Assam has never failed to mesmerize the fans of Mother Nature. From being home to the rarest species of endangered wildlife to a variety of flora a visit to Assam will be a remembrance for every tourist. The fans of Ornithology don’t get disappointed; this post speaks about two of the many locations in Assam that is a bird lovers paradise – The Dipor Bil Wildlife Sanctuary and the Chandubi Lake.
Both these places are situated near Guwahati in Assam.
Dipor Bil is situated around 8 kms from Guwahati and is a natural water reservoir. The word ‘Bil’ means lake in the local language and hence the name Dipor Beel. A famous picnic spot for the locals during winters this lake is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. One gets to see the likes of Potbilled pelican, lesser Adjutant stork, Baer’s pochard, Pallas’ sea eagle, greater Adjutant stork, the Siberian crane and a host of other species of birds.
Wildlife in the Sanctuary comprises of Wild Asian elephants, Leopard, Jungle cat, the protected Barking deer, Chinese porcupine and Sambar.
In addition, fishing is an important source of livelihood for the locals around the lake and the freshly caught fishes are sold across various markets in the Guwahati city. The Assam Forest Division has its office near the sanctuary and one can book a boat ride to the midst of the lake to enjoy the serene waters and catch a close glimpse of the bird species.
Chandubi Lake is another bird lovers paradise and is situated around 48 kms from Guwahati. Formed during the 1897 earthquake this lake is situated amidst lush green tea gardens, a Gushing mountain river and the Garo Hills.
The lake is bestowed with scenic natural beauty. The chief feature of the lake is the natural lagoon that has been formed in the lake. The lake offers to its visitors the opportunity to go fishing in the waters of the lake. The administrators of the lake have also provided the tourists with the provisions to go rowing in the calm lake waters. The presence of such provisions makes the Chandubi Lake an ideal tourist destination.
Jungleideas welcomes you to India’s North East to experience Bedazzled Birdwatching at Dipor Bil and Chandubi Lake – A Bird watcher’s Paradise in North East India, the State of Assam, Incredible India!
Recommended Itinerary for your visit to Deepor Beel and Chandubi Lake ~
Day 1: Guwahati Airport – Chandubi
Day 2: Chandubi – Deepor Beel – Shillong
Day 3: Shillong – Cherrapunji – Shillong
Day 4: Shillong – Kaziranga
Day 5: Kaziranga – Guwahati
Day 6: Kamakhya Temple – Airport
Day 1: Guwahati Airport – Chandubi
Arrive at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi airport at Guwahati. Upon arrival you will be welcomed by our representative offering you a warm welcome in traditional Assamese style and we will board our comfortable vehicles to begin our drive to Chandubi lake and Chandubi Reserve Forest area. The Chandubi Reserve Forest has been a much undervalued tourist destination of Assam even though it has a very diverse flora, fauna and avifauna and is located at around just 60 km from Guwahati city centre. We will take the road via Azara and along the drive you will witness the glorious countryside of Assam and the small villages of the Rabha people will make you feel at the lap of Mother Nature. The drive will be across the green paddy fields of Assam to be followed by the lush tea gardens and all along the backdrop of the Garo hills of Meghalaya. We will soon arrive at the bustling traditional market before approaching Chandubi and we make a stop here to witness some of the fresh and organic produce from the villages across Assam.
The local villagers grow various organic herbs and vegetables and also as the entire area is filled with forest cover these are numerous edible herbs and plants growing inside the forests and the villagers know how to select them and they bring the edible ones to the market and sell them. Also the Chandubi lake is a pristine natural lagoon that harbours a wide variety of aquatic life and every evening the villagers put out their nets in the waters of the Chandubi lake and they take out the nets in the morning and the catch of fish is brought to be sold in the local markets. We admire the various natural produce on sale at this market and later continue on our drive to the Chandubi lake area and the Chandubi reserve forest area welcomes us and now all we see around us are the tall canopy of trees that were once used to provide the finest quality of timber but this practice was stopped as soon as the forest laws came in and felling of trees from the protected forests, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries of Assam was strictly banned. After around ten minute drive we will reach the parking area of the Chandubi Lake and we park our vehicle here to admire the lush greenery of the beautiful and pristine Chandubi lake area.
