The State of Assam, in addition to being bestowed with wonders of Nature is also rich in culture and heritage. From being the home to the fierce ‘Ahom Dynasty of Kings’ who were the only ones to beat the Mughals at the fierce ‘Battle of Saraighat’, it is also the land of the famous ‘Muga’ (Golden) and the ‘Eri’ (Ahimsa) silk. These silk are indigenous to Assam and the originals cannot be found anywhere in the world as the silk wormed survive only in the conditions of Assam. In addition, the world’s largest inhabited river island ‘Majuli’ and the world smallest inhabited river island ‘Umananda’ have made Assam their home.
The Island of ‘Majuli’, has a very rich heritage and has been the abode of Assamese ‘Vaishnavite’ culture with tremendous option for spiritual and Eco tourism. This island has been the cultural capital and cradle of Assamese civilization for the past five hundred years. The ‘Satras’ of Majuli preserve antiques like weapons, utensils, jewelry and other items of cultural significance. Pottery made in Majuli is from beaten clay and burnt in driftwood fired kilns in the same mode carried out by the people of the ancient Harappan cilvilization. The hand loom work of the tribal people of Majuli mostly the ‘Mishings’ are renowned internationally. Although hand loom is a major occupation of the people of Majuli it is mostly a non-commercial occupation. Weaving is exquisite and intricate with the use of a variety of colors and textures of cotton and silk, especially the ‘Muga’ Silk. Fishing, dairying, pottery, boat making and mask making are the other important economic activities of this island.
The ‘Raas Leela’ is an annual festival being performed on the full moon day (Purnima) in the month of November (Kati- Aghun) during the autumn season. Although it is not known for certain in which ‘Satra’ Raas Leela was first introduced in Majuli as a performing festival but this festival draws a large number of people from across the ‘Satras’ of Majuli. The ‘Raas Leela’ is the story of the life of Lord Krishna presented in the performing art form. Virtually everyone from this tinsel town participates in this festival like children acting in plays, teachers lending voice to the characters, business men and government employees reciting hymns and songs. The ‘Raas Leela’ at Majuli is like an all night long extravaganza with no ad breaks where everybody’s eyes are glued to the performances of the talented artists in the World’s largest inhabited river island.
Jungleideas welcomes you to the North East India and be a part of the ‘Raas Leela Festival’ – The Life of Lord Krishna depicted in an Art form at Majuli, the State of Assam, Incredible India!
Recommended Itinerary for your visit to the Raas Leela Festival of Majuli Island ~
Day 1: Jorhat
Day 2: Jorhat – Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary – Majuli
Day 3: Majuli – Explore Satras – Witness Raas Leela Festival
Day 4: Majuli – Kaziranga National Park
Day 5: Kaziranga National Park
Day 6: Kaziranga National Park – Shillong
Day 7: Shillong – Cherrapunji – Shillong
Day 8: Shillong – Mawphlang – Shillong local sightseeing
Day 9: Shillong – Kamakhya Temple – Guwahati airport
Detailed Itinerary for your visit to the Raas Leela Festival of Majuli Island with Kaziranga National Park ~
Arrive at the Jorhat airport and upon arrival you will be welcomed by our representative offering you a warm welcome in traditional Assamese style and we will plan your visit 3 days prior to the main Raas Leela festival as this will allow us time to explore the nearby places around Jorhat and also as during the festival time there is a lot of rush especially while crossing the ferry at Neemati Ghar hence it is advised to travel two days ahead of the scheduled festival evening so that we can experience the Raas Leela festival and also explore the Satras of Majuli prior to the main festival evening. From the Jorhat airport we will drive to the Kaziranga Golf Resort that is a very popular property in this area and also has an odd British Bungalow that has now been converted to a heritage stay called as the Burra Sahib Bungalow. Upon arrival we will be welcomes at the reception and directed to the luxurious rooms at the Kaziranga Golf Resort. You will have time to freshen up and after your lunch we will drive to the nearby Swargadeo Sukapha Samanway Kshetra that is a memorial dedicated to the founded of the Ahom Kingdom Swargadeo Sukapha.
Sukapha had migrated from the Shan Kingdom in the early half of the 13th century and he went on to establish the Ahom Kingdom of Assam in 1228AD that went to become the longest unbroken ruling dynasty in India that ruled Assam for around 600 years. The Ahoms were known to be very brave and with the use of intelligent war tactics they did not allow the Mughals to conquer Assam under the able guidance of the great Ahom General Lachit Borphukan. This memorial to the great King and leader demonstrates various relics from the times of the Ahom Kingdom of Assam and at the museum you can catch a glimpse of these relics. The Ahom Kingdom has its capital at the land of Sivasagar (Ocean of Lord Shiva) and this place was developed as a land of various historic monuments and forts. The Ahom kings were patrons of architecture and they developed numerous historic temples and monuments across the state and they are also accredited with the restoration of the Kamakhya temple in its present form. They converted to Hinduism after they were much intrigued by the practices of Shakti and Tantra that were prevalent across this temple shrine and they also became patrons of the various black magic practices that were done by the sorcerers of the land of Mayong near Guwahati who too were devout followers of Goddess Kamakhya.
Few of the other revered temples built by the Ahom Kings are the Basistha temple, Umananda temple, Siva Doul temple, Navagraha temple, Aswaklanta temple, Dirgheshwari temple, etc. The renowned monuments of Sivasagar are the Rang Ghar (the Royal Pavilion or the House of Entertainment) that is said to be Asia’s Oldest Amphitheatre and also called as the Coliseum of the East. It was here at Rang Ghar that the Ahom Kings used to witness various traditional sports like wrestling, bull fighting, cock fights and even the grand performance of the Bihu dance of Assam on the grand performance of the Bihu dance of Assam on the open grounds.
