh are the Mancotta Heritage Chang Bungalow, Chowkidinghee Heritage Tea Bungalow, Homestay by the Tea Garden – Dibrugarh, the Wathai Heritage Tea Garden Bungalow at Tinsukia, etc. During your stay at one of these Tea Garden Bungalows around Dibrugarh, take time to relax and rejuvenate, live your life in the lap of luxury, sip the finest Assam Tea, go for exploration of the nearby tea gardens, visit the tea factories and witness the production of tea and also work with the tea garden workers to understand the process of tea plucking.

2| Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary – Dibrugarh

Often referred to as the ‘Amazon of the East’, the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the richest biodiversity forests in India along with the Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh. Located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam, the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary covers an area of 112 sq. km. starting from Dibrugarh expanding upto the Tirap and Changlang district of Aruanchal Pradesh making it the longest stretch of tropical lowland rainforests in India. The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary forms a part of the Assam Valley comprising of tropical evergreen forests and ais divided into 3 parts – Jeypore, Upper Dehing and Dirok.

The dominant fauna present in the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary are that of Asiatic Elephants, Royal bengal Tigers, Leopards, Gaurs, Chinese Pangolins, Hoolock Gibbons, Slow Loris, Capped Langurs, Porcupines, Barking Deers, Golden Cat, etc. The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is also a bird watchers paradise as it is home to over 293 species of birds of the likes of slender billed vulture, greater adjutant, hill myna, osprey, khaleej pheasant, great hornbill, etc. So while you visit Dibrugarh ensure to take a tour of the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.

3| Tai Phake Eco Tourism Camp at Naharkatia – Dibrugarh

Naharkatia is a popular picnic spot area near Dibrugarh town ans the entire area is filled with the lush tea gardens of Assam. It is said that every home here owns a tea garden and this results in people although in a village environment being quite wealthy. Naharkatia town derived its name in an incident when an Ahom noble named Kalia beheaded Prince Nahar translating to ‘Nahar’ – the name of the price and ‘Katia’ meaning to cut off. Across Naharkatia town you can witness paddy fields, beautiful mountains and river side as well. A perfect village environment greets you here and you can experience a perfect ecotourism environment here where you can see the people living in harmony with nature and using the resources of nature tn a balance to create a sustainable environment near Dibrugarh.

Some of the villages around Naharkatia are Namphake, sasonia, Gojpuria, Merrill Ecotourism and Gabhoru Dolong. One noteworthy village is that of Namphake in Tipam. The Namphake village where you see a habitat of a lot of the Tai Phake people of Assam have identified the potential of Ecotourism around the area and the people have set up an ecotourism camp called as the Tai Phake ecotourism camp that attracts visitors and showcases the rich culture and heritage of the Tai Phake people of Assam. Cottages constructed with bamboo create a perfect ecotourism environment of stay amidst nature and all coupled with delicious traditional cuisine and local liquor as well. The Tai phake people are Buddhists and they have a beautiful Monastery in the village that is open to tourists. This Monastery also serves as a meditation center attracting many visitors from India and abroad as well. The other attractions of this Monastery at the Tai Phake village in Tipam is the Ashoka pillar and the Buddhist Pagoda.

4| Jokai Botanical Garden cum Germplasm Center – Dibrugarh

Located amidst the lush forest reserves of the Jokai reserve forest, the Jokai Botanical Garden cum Germplasm center is located at a distance of 12 km from Dibrugarh town and is a rich area in terms of floral diversity. This area near Dibrugarh houses a garden with various medicinal and aromatic plants, water pond, pristine trekking routes, boating facilities, Elephant back ride to explore the Jokai reserve forest near Dibrugarh and various sites to enjoy bird watching as well. This place is a storehouse of some endangered species of flora from this region in Assam and acts as an ideal retreat for any nature lover here in Dibrugarh.

5| Jeypore Rainforest – Dibrugarh

Another of the beautiful forest reserves located 60 km away from Dibrugarh is the Jeypore rainforest. One of the pristine rainforest area, the Jeypore reserve forest is home to seven wildcat species of the likes of the Royal Bengal Tigers, Clouded Leopard, Common Leopard, Marble Cat and Golden Cat. This is a very spread out forest reserve extending upto Tinsukia and Sivasagar districts as well. The forest reserves are rich in mineral contents and earlier Coal India used to excavate coal from the mining regions here.

6| Dr. John Berry White Memorial and Assam Medical College – Dibrugarh

As mentioned earlier, Dr. John Berry White from the erstwhile AR&T Company established the Assam Medical College and had introduced the first X-Ray Unit of India here. Dr. John Berry White was also responsible for the findings of coal and petroleum in the region of Makum and Digboi and revolutionizing the industry across Assam. Today a memorial is being built in his name at the premises of the Assam Medical College to dedicate all his work across the region. While at Dibrugarh you can take the opportunity of visiting the Assam Medical College and paying tribute to this great visionary of a man Dr. John Berry White as well as explore the place where the first X-Ray unit of India was set up.

7| Lord Jagannath Temple – Dibrugarh

One of the prime attractions of Dibrugarh is the Lord Jagannath Temple located near the Mahatma Gandhi Park at Khanikar. Said to be the replica of the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri – Odisha, this is the 2nd temple after the original one having a towering height of 85 feet. Saif to be the prime tourist attraction center in the form of religious tourism, the Lord Jagannath Temple at Dibrugarh attracts hundreds of devotees everyday.

8| Raidongia Doul – Dibrugarh

This is another one of the popular temple shrines around Dibrugarh that was established by the Ahom King Swargadeo Pramatta Singha in 1700 AD. Originally dedicated to Lord Krishna today the idol of Lord Shiva is worshipped in this Temple here in Dibrugarh attracting devotees from far and near. The Temple is said to have 24 statues carved out on its walls of which around 14 are visible today.

9| Bogibeel Bridge – Dibrugarh

Today the Bogibeel Bridge has become of the major attractions of Dibrugarh town. This is India’s Longest Road cum Rail bridge spanning a length of almost 4.9 km and connects Dibrugarh with Dhemaji spanning across the river Brahmaputra. Everyday hundreds of visitors come here to click a selfie on the Bogibeel Bridge. India’s longest bridge – the Dr. Bhupen Hazarika Bridge is at Dhola connecting Dhola with Sadiya and is around 2 hours drive from Dibrugarh crossing the town of Tinsukia.

10| Barbarua Maidam – Dibrugarh

Similar to the Charaideo maidam near Sivasagar where the Ahom kings were buried, the Barbarua Maidam is the resting grounds of the high ranking officials of the Ahom Kingdom near Dibrugarh. This place is located around 14 km away from Dibrugarh town and is spread out across a huge area having graves of other small ranking officials of the Ahom kingdom as well. Just like the Charaideo Maidams these burials at the Barbarua Maidams are unique in structure and is a sight to behold as well.

Sample Itinerary for Kaziranga National Park – Dibrugarh

Day 1 – Kaziranga National Park – Dibrugarh

After Breakfast depart from Kaziranga National Park to Dibrugarh. We will make a stop at Sivasagar to visit the Ahom monuments of Rang Ghar, Kareng Ghar, Talatal Ghar and Siva Doul. Along the way to Dibrugarh we will make a stop over to visit the Bogibeel Bridge – India’s Longest Road cum Rail bridge. Arrive at Dibrugarh by evening.

Night Stay – Chowkidinghee Heritage Tea Bungalow at Dibrugarh