Chandubi lake area id a natural lagoon that was created after the great earthquake of 1897 and is nestled between the Garo hills of Meghalaya at the border of Assam and Meghalaya. The lake has a big area and it boasts of some of the rare aquatic life in the region. Behind the lake there is a very pristine forest reserve and it extends up to Meghalaya that harbours very rare animal and bird species including the like of the Burmese Pythons, Rock Pythons and the very rare Reticulated Pythons. Every year during the winter season, thousands of migratory birds come flocking to Assam and they settle around the water bodies of Assam and Chandubi lake and reserve forest are no exceptions and during winters this place becomes a perfect site for bird watching in Assam. And as we are here in Chandubi we will get the opportunity to go for bird watching as well. The Chandubi area is inhabited by the Rabha people of Assam and these people are primarily agriculturalists and they carry a glorious culture and history and we will get to savour their local cuisine and also witness their traditional culture and living at their local village and their traditional handlooms. We will also witness a traditional Rabha tribe cultural dance performance in the evening where the young boys and girls all dressed in their traditional attires will enact out a colourful dance performance for us.
We will cross the Chandubi lake on a country boat (equipped with life jackets) and we will get our first experience of our boat ride across the calm and pristine Chandubi lake. We will check in at the Chandubi Jungle Camp that is located adjacent to the Chandubi lake and we will be welcomed by the owners of the place and we will be offered a unique ‘Sherbet’ that is prepared with ‘Thekera’ leaves and soon we will check into our cottages at the Chandubi Jungle Camp and freshen up and we will take our seats to enjoy a traditional ethnic lunch of the Rabha people of Chandubi. The Chandubi Jungle Camp has an ethnic kitchen and the food here is cooked over wood fire and so a distinct smoky flavour is imparted to the food and the food is cooked in very less oil and powdered spices and the local people of Assam mostly use all natural ingredients to flavour their food. When you taste the food you will get the flavour of the vegetables, garlic, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves and the herbs that are used for the cooking. We will savour this ethnic Rabha lunch and later relax by the lake and in the later afternoon we will go to explore the nearby villages of Chandubi to witness the culture and traditions of the Rabha people of Assam.
The indigenous people of Assam are very adept in the use of bamboo to make handicrafts and we will witness this craft at the village where the local people engage in making various crafts like making fish traps, furniture’s, stools, decors, etc. of bamboo. The women of the village are adept in weaving on the traditional loom and they weave out exquisite handlooms including clothes they wear. We will take a walk across the ethnic village of Chandubi and later we will come back to the Chandubi Jungle Camp and we will take a boat ride across the pristine Chandubi lake and spend time bird watching at Chandubi. The various waterfowls along with the birds of prey can be found along the banks of the Chandubi lake and we will be taken on a tour of the Chandubi lake by a birding guide who will help us spot and identify the various bird species of Chandubi. After a short boat ride we will come back to the Chandubi Jungle Camp and now we take time to witness the traditional kitchen area of the Chandubi Jungle Camp and learn about the various food preparations and we will also cook one dish assisted by the local chef and this will be served to us later with our dinner.
We will take our places by the bonfire and the dance performance by the local boys and girls will be performed and we will get to savour the traditional rice wine that is brewed by the local Rabha people of Chandubi and also savour barbecue that we will prepare by the bonfire. Later we will spend our time at calm and we will hear the roar of the wild elephants that inhabit the forest reserves of Chandubi and also the cry of the Hoolock Gibbons as well. We will take our place at the table for dinner and we will savour some real ethnic delight food like chicken cooked with sesame seeds, fish curry with gourd, various roasted and mashed pitikas and rice along with various offerings of dal as well. After our dinner we take a stroll across the Chandubi Jungle Camp and finally call it a day and prepare for our next day of hiking across the pristine Chandubi Reserve Forest area behind the camp accompanied by a local guide who will help us spot various animals and bird species inside the forest reserves of Chandubi.