Another very important monument built by Ahom Kings is that of the Talatal Ghar that served as the Royal fort and the soldiers of the Ahom army were stationed at the Talatal Ghar. This was a unique construction that used the flat red bricks that were introduced by the Ahoms for the construction of the various monuments and these bricks were bound by a mortar of duck eggs, lime, sticky rice and sand and the structure had a very powerful bond. The network of underground tunnel at the monument connected the exit at the Royal palace and the river banks and this was made to confuse the enemy soldiers and allow the Ahom soldiers to regroup and later plan a counter attack while one group went to protect the royal family. The Ahom royal palace was called as the Kareng Ghar that is located at the outskirts of Sivasagar town and this is considered to be one of the most planned and grand architecture of the Ahom Kings that is a seven story high structure with various levels of rooms for the Ahom Royals and the staff as well.
Also the Ahoms followed a unique burial process of the Royals that was very similar to the burials rituals of the Pharaoh’s of Egypt and the burial grounds of the Ahom royals at the Charaideo Maidams are often referred to as the Pyramids of India. The burial grounds of the Ahom royals at Charaideo had huge chambers dug underneath the ground and the kings who were buried here were believed to have been buried along with his precious people and things like the gold he possessed, all wealth, servants, pets and even his wife so that he could lead an afterlife as well. Though these facts have not been verified but many people believed this story to be true and hence they believed that vast treasures were to be found at these burials and they destroyed many of these Maidams and today only 21 of these Maidams remain protected by the ASI and this is becoming a sight of the unique tourist attraction. These are some of the unique details of the Ahom kingdom of Assam and these can be explored here at the Swargadeo Sukapha Samanway Kshetra. After this we will go to explore the nearby tea gardens and later return back to the Kaziranga Golf Resort for night halt.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Golf Resort at Jorhat
Meals Included: NA
Day 2: Jorhat – Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary – Majuli
Today is our day of travelling to a very pristine Wildlife Sanctuary near Jorhat called as the Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary and this is the abode of the Hoolock Gibbon species and also varied other flora, fauna and avifauna as well. We will explore the golf course area at the Kaziranga Golf Resort early in the morning and we have a nice breakfast and check out of the place to drive towards Jorhat Bypass and continue further towards Mariani where the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary is located and we will enjoy the beautiful view of the tea gardens and the countryside of Assam as well. We reach the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary and here we will make our entry formalities and forest guards will be assigned to us and a local guide will also join us to show us across the place and we begin on our jungle walk across the tall forest canopy of Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary. This is known for the presence of the Hollong trees of Assam and hence the name Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary and we will get to hear the loud cries of the Hoolock Gibbons and also get to sight them as well. The entire forest stretch is that of the evergreen forests of Assam and the forests used to earlier extend to the foothills of the Patkai mountain range as well.
The Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary is home to the India’s only Ape species or the Hoolock Gibbons and the only nocturnal primate – the Bengal Slow Loris. The forests of the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary is dominated in the upper forest canopy by the Hollong trees and the middle canopy by the Nahar trees and the lower canopy comprises of the evergreen shrubs and herbs as well. Apart from the above two fauna species, other species to be found inhabiting the forest reserves of the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary are Stumped Tailed Macaques, Northern Pig Tail macaques, Eastern Assamese Macaques, Rhesus Macaques, Capped Langurs, Elephants, Bengal tigers, Leopards, Jungle Cats, Wild Boars, Civets, Squirrels, etc. Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary is also a paradise for bird watching and around 219 species of birds are to be found inside the forest reserves of this place both resident and migratory. We will enjoy our wildlife sighting here at the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary and also birding and later we will drive to the Neemati Ghat and we will have lunch on our way. We will reach the Neemati Ghat near Jorhat and proceed to board the ferry to travel to Majuli Island.
The ferry boat will take us to the Kamalabari Ghat from the Neemati Ghat and this ride will take us around an hours’ time because it is a downstream ride and hence the boat flows along the current of the river and we can admire the beautiful sky horizon and the setting sun once we are in the middle of the Brahmaputra River. We will soon arrive at the Kamalabari Ghat and we will disembark from the ferry and board our vehicles to drive towards Majuli town centre at Garamur. The lovely countryside of Majuli will welcome us and will get to see the unique bamboo stilt houses of the Mishing people of Majuli who live along the river banks and these stilt houses are usually made up of bamboo and built on raised platforms with brick and mortar pillars to survive the monsoon season. These homes are not very big but adequate for a small village family who mostly live by farming, animal husbandry, fishing, dairy, handicrafts and handlooms. The sprawling agricultural fields of Majuli will welcomes us and the mustard growth we will see will be a beautiful yellow hue in colour.
With this we will soon arrive at the main town centre of Majuli at Garamur and we will proceed to check into our place of stay at Enchanting Majuli that is a nice property to stay during your visit to Majuli. The owner will welcome us and we go in to freshen up and enjoy our evening tea and post this we will go to witness the preparations going on at the Satras for the coming days Raas Leela festivities and this will be a good way to learn about the Neo Vaishnavism cult of Majuli. These Satras of Majuli were founded and propagated by the holy Saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva and his disciple Madhabdeva and his principle ideology was to stand up against the caste system that was prevalent during the medieval period in the country and he promoted the cult of ‘Ek Sarna’ that all human beings are alike and should not be discriminated on the basis of caste, creed or colour. To spread the message across the masses of his ideologies and the teachings of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna these Neo Vaishnavite Satras were established across various places in Assam and these went on to become centres of art and literature where young boys entered at a young age and they began training in art and literature and these Satras went on to become prime educational centres of Assam that produced various scholars and authors.
Even today, these Satras hold a very important place in the lives of the people of Assam and the monks of these Satras of Majuli are believed to be the people of God. We will go to visit the Uttar Kamalabari Satra at Majuli today evening where we will witness the various preparations going on at the place to welcome visitors to the Raas Leela festival. If we are able to arrange then we can get to witness the Sattriya Nritya dance performance here that is one among the eight classical dance forms of India and is renowned across the World. This unique dance form is performed by the male members of the Satra and they dance using the drums and cymbals enacting various stages of the life of Lord Krishna. The dance performance is performed in the main prayer hall or the Namghar of the place and in case we are able to host this dance today evening we will admire the various steps of the monks or else we will get to witness it tomorrow evening during the Raas Leela festival of Majuli.
We will go to explore the local market of Majuli at Garamur that will see various make shift stalls being setup as the Raas Leela is an annual festival and the local people take it as an opportunity to earn a decent sum of money by selling the various ethnic handicrafts, handlooms and traditional food to the tourists who come to visit Majuli from across the World during the Raas Leela festival. We will get to see the various traditional Mishing handlooms that are woven by the local Mishing women on the traditional loom and these are very vibrantly coloured ones made with cotton or even the Eri silk variety of Assam as well. We will be visiting a local Mishing village tomorrow morning where we will get to witness the local women weaving on these traditional looms of Assam. Get to witness the various traditional food offerings of the local people of Majuli who use everything organic that are grown in the local agricultural fields to prepare delicious food offerings and present to the visitors who come to Majuli during the annual Raas Leela festival. After exploring the market we will head back to our place of stay at Enchanting Majuli where we will have a traditional Mishing cuisine diner and retire to our rooms.
Night Halt: Enchanting Majuli
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 3: Majuli Island – Raas Leela Festival
Today we will go to explore the nearby Mishing tribe villages at Majuli Island and later go to explore the river bank and witness the traditional fishing on boats. After breakfast we will head out to explore the various Satras of Majuli and in the evening we will witness the festival of Raas Leela of Majuli. We have tea and biscuits and take our cycles to ride from the place of stay to the villages of Sitadhur Chuk and along the ride we will visit the sprawling agricultural fields that are filled with blooming mustard, vegetables and even rice cultivation. The Mishing people of Majuli who are basically from the villages follow and early routine and they get up very early in the morning and while the men prepare to go out for work in the fields and fishing, etc. the women get busy early in the morning to prepare food and to get their children ready do school and later they take time to sit on the traditional looms for handloom weaving. However, in case there are more women members in the family, they sit down to weave on the loom early in the morning and we will get to witness the art of weaving on the traditional looms where they weave out the Gamusa, the Mishing Gale, Mishing scarf, mufflers, etc.
It is a real wonder to hear the rhythmic sound of the loom and how the elaborate work is weaved out on these end fabrics. We will witness how the local women use the ‘Dheki’ to pound the rice husk to obtain the rice grain from the rice husk. We cycle across the village and see the local men farming on their agricultural fields and how they sit down to have a meal and later we will go to the banks of the River Luit to witness the fishermen taking their boats out to fish in the waters of the river and also the beautiful countryside of Majuli as well. We come back to our hotel and we freshen up and have our breakfast and we will board our vehicles to begin our journey to explore the various Satras of Majuli that will be bustling with activities today as the guests to the Raas Leela festival of Majuli would have already arrived and taken their places at the Satras because these Satras also offer accommodation to their guests at nominal prices. We will start our exploration by a visit at the Sri Sri Auniati Satra in Majuli Island that is one of the very prominent and renowned Satras of Assam and it has various branches across the State as well.
The Sri Sri Auniati Satra is known to play grand host to the Raas Leela festival and various Bhaonas or religious plays will be enacted out at the Namghar of this Satra of Majuli to mark the Raas Leela festival. The Bhaonas were introduced by Srimanta Shankardeva as a way to impart religious discourses of the various Hindu Epics to the people when he learnt that is he was able to present these epics in the form of plays (and not just by reciting them) then the people would be able to relate themselves more with the mythological characters of the play and hence the understanding would also be better. Also to make the characters of the play more lifelike, he introduced the art of traditional masks (that we will witness next at the Samaguri Satra) and these artists who enact the plays would adorn these masks along with traditional costumes and this allowed the people to witness a very elaborate performance of the Bhaona in front of their eyes. At the Auniati Satra we will witness the preparation for the evening going on and we will explore the Namghar (main prayer hall) of this Satra and later we will explore the museum at this Satra that allows us to witness various relics from the times of the ancient era of Neo Vaishnavism as well as the Ahom period and the museum also has the original sword of Lachit Borphukan that was used in wars.
We will later go to explore the Samaguri Satra in Majuli that is renowned as the mask making Satra (Mukha Satra) across the World and the art of traditional mask making has been kept alive at this Satra under the able guidance of its Satradhikar Dr. Hemchandra Goswami. We will drive across the beautiful countryside of Majuli at the Kamalabari area to reach the Samaguri Satra. Along the drive we will observe the stilt houses that are built of bamboo and in the afternoon we will have the opportunity to visit one such house of a local Mishing family where we will get to see such a house and their traditional tribal kitchen inside and also get to savour some of their local cuisine that is being cooked at the kitchen. We will reach the Samaguri Satra and we will be welcomed by the various traditional masks that are being kept at this Satra premises. We will also get to witness the local artists using bamboo to create the frame of the mask along with the Satradhikar of this Satra and how they go about the steps of mask preparation.