Night Halt: Chandubi Jungle Camp
Meals Included: Dinner
Day 2: Chandubi – Deepor Beel – Shillong
Today we will get up in the morning and go to explore the forest reserves of Chandubi accompanied by a local guide. These dense forest reserves are home to some of the very rare fauna and avifauna species and even a birding guide will join us who will help us spot and identify the various birds that we will see inside the forest reserves of Chandubi. We will not make the hike very long and just enough to ensure that we cover most parts of the forest reserve on a shorter path and this way we will keep a track of time as we need to head off to Shillong after visiting the Deepor Beel area near Guwahati. The track is across the manmade pathway as many visitors to Chandubi who come embark on this trek to witness the varied flora, fauna and avifauna of Chandubi. We will spot the various bird species of Chandubi and also spot the Hoolock Gibbons, Slow Loris, Capped Langur, Assamese Macaques, Wild Boars, Wild Elephants and later return back to the Chandubi Jungle Camp where we will freshen up and have our breakfast. We will take some time to admire the birds of the Chandubi Lake and later we will start on our journey to cross the Chandubi lake to head towards the other banks to board our vehicle and we will start on our drive to go to the Deepor Beel area near Guwahati.
We will drive across a different route now and this is across Assam and Meghalaya border and on one side of the road it is Assam territory while on the other it belongs to Meghalaya and the road is the only clear demarcation for it. The roads are filled with the tall trees of the Rani Reserve Forest and we reach a junction area where we will take a right as well and this route will take us to Shillong via the West Khasi Hills while we will be heading to Shillong via the East Khasi Hills. We will soon reach the Pamohi area and we head right to travel to the Deepor Beel area. The Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary is also present in this area and the vast forest reserves of this place are a habitat of the Wild Elephants. We soon reach the Deepor Beel area and this is the only Ramsar Site in Assam. A beautiful natural wetland, the Deepor Beel is a birdwatcher’s paradise and it is also a natural habitat for the Greater Adjutant Stork species,
The pristine waters of the Deepor Beel is home to various aquatic life and species and the winter season sees thousands of bird species come here from various parts of the World. There is a watchtower here and visitors can climb up to catch a glimpse of the various bird species of the Deepor Beel. This place had once become the dumping grounds of the Guwahati city and this caused a lot of environmental concerns across the area and the various administrative steps were taken to protect the aquatic life as well as the bird species of the Deepor Beel. You can see the local people take out their boats and go out for fishing on the waters of the Deepor Beel and they are seen with theit catch along the roadside and the fish they sell here are very delicious because they feed on the natural habitat of the Deepor Beel and local people from Guwahati can be seen lined up here to purchase the fish. The evenings at this area sees locals come here to spend a quaint time by the waters of the Deepor Beel and sometime Elephant herds cross the roads here to travel from one area of the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary to another.
We will wind up our visit at the Deepor Beel area and later start on our drive towards Guwahati via the Garchuk area and continue towards Khanapara and further to Jorabat. At Jorabat we will cross over to Meghalaya from Assam and we will continue on our drive towards the Nongpoh area where we will break for lunch at the Jivas Veg Restaurant. The Nongpoh area is the mid-way stopover place from Guwahati to Shillong and you will see tourist taxis and busses lined up at the various restaurants in the Nongpoh area where tourists take a break to stretch their legs and also grab a bite to eat as well. The Jivas Veg restaurant here is a very popular stop over destination because of the clean and neat surroundings of the place and the availability of hot and fresh vegetarian dishes. We take our seats here and enjoy our lunch and later we will continue on our drive to Shillong. We will cross Umshling and further drive towards Barapani area where we will be greeted by the crystal clear waters of the Umiam Lake near Shillong. The Umiam Lake is the largest mane made water reservoir in North East India and the beauty of the waters here leaves any visitor spellbound.
We will not halt here in the interest of time and instead we will drive towards the Shillong city where we will take a left diversion at the NEHU junction to head to the Don Bosco Museum at Mawlai in Shillong. One of the finest museums in North East India, the Don Bosco Museum is Shillong illustrates the rich culture and heritage of the indigenous people of North East India. We enter the museum and we will be greeted by the pictures on the wall of the various tribes of North East India all dressed in their traditional attires and in their local villages engaged in the traditional occupations of farming, weaving, handicraft making, animal husbandry, fishing, etc. The museum is spread across seven floors and we will start exploring the beautiful place of anthropology. North East India is home to over 200 tribes and sub-tribes and this museum tries to explain in detail about the various tribes and their heritage and culture. Each of the floors of this museum is dedicated to one facet of the life of these indigenous people like one floor illustrates their traditional attires, one floor their way of living, one floor about their agricultural practices, etc.