These masks had lost their glory with the course of time and the Satradhikar of the Samaguri Satra is accredited with keeping the legacy of this mask making art alive to an extent that this has now found global recognition and not only do visitors from across the World come to Majuli Island to witness this art from in person, but miniature models of these masks are sent out across the World where they are in great demand. The Republic Day tableau of Assam in the year 2018 was of this heritage mask making art of Majuli and this had won the contingent the first prize as well. We will observe how these artists at the Samaguri Satra use their bare hands to create the frame of this mask using bamboo and later they use a thin cloth to wrap this structure and later a special mud that is dug out from the deep banks of the Brahmaputra River is mixed with cow dung and the paste is applied on these mask and the masks are kept out under the sun to be dried. Once the mud on the mask has dried up completely and the structure gets hard organic paints that are derived from the bark, root and stem of certain trees and vegetables are applied to provide the final stage of the mask preparation and these masks are ready for the demonstration of the Bhaona.
The mask making process has been followed from the times of its inception by the great Guru and Saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva and the Satradhikar of the Samaguri Satra, Dr. Hemchandra Goswami has added a unique feature to this mask that the jaw of the masks are allowed to move with the jaws of the movement of the artists wearing this mask to enact the Bhaona and this now appears to be more lifelike. We will get to witness the Bhaona art of Majuli today evening at the Garamur Satra near our place of stay where the artists will adorn themselves with these traditional masks and attires and perform at the Raas Leela festival of Majuli Island. The Raas Leela festival is the life of Lord Krishna depicted in an art form. As already mentioned, these Satras and Namghars of Assam were established by the saint reformer Srimanta Shankardeva and he preached the ideologies of Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu and hence the life of Lord Krishna holds an important part in the people who are devoted to these Satras. This is why the Raas Leela festival is celebrated mostly as a way to mark the end of the monsoon season and the time to now sow the agricultural fields for a bountiful harvest.
The entire community of Majuli Island gets together to celebrate the Raas Leela Festival of Majuli Island and it is said that all members of the households have to compulsorily be a part of some activities of the Raas Leela festival of Majuli Island. We will visit the display had of the Samaguri Satra and here we will witness a short demonstration of the various masks that are kept on display here. After witnessing this we will head to the Salmora village where we will get to witness another heritage and gradually dying art of pottery making with hands. The pottery art of Majuli has been practiced here since times immemorial and the very unique thing about this art is that it doesn’t involve the pottery wheel and the entire creation of the pottery item is done by hands. Pottery is generally a male dominated profession across the country while in Majuli it is done mostly by the female members of the household who use a special soil and mix it with cow dung to create these pottery goods and even today (although the market has gone down considerably due to availability of cheaper steel and plastic utensils), certain patrons still prefer to use these pottery items especially the bigger clay pots that can be used to store water in the summer season and it helps to keep the water considerably cooler.
We will go to a village house and here we will get to witness this art form in front of our eyes where the lady will use her hands to create a lump from the soil and later provide shape of the pots and the utensils and finally keep them out in the sun to dry to be followed by painting them with organic colours and get the pots ready to be transported to other places. With this we will wrap up our visit for the morning and head to the 2 No. Phutuki village in Majuli to visit a local Mishing tribe kitchen where we will get to witness the Mishing way of life and also visit a local Mishing house where we will get to witness the traditions of the Mishing people and how they maintain their organic gardens, cook their traditional meals and weave on the handlooms and even see how they prepare the traditional Mishing rice beer called as Apong that is a unique culture of the people to welcome their guests with a bowl of this rice beer and meat. The Mishing traditional kitchen is also built on a raised platform and the fire is lit at the centre of the kitchen and the family cooks over the fire while the other members sit around it in the evenings.
We will take our seats at the kitchen and we will be served our lunch of the traditional Mishing cuisine of Assam. As mentioned earlier, the Mishing people of Majuli are very particular about their food they eat and they do not eat anything that is packed or refrigerated and always use fresh ingredients for food preparations that are sourced from their local gardens and freshly slaughtered meat and fish items. They do not prefer to eat farm chicken or farm pig and they have the poultry and livestock at their local homes or at the other members of the village homes and no wonder they do not suffer from any modern day ailments. They also ensure to include a lot of greens and leafy vegetables in their diet that will be sure when you see them because hardly you will see anyone wearing glasses across the Majuli Island because of the fresh intake of the various vitamins that are derived from the leafy vegetables. They also make use of a special dry fish to prepare a dish called as ‘Namsing’ and also roast various meat and fish recipes as well. The food is served on bell metal utensils and all the natural and organic flavours of the meal can be enjoyed once you taste the cuisine of the Mishing people of Majuli Island.
After our sumptuous lunch we will head to the village house where we will find the traditional looms that are kept under the stilt houses and we will observe how the local women folk weave on these traditional looms of Assam. With this we will wrap up and bid farewell to the locals of the Mishing village and head back to our place of stay at Enchanting Majuli to take some rest and prepare ourselves for the Raas Leela festivities that will be scheduled this evening. We savour our evening tea at the Hotel and later we walk from our place of stay to the Garamur area of Majuli that also happens to be the main town centre area as well. The Garamur Satra located here celebrates the Raas Leela festival of Majuli in a grand fashion and we will observe the festival at the Satra here on our pre-booked tickets to visit the place. The entire town will be seen bustling with various activities and the stalls will be filled with the vibrant handicrafts and handlooms of Majuli and it is indeed true that during the celebration of the Raas Leela festival of Majuli, the entire island comes to life for the coming three days. We will take time to explore the market for a while and later go to visit the Garamur Satra area of Majuli to witness the festivities of the Raas Leela festival.
One of the other prominent Satras of Majuli Island, the Garamur Satra was built by an Ahom King and it plays host to the grand festivities of the Raas Leela festival of Majuli. The Namghar of the Satra is host to the Raas Leela festival and we will take our seats to witness the Bhaona performance that is a story of a Hindu mythological epic spoken in an art form with the various artists dressed in colourful attires and adorning the masks of the Samaguri Satra to demonstrate the particular character of the mythological play. The visitors from across the World take their places at the Garamur Satra to witness this Bhaona performance at the place. The artists will demonstrate the Bhaona performance to us and it will speak about the various stages in the life of Lord Krishna and we will observe this and after a few acts we will bid farewell to the Garamur Satra to come and explore the local market again and later we will head back to the place of stay and spend our final evening in Majuli Island.
Night Halt: Enchanting Majuli
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 4: Majuli Island – Kaziranga National Park
Today is our day of driving to Kaziranga National Park from Majuli and we will have to board the ferry again to cross over from Majuli to travel to Neemati Ghat near Jorhat and we will start on our drive to Kaziranga National Park. We will be scheduled to have our safari ride at the Eastern Range of Kaziranga and for this we will need to reach before the afternoon and so we will go to catch the early morning ferry because we will need to reach the Neemati Ghat as early as possible and the journey upstream takes a little longer as compared to the downstream journey. We will board our ferry and begin on our upstream ride on the Brahmaputra River to travel to Neemati Ghat and we will reach the other end of the River and commence on our drive to Kaziranga National Park via Jorhat Bypass. We will reach Bokakhat at around afternoon and we will stop for lunch and our jeeps will await us at the entrance towards the Eastern Range of Kaziranga National Park at Agoratoli and we will get down from our vehicles and sit on the safari jeeps to travel towards the forest office of the Agoratoli range across the beautiful countryside of Assam and we will make our entry at the forest office and continue on our jeep safari inside the interiors of Kaziranga National Park.
The Eastern range of Kaziranga National Park is known for its various species of flora, fauna and avifauna and it is known to be the habitat of the Royal Bengal Tigers of Kaziranga National Park and many occasions of sighting of this animal have been reported from this range of the park. The bird life is also very diverse and Kaziranga National Park is home to around 495 species of birds both resident and migratory. We will be greeted by the Great Indian Hornbills that are generally perched atop a tall tree that is there at the eastern range of Kaziranga at Agoratoli. The jeep ride takes us further into the interiors of the park where we will have the opportunity to sight many more animals and birds including the One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Wild Water Buffaloes, Hog Deers, Swamp Deers, Wild Boars, Assamese Macaques, Hog Deers, Swamp Deers, Wild Boars, Jungle Fowls and if we are lucky then the Royal Bengal Tigers as well. The various bird species to be spotted are the Great Indian Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Black Necked Stork, Darters, Drongos, Cormorants, Egrets, Magpie Robins, White Breasted Kingfishers and many others are to be spotted on the jeep safari ride at the Eastern Range of Kaziranga National Park at Agoratoli.
The jeep ride will last for around 2 hours and we will be taken to the banks of the river across the park and we will come out of the forest reserves before sundown. Our jeep vehicles will take us and drop us at our place of stay at Kaziranga National Park at Kaziranga Holidays that is a decent Hotel accommodation located just near the Central Range of the Park and our vehicles would have already reached the place with our luggage. We will check into our rooms and take time to freshen up and in the evening we will proceed to visit the Kaziranga Orchid Park to witness the grand performances of the traditional folk dances of Assam that are scheduled here. Assam is a land of varied traditions and cultures and home to numerous indigenous tribes and communities who are basically farmers and agriculturalists since long time back and they are engaged in sowing of their fields and awaiting a harvest season and therefore they have a grand feast at the time of harvest season during the month of January and many of the indigenous communities of Assam celebrate this as the Magh Bihu festival where the festival is marked with various songs and dances and these are traditional folk songs and dances that are associated with each if these tribal communities and we will witness this at the open stage area of Kaziranga Orchid Park. After witnessing the dance performances we will head to the John’s Kitchen at Kaziranga for a nice dinner and return back to our place of stay for night halt.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Holidays
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 5: Kaziranga National Park Safari
Today is our day of exploring the beautiful forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park at two more safari zones of the park at the Central and Western ranges of Kaziranga National Park and we will also visit the Kaziranga Orchid Park as well that we did not have the opportunity to explore from inside yesterday as it was later and the interiors of the park are closed to tourists by 5.30 PM. We will start our day after an early breakfast and the jeep safari vehicles will pick us up from our place of stay and we will drive to the central range entrance gate and after our entry formalities we begin our safari at the Kohora range of Kaziranga National Park and this is the most visited range of the park due to the proximity of the entrance to the main market area of Kaziranga and also because of the presence of the several Hotels and Resorts in the area. The central safari zone is the range where elephant safari rides are conducted for the foreign Nationals and when we will be entering on our jeep safari rides inside the interiors of the park we will see various visitors from various foreign countries coming out of the park after their elephant safari rides sighting the pride of Assam and Kaziranga National Park – the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros.