We explore the Don Bosco Museum in Shillong and later we will travel to the Polo grounds in Shillong crossing the Shillong Golf course that is one of the first golf courses in India. The Polo grounds in Shillong is a very old playing grounds built during the time of the British when Shillong was the erstwhile capital of Assam (total states of North East India combined). Polo grounds today hosts one of the very old betting games of Meghalaya called as the Shillong Teer and we wil take the opportunity to witness this unique game of precision where the archers strike their arrows on a moving circular board with certain numbers of the day and the number that gets the most arrow hits is declared as the winner and the people who had bet on that number get the winning prize money. These various betting shops can be found across Shillong city as well as various other parts in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya. We will try to witness this game of archery if we can match our time and later we will travel to the Wards Lake and Police Bazar area in Shillong. The Wards Lake is one of the favourite tourist destinations in Shillong and visitors from across the World come here to get a feel of Shillong – the Scotland of the East and also try to see the cherry blossom around the area.
The Wards Lake was dug out by the prisoners of the Central jail in Shillong during the times of the British Raj under the command of General Ward. It became to be called as the Ward’s Lake and from a recreational area for the British Officials today this has become a prime tourist attraction in Shillong not just for tourists but for locals as well who come to the Wards Lake every evening to take a stroll across the area and admire the beautiful waters of the Wards Lake. There are provisions for boating as well and you can enjoy a boat ride if you are interested. Later we will go to the Police Bazar area in Shillong that is one of the famous markets in Shillong and you can get to witness a blend of the modern and traditional markets here at Police Bazar area in Shillong. On one side of the market there are the traditional shops that sell various organic produce and traditional items like handicrafts and handloom and things made by hand while on the other side there the high rise malls that sell things that are of the modern World. We will get to witness the betting shop of the Shillong Teer here at Police Bazar and understand how the people bet on the Shillong Teer. We will take a while to explore the Police Bazar in Shillong and later we will go to check into our guest house in the Laban area of Shillong. We will spend the evening at leisure at the guest house and we will enjoy a sumptuous Khasi traditional dinner for the evening.
Night Halt: Sunrise Guest House at Shillong
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 3: Shillong – Cherrapunji – Shillong
Today we will start on our drive to Cherrapunji in the morning after an early breakfast from Shillong and we will get to witness the natural waterfalls and caves in Cherrapunji. We will cross the beautiful valleys of Meghalaya and we will travel to Cherrapunji via Upper Shillong and soon reach the area of the Mawkdok valley where we get to witness the beautiful valleys and landscapes of Meghalaya. We admire the landscapes and continue on our drive to Cherrapunji where we at first travel to visit the Nohkalikai Falls – India’s tallest plunge waterfall. The gushing waters of the Nohkalikai Falls is a treat to the ears and once you witness the cloud cover clearing and view the waterfall you will feel in awe of Mother Nature and the pristine surroundings of the beautiful town of Cherrapunji.
Cherrapunji is also called locally as ‘Sohra’ meaning the Shade of the Clouds and no wonder once you are here you will get to witness that the cloud cover ceases to clear the skies and Cherrapunji once held the record of being the Wettest Place on Planet Earth a title it lost out to Mawsynram in Meghalaya a few years back. But anyways once you are here in Cherrapunji you can always feel the rainfall especially during the monsoon season. We admire the beauty of the Nohkalikai Falls and later explore the numerous stalls that are present here and you can get to witness the fresh spices that are brought in from the forests around Cherrapunji and also taste some of the fresh and tastiest fruits here. Next up we head to explore the Eco Park at Cherrapunji where we will get to witness another beautiful waterfall called as the Wah Kaba falls and also get to view the plains of Bangladesh from here as Meghalaya shares a border with Bangladesh. Further we will continue to visit the Mawsmai caves at Cherrapunji that is a prehistoric cave here and visitors get to feel how it feels like being inside a cave.
The Mawsmai Cave is a huge cave area but only a part of it is open for public viewing and the cave is well lit so that you can view the fossils and the stalactites and stalagmites inside the caves. We will head in on one side of the cave and come out from the exit behind the cave and later we will travel to the Seven Sister Falls that is located a little ahead of the Mawsmai caves. This is a beautiful seven segmented waterfall in Cherrapunji and the view of the Seven Sister Falls is absolutely breathtaking. Not only the waterfall but you get to witness the beautiful valleys of Meghalaya from this spot and the lush greenery all around make you feel at peace with nature. The campus of NIT Meghalaya is located close by and the view from the place is amazing as well. We will explore the place and later head back on our drive to visit the Arwah Caves in Cherrapunji. This is another pre-historic cave in Meghalaya and this is a much wider cave than the Mawsmai cave and it also has a stream flowing inside the cave and the stream also feeds the Wah Kaba Falls.