The jeep safari ride will take us deeper into the forest reserves of Kaziranga National Park at Kohora and we will get the opportunity to sight many more animals and bird species and if we are lucky we can also get to sight the Royal Bengal Tigers in the wild at Kaziranga National Park and it trying to hunt deer species as well. The jeep safari ride will last for about an hour and half and we will come out of the park and later we will travel to the Kaziranga Orchid Park to explore the largest Orchid Park in India. This park has on display various orchid species blooming inside the green house and these orchid species are indigenous to Assam and certain other states of North East India as well. In addition to the orchid garden, the Kaziranga Orchid Park also has a handloom and handicraft display gallery, a rice museum, a souvenir area, orchid photo gallery, bamboo garden, fish pond, open stage area for traditional folk dance performances and also an ethnic Assamese restaurant that serves the best Assamese thali across the state with around 50 offerings on a plate. We will explore the orchid park and later return back to our place of stay to freshen up and have our lunch and after resting for a while, our jeeps will come and pick us up again and we will begin on our drive from Kohora to the Bagori area of Kaziranga National Park.
We will cross the beautiful landscapes of Kaziranga National Park on our drive towards the Western Range and we will cross a very sacred temple shrine along our way called as the Buri Ai Than and we will pay our respects here and counter of the entrance of the Bagori safari range of Kaziranga National Park. During the afternoon session, the jeep safari rides are considered to be the best at the Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park as this range offers various close-up encounters with the flagship species of Kaziranga – the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros. Also guests can have the opportunity of sighting the wild elephant herds or even two adult male rhinoceros fighting over the territory. But one thing is for sure that you will get to sight the up close views of the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros and this will allow you to admire the grand armour of this beast and also capture very nice images of the rhinoceros as well. We go deeper into the forest reserves of the Western range and spot many more animal species and we finally come out by later afternoon to end our day of safari at Kaziranga National Park.
Night Halt: Kaziranga Holidays
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 6: Kaziranga National Park – Shillong
Today we will bid adieu to the fame UNESCO World Heritage Site of Kaziranga National Park and we will embark on our drive to the state of Meghalaya from Assam where we will travel to the ‘Scotland of the East – Shillong’ – the capital city of Meghalaya. We will start on our drive after breakfast and we will cross the Bagori and Burapahar range of Kaziranga National Park to reach at Jakhlabandha and travel further towards the four lane highway at Nagaon crossing Amoni and Puronigodam. At Nagaon the roads are much wider as it is a four way lane and we continue on our drive to Jagiroad and we make a stop here for light snacks and bathroom break at the NI4 restaurant here that is a pure vegetarian restaurant that serves hot and fresh vegetarian snacks and meals and we will take some time to stretch our legs here as well. Next up we continue on our drive towards Sonapur and further towards the Jorabat area and take a left diversion to enter Meghalaya and travel towards Burnihat and further towards Nongpoh. We will continue on our drive towards Umiam Lake at Barapani that is the largest artificial water reservoir in North East India and mostly used for power generation.
The beautiful crystal clear waters of the Umiam Lake are a delightful attraction and treat to visitors to Shillong and Meghalaya and now this place has gradually become a very favoured tourism destination in the place and visitors now even take the opportunity to go for boat rides at the Umiam Water Sports complex that is present by the banks of the lake. We will take a short break here to admire the waters of the Umiam Lake and also sip a cup of the black tea that is prepared here by the local vendors who setup stalls here. After this we board our vehicles and travel to Shillong city and we will be welcomed by the various hoardings welcoming us to the Scotland of the East. Shillong was the earlier capital of the erstwhile state of Assam (that was a combination of all the seven sister states of North East India together) during the times of the British Raj and it was the British who had named Shillong as the Scotland of the East because of the resemblance of the place with the landscapes of Scotland. Shillong today is a blend of the traditional and the modern world and the city is inhabited by the majority of the Khasi people of Meghalaya.
The Khasi people of Meghalaya have inhabited the regions across Meghalaya (mostly the East and West Khasi Hills district) since times immemorial and they follow a matrilineal system of society where the family lineage is taken from the mother’s side and the head of the family is the woman of the house and even the bridegroom goes to the house of the bride after marriage. We will get to see the blend of the modern and traditional world here at Shillong and we will drive across the bustling city to head towards our guest house at the Laban area of Shillong. We will check into our guest house named as the Sunrise Guest House that is a very fine budget property and it is basically a villa turned into a guest house that has huge green lawn area present as well. We will take time to freshen up and we will explore the area across Laban for the day and enjoy our evening at calm at the Sunrise Guest House. We will take the opportunity today to explore the Madina Masjid at the Laban area that is India’s only Glass Mosque and the place gets beautifully illuminated in the evening. A small population of Shillong practice Islam as their faith and they have built this religious shrine to offer their prayers and we will have the opportunity to visit the place today.
Night Halt: Sunrise Guest House at Shillong
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 7: Shillong – Cherrapunji – Mawlynnong – Shillong
Today we start on an early morning drive to Cherrapunji to sight the various natural wonders and pristine landscapes of Cherrapunji. The drive from Shillong to Cherrapunji in the morning hours will take us around one hour and thirty minutes and we will have our breakfast along the way at the Mawkdok valley where we will savour our meal across the undulating valleys of Meghalaya. Meghalaya is also referred to as the Abode of the Clouds and this is true because wherever you look around you will see the cover of clouds across the place. We leave our guest house and continue on our drive towards Upper Shillong and further towards the Mawkdok valley of Meghalaya and we will get to see the lush landscapes of Meghalaya all around. We will soon approach the Mawkdok valley and here we will stop to have our breakfast and also admire the lush green mountains and valleys of Meghalaya. We will savour a steaming breakfast of roti and sabji and mind you the weather will be cold especially if you are visiting Meghalaya in the winter season and therefore adequate warm clothing is advised.