We will walk towards the cave entrance from the parking spot and later explore the Arwah Caves in Cherrapunji. The fossils are clearly visible on the walls of the Arwah Caves and we admire this wonderful historical place and explore the Arwah Caves and later we will stop for lunch at the Orange Roots Resort at Cherrapunji that serves some of the best vegetarian meals in Cherrapunji especially the South Indian delights. After lunch we head to visit two more waterfalls viz. the Wei Sawdong falls and the Dainthlen falls at Cherrapunji and later continue on our drive to Shillong. At Shillong we will reach the Upper Shillong area where we will explore the Elephant Falls that is a three tiered waterfall with the first falls on top, the second in the middle and the third at the base. This place is known as the elephant falls because when the British had come here they found a big rock was in the shape in the form of an Elephant head and hence the waterfall was named as the Elephant falls. But this rock was however destroyed in the great earthquake of 1897.
After exploring the Elephant falls in Shillong we will travel back to Shillong city to our guest house at the Laban area and before we reach our guest house we will make a stop at India’s only Glass mosque – the Madina Masjid at the Laban area in Shillong. Though almost 90% of the population of Shillong practice Christianity as their faith, a small percentage of the total population practice other faith as well and the Muslim community of Shillong came up with the unique idea of constructing a beautiful glass mosque to offer their prayers and it became to be known as India’s only full glass mosque and in the evenings when the place is illuminated with green lights it looks indeed very beautiful. We will stop by the Madina Masjid and admire the beauty of this holy site and later continue on our drive to our Guest House. We will enjoy a nice Chinese dinner at our guest house and we will prepare for our next day drive to Kaziranga National Park.
Night Halt: Sunrise Guest House in Shillong
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 4: Shillong – Kaziranga National Park
Today is our day of drive from Shillong to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park in Assam. Kaziranga National Park is the most visited tourist destination in North East India and it is famed for its successful conservation story and also for the total population of the Indian one Horned Rhinoceros species that was pulled out from the brink of extinction to around 3000 in number today in the wild here at Kaziranga National Park making Kaziranga home to the highest population of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros species and Kaziranga also has a fair population of the Royal Bengal Tigers highest density in any protected area in the World), highest population of the Asiatic Wild Water Buffaloes, Hog Deers and a good pollution of the Indian Elephants as well. A paradise for bird watching, Kaziranga National Park is home to around 495 species of birds both resident and migratory that makes it an Important Bird Area (IBA) as well. We will start on our drive from Shillong after breakfast and we will travel to the Umiam Lake and make a stop here to admire the crystal clear waters of the Umiam Lake as we did not make a stop on our arrival at Shillong. We will continue on our drive and travel to Nongpoh area and further towards Jorabat area where we will cross over into Assam.
From Jorabat we travel to Sonapur and further to Jagiroad and then towards Raha where we will make a stop at the local shop of handicrafts and we will witness the various arts and crafts of Assam of bamboo and cane here at Raha. We will also savour tender coconut water here as this place is home to the growth of the various coconut trees and along the roads you will see the vehicles parked to enjoy the fresh coconut water. We will admire the skilled craftsmanship of the local people at Raha who weave out various handicrafts using bamboo and cane from furniture’s, sofa sets, stools, trays, interiors decors, fishing traps, flower vase, etc. and there are miniature models as well that you can purchase and carry back home as a souvenir of your visit to Assam or even gift it to your friend and relatives. Later we will continue on our drive towards Nagaon and at the Nagaon Bypass we will stop to have our lunch at the Anuraag Dhaba that is one of the favourite stop overs for lunch along this road to Upper Assam and the place serves real good ethnic food of Assam. We will order ourselves the Assamese thali along with a choice of meat or fish and enjoy our sumptuous lunch and later we continue on our drive to Kaziranga National Park across Amoni and Jakhlabandha.