We finish our breakfast and then continue on our drive to Cherrapunji. Cherrapunji is often referred to as ‘Sohra’ in the local language and it translates to the ‘Shade of the Clouds’ and no wonder you will always see the clouds hover above the sky across Cherrapunji. Cherrapunji earlier held the record of being the wettest place on Earth and it received the highest rainfall anywhere in the World but it lost this coveted title to another place in Meghalaya called as Mawsynram and it holds the second spot these days. Cherrapunji is known for its various waterfalls, caves and the Double Decker Living Root Bridge at Nongriat village that is near to Cherrapunji and it is a renowned site worldwide. We will not have time to travel to Nongriat village as it requires almost a day to complete the hike to the village and back to Cherrapunji and so we will visit the Riwai Living Root Bridge at Mawlynnong instead. On reaching Cherrapunji we will at first go to explore the Nohkalikai Falls that is India’s tallest plunge waterfall. The drive from Cherrapunji towards the site of the Nohkalikai falls is very pristine and the landscapes will remind you of some European country.
We will reach the site of the Nohkalikai falls and here we will get to admire the beauty of the waterfall where the water comes in from across the various perennial streams flowing across Cherrapunji and later getting on a summit and falling down from the top to the base at a height of 340m and the water down seems to have a light green colour and the view is absolutely breathtaking. We will admire the grandeur of the Nohkalikai falls at Cherrapunji and also take time to explore around the place where local women setup their stalls in the afternoon time and they sell the fresh produce that are sourced from the forests of Cherrapunji. These items include cinnamon sticks, fresh turmeric, spices and the fresh fruits of pineapple and oranges as per the season and you should try out the pineapples here that are sliced in front of your eyes and later served with salt and chilli powder and there are some of the sweetest pineapples you would have ever tasted. We will continue on our exploration of Cherrapunji and we will next head to visit the Mawsmai caves that is about 20 minutes’ drive from the Nohkalikai Falls.
The Mawsmai cave is a pre-historic cave that is opened to tourists for exploration and we will go to explore inside the cave. Though this is a very large cave, only a part of it is opened to tourists for exploration and we will take the opportunity to go inside the Mawsmai cave and sight the stalactites and stalagmites and also the fossils that are present inside the cave. It is a short walk inside the premises of the cave but we will get to see the various attractions inside the cave during that time and we will soon come out of the cave and later travel to the Seven Sister Falls area that is another beautiful waterfall in the place and this is a seven segmented waterfall that is having seven distinct waterfalls that is having seven distinct waterfalls that fall down independently from the summit from a height of 315m and this is said to be the fourth tallest waterfall in India. We admire the natural beauty of the seven sister falls and later continue on our drive to explore another pre-historic caves in Cherrapunji that is the Arwah caves. This is located atop a hill and we drive to the parking spot and later walk towards the entrance of the cave mouth and we will sure that this is much wider and taken care that the Mawsmai caves and a small stream also flows across the interiors of the cave.
Upon entering the cave mouth we will get to witness fossils on the cave walks and we go further inside the cave to observe the stalactites and stalagmites. We explore the area of the Arwah caves and later come out of the cave and we will have our short refreshment break of tea and coffee and later continue on our drive to Mawlynnong village. We will be on quick schedule and therefore we will try to rush to cover all the places in the stipulated time. We will cross many more beautiful places and we will soon approach Mawlynnong village that was declared as the cleanest village in Asia by Discover India magazine in 2003 and today is another very popular tourist destination in Meghalaya. Mawlynnong is a small village of around 100 households and the people living here have been practicing a way to keep their village clean much before the tourists started visiting the place and it becoming a renowned tourist destination in North East India because of its cleanliness.
All the households have a toilet and the waste is collected every day and segregated into degradable and non-degradable waste while the degradable waste is used as manure to be used in the local gardens, the non-degradable waste mostly plastic is sent across twice a week to Shillong to be recycled. This has now made Mawlynnong a famed tourist destination across North East India and visitors from across the World come here to not only learn about the waste management system but also to understand and live with the Khasi tribes of Meghalaya and learn about their ancient traditions and cultures. At Mawlynnong we will at first go to have our lunch at a local restaurant where we will savour some ethnic Khasi tribe cuisine that is a distinct cuisine of North East India and uses various organic vegetable and meat to be cooked. Post our lunch we will go to explore the cleanest village of Asia of Mawlynnong and we will admire how the villagers have kept the tradition of cleanliness as their daily routine and also visit the homestays at Mawlynnong that have the growth of the pitcher plants that are a unique thing to be seen. We will next visit the balancing rocks at Mawlynnong that is another unique phenomenon to be witnessed where a huge rock boulder rests atop another boulder much smaller in size and this has been standing here since much time ago.
The balancing rocks is a unique phenomenon and this site was considered to be sacred by the Khasi ancestors and they used to offer worship to the Gods at this site in the olden days and even offered animal sacrifices to appease the Gods. But since recent times this has now become just a tourist attraction and visitors are thrilled to see the unique phenomenon of the balancing rocks at Mawlynnong village where one huge rock boulder rests atop a much smaller rock boulder. With this we bid farewell to Mawlynnong village and continue on our drive towards the parking area of the Riwai single decker living Root Bridge near Mawlynnong. We will need to walk for a short downhill distance for about 10 minutes to reach the Riwai Living Root Bridge and it is not a difficult hike unlike the Double Decker Living Root Bridge trek to Nongriat. We pay for our tickets at the counter and we will soon approach one of the unique wonders of the World viz. the Living Root Bridge of Meghalaya. The story behind these Living Root Bridges is a very unique one as there are many small villages across the forest pockets of Meghalaya in the Khasi and Jaintia hills and these are small streams that separate these villages and the local Khasi and Jaintia people used to find it very tough to cross these streams in the time of the monsoon season especially.