The signage’s welcome us to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park and the view of the lush green tea gardens and the backdrop of the tall mountains of the Karbi Anglong hills will be visible to us as well. We will continue on our drive to Kohora area in Kaziranga National Park where we are scheduled to halt for the evening crossing the Burapahar range and further to the Bagori area. Upon crossing the Burapahar range we will arrive at a view point that will allow us to spot the pride of Assam – the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros of Kaziranga National Park. This place is a swamp area and the rhinoceros can be found in the late afternoon and along with the rhinoceros one can also spot the Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo, Hog Deers and various species of birds of Kaziranga National Park. The view will be from a distance and there are local boys here who rent out binoculars and in case you are intending to get an up-close view of the various animal and bird species you can hire the binoculars from these boys.
We will finally reach the Kohora area of Kaziranga National Park and at first we will go to visit the Kaziranga Orchid Park – the largest orchid park in India where we get to witness the various orchid species indigenous to Assam and North East India. North East India is blessed with varied flora, fauna and avifauna and the orchid species are one among them and around 1200 of the 1800 orchid species found in India are to be found in the forest pockets of North East India. This orchid park displays the various orchid species in the Green house as well as in the form of photo gallery as well. In addition to orchids, this place is a one stop solution to witness the culture of Assam as the place illustrates the various handicrafts and handlooms of Assam, along with a rice museum that highlights the various indigenous rice varieties, a souvenir shop to buy various indigenous specials to be taken home as memoir of your visit to Assam, a bamboo garden, a cactus garden and also a stage area that depicts the various traditional dance forms of Assam performed by the indigenous tribes of Assam. We will explore the Kaziranga Orchid Park and witness the various dance forms of Assam here at the Orchid Park and later we will go to check into our place of stay at Kaziranga National Park at the Kohora area.
After checking in we will spend some time at leisure at the hotel and we will come out for an early dinner at the Pelican Dhaba that is located close to the Kohora ATM and this place serves some of the best fish curry recipes around Kaziranga National Park. As we know that the area of Kaziranga National Park is surrounded by various rivers and natural wetlands so this means that the area is abundant in aquatic life and so the fish species available here is bound to be the best and so when you are Kaziranga National Park it is bound that you should try to savour the fish recipes that are served at the restaurants of Kaziranga National Park with various herbs and vegetables especially the sour and tangy fish curry with elephant apple. We will savour a nice thali along with a Borali fish tangy curry and after our dinner we head back to our hotel that is located just ahead of the Pelican Dhaba. We will return to our rooms after dinner and prepare ourselves for the early morning elephant safari ride that is scheduled at the Bagori safari range of Kaziranga National Park at 6.30 AM.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Holidays at Kaziranga National Park
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 5: Kaziranga National Park – Guwahati
Today we are scheduled for two safari rides in the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park – Elephant Safari in the morning at 6.30 AM at the Western range of Kaziranga National Park and we come back to our hotel to freshen up and have our breakfast and we go for a round of jeep safari at the Central range of Kaziranga National Park and get to explore and cover more grounds on the jeep and later we will continue of our drive back to Guwahati to reach by evening. We will travel to the western range of Kaziranga National Park and at the forest office we will be handed our passes for the elephant safari ride and we go to board our elephant back and go for a thrilling hour long elephant safari ride into the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park. The elephant ride is a good option to sight the one horned rhinoceros from up close as the elephant takes you into the swampy lands and jeeps cannot travel outside of its designated tracks. Along with the rhinoceros we will spot various other fauna and avifauna species on our elephant back ride inside Kaziranga National Park.
After our elephant safari ride we drive back to our hotel and we freshen up and have our breakfast and the jeep will come to pick us up at our hotel and we will go for an hour and half long jeep safari ride inside the central range of Kaziranga National Park. The jeep ride helps us to cover more grounds on the designated safari track inside Kaziranga National Park and so our chances of spotting animals and birds are more on this ride. We start our jeep safari ride and we spot the rhinoceros, wild elephant herd, hog deers, Asiatic Wild water buffaloes, wild boars, capped langurs, assamese macaques and various bird species of Kaziranga National Park like Great Indian Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Black necked crane, Egrets, Ospreys, Kites, Drongos, cormorants, barbets, etc. The jeep will take us on a designated route and we come out of central range of Kaziranga National Park and get back to our hotel to pack up and embark on our drive to Guwahati bidding farewell to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park. We will cross Bagori, Burapahar and Jakhlabandha to reach Amoni where we will stop for lunch at the Triptite Ehaz restaurant and later reach Guwahati by evening.
Night Halt: Hotel Vrinda Residency at Guwahati
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 7: Guwahati – LGBI Airport
Today we will start our day after an early breakfast and we will travel to the holy temple shrine of Maa Kamakhya temple located atop the Nilachal hills in Guwahati. We will complete our Darshan at the Kamakhya temple and later drive to the Assam State Museum followed by a visit to the emporiums of handicrafts and handlooms and we will have our lunch followed by a visit to the Sukreshwar temple and later we will drive you to the LGBI airport at Guwahati for your onward destination. We will drive from our hotel towards Jalukbari flyover and we will drive towards Guwahati city via Adabari and Maligaon and we will reach the Kamakhya gate stop and begin on our ascent atop the Nilachal hills in Guwahati – the site of the Maa Kamakhya temple and as we reach the parking area we will be greeted by a temple priest (Panda) who will take us for the Darshan of the Maa Kamakhya temple at Guwahati. This holy temple shrine is one among the 51 Shakti Peethas in India and is a highly revered temple shrine because of the legends associated with Shakti and tantra here at the Kamakhya temple.
It is believed that Goddess Sati’s womb fell atop the Nilachal hills and this temple shrine was later built by Lord Kamadeva as he was instructed that he would regain his beauty (Kam – Rupa the ancient name of Assam) once he completed this task and it went on to be associated with numerous legends. The Kamakhya temple is said to be the temple of the bleeding Goddess and every year in the month of Asad (June) it is believed that the Goddess menstruates and during these three days the temple doors are shut to the devotees and on the fourth day the temple doors are opened and devotees throng in to seek the blessings of the Goddess here at the Kamakhya temple. The holy Sadhus revere this temple shrine as this was once a centre of Black Magic (tantra) and the sorcerer’s here had supernatural powers and they conducted all sorts of human and animal sacrifices to appease the Goddess. The present structure of the Kamakhya temple was built by the Ahom Kings of Assam and it follows the Ahom temple architecture. The priest will take us to the main temple doors guiding us to the temple pond where we will cleanse our feet and hands and we go in to explore the inner sanctum of the Maa Kamakhya temple at Guwahati in Assam. We will take the VIP Pass and this will allow us to bypass the long queue of devotees who come to the Maa Kamakhya temple shrine every day to seek the blessings of the Goddess.
We will visit inside the inner sanctum that has a holy stone that is fed continuously by an underground stream and to complete our Darshan of the Maa Kamakhya temple we are to touch the holy water and sprinkle it over our heads. We will complete our Darshan and finally come out of the inner sanctum of the Kamakhya temple. The Panda will offer us the Prasad and we will bid farewell to the Kamakhya temple completing our Darshan within two hours and we will have some refreshment at a local restaurant outside and later continue on our drive to the Assam State Museum at Ambari area in Guwahati. The Assam State Museum is a very detailed museum when it comes to the history of Assam (earlier Kamrupa) and the place details the life of the various indigenous people of Assam and there are models of village huts and weaving practices of the people here as well. The heritage handmade masks of Majuli Island are also to be found here at the Assam State Museum. Once section that takes your heart way is the section of sculptures and all of the stone sculptures here date back to the medieval period and BC era as well and have been excavated from areas across Assam that speaks highly of the rich culture and ancient monarchy that prevailed across here and the importance of Assam in India’s glorious history.
A section dedicated to the various artefacts of the World War II – Burma Campaign that was fought across North East India including the construction of the historic Stilwell Road from Ledo (India) to Kunming (China) is to be seen here at the museum as well. Another section here depicts the various era of the Indus Valley civilization and its relevance to Assam and the exploration ends with a section of the Ahom kingdom of Assam. Post this we will visit the local emporium of handicrafts and handlooms and make purchases of our souvenirs to carry back home. We will have our lunch at a restaurant at the Ambari area in Guwahati and post this we will visit the Sukreshwar temple that is another temple shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva and is having the widest Shiva Lingam in India. It is located atop the Itakhuli hill and it is said that the Guru of the Asuras (Sukracharya) used to worship Lord Shiva at this temple shrine and hence the name Sukreshwar temple. We offer our prayers here and later travel to the LGBI airport at Guwahati. We will drop you at the airport for the flight to your onward destinations. Tour Ends. Bid Adieu!
Night Halt: NA
Meals Included: Breakfast