They couldn’t approach the government during the earlier time to help them to build bridges across these remote places and building bridges would not have been feasible across these places as well owing to the fact that these regions receive huge amount of rainfall and rusting would occur frequently on these iron bridges and thereby destroy them in quick time as well and so the locals thought of a unique way to grow bridges over these streams instead of building them. These are growth of rubber trees across these forests and the trees have very strong rots and so the locals used to find the young roots of these rubber trees and allow them to grow in one particular direction and to provide direction to these roots so that they grow in one particular direction they used the help of hollowed out betel nut trunks or even bamboo and this would provide the necessary direction for the young roots to grow. These roots would grow slowly and eventually it would take about 20 years for these roots to finally grow from one end of the stream to another and thus complete the bridge and to make the bridge walk able the locals used wood planks and stones to make it more solid.
Thus one root bridge would take around 20 years to grow and last for around 500 years. One unique thing about these root bridges is that while the iron bridges grow weak due to more rain, these root bridges instead grow stronger with rain as the trees get more strength with more water. Thus we see the unique bio-engineering involved in growing these Living Root Bridges and we will witness one such Root Bridge of Riwai near Mawlynnong village in Meghalaya. This Riwai Root Bridge is the widest among all the root bridges of Meghalaya and by far the most easily accessible root bridge for visitors and across an open space as well while the others are located across remote villages that need many hours or even days of walking to access. Every day during the peak tourist season over 1000 tourists flock to visit the Riwai Root Bridge and trek further to the Nohwet village where the oldest Khasi hut is present and visitors can even come here to catch a glimpse of how the old Khasi ancestors used to live in small houses that we built with mud and thatch roofs.
We will not have time to visit the Nohwet Village and instead we will explore the Riwai Living Root Bridge and later return back to the parking spot and head on our drive back to Shillong. We will cross the verdant landscapes of Meghalaya across Pynursla and we will continue on our drive to Shillong. We will approach Upper Shillong shortly and later we will head back to our place of stay at Shillong. We will have the day tomorrow to explore the beautiful city of Shillong and the popular tourist attractions of the place because by the time we reach back it will be early evening and you will be tired as well after a long day of exploration. We will return to our guest house and spend our evening relaxing at the lawn area of the place and we will have a nice dinner at the place and call it a day.
Night Halt: Sunrise Guest House at Shillong
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 8: Shillong – Mawphlang – Shillong local sightseeing
Today we will explore the area around Shillong – the Scotland of the East but at first we will travel to Mawphlang to visit the site of the Khasi hills sacred groves at Mawphlang. We will start after an early breakfast and we will begin on our drive to the Upper Shillong area where we will at first drive to the Mawphlang area that is another popular tourist site near Shillong that is the site of the Khasi Hills Sacred Groves and the drive to this place will take us around 45 minutes from Shillong. These Khasi Hills Sacred Groves are forest pockets that were considered to be sacred by the Khasi ancestors and various rituals were conducted inside these sacred groves and the elderly Khasi people who were mostly farmers used to come to these forest pockets to offer their prayers to God seeking a year of bountiful harvest. After the ritual was over, God would appear in front of them either as a tiger or a snake wherein a tiger is said to have been believed to be a year of bountiful harvest while a snake would mean a year of drought and famine and so the local farmers had to prepare themselves accordingly to brave the year ahead.
The place is also the site of the Khasi heritage village that earlier played host to the Monolith festival of Meghalaya. The Monoliths are considered to be sacred rocks and were erected by the Khasi ancestors either as graves or to commemorate a grand achievement and monoliths were considered sacred and respected among the Khasi and Jaintia people of Meghalaya. The place has some model Khasi hits as well and since we missed to check out the oldest Khasi hut at the Nohwet village we will catch a glimpse of the model Khasi heritage village hut at the Model Khasi heritage village at Mawphlang. Next up we will walk to the site of the Khasi hills sacred groves at Mawphlang accompanied by a local guide who will help us explore this pristine forest cover and also explain to us as to why this place is sacred and how the local ancestors used to offer their prayers at the sacred monolith site inside the groves. The place is home to several blooming orchid species and very rare species are to be found here as well. The forest are protected and no acts of nuisance are to be committed by any outsider visiting the forest and even locals are not allowed to cut trees inside this pristine forest cover.
This has resulted in the forest cover being a biological hotspot with diverse animal and bird life and many animals including leopards are to be found inside the dense forests of the Khasi hills sacred groves at Mawphlang. The guide will explain to us that there are certain plants inside the sacred groves that are even known to cure cancer as well. We will explore the Khasi Hills sacred groves and the Khasi heritage village and we will start on our drive back to Upper Shillong where we will head to visit the Elephant falls at Upper Shillong. The Elephant falls is a three tiered waterfall with one level of the fall on top, the second in the middle and the final one at the bottom. This is named as the elephant falls because of the presence of a huge rock that was in the shape of an elephant’s head and therefore the British named the place as elephant falls (this rock was however destroyed in the great earthquake of 1897). This is a very popular tourist spot in Shillong and many visitors come to visit the elephant falls every day. We will explore the waterfall and even travel to the bottom where we will see the grand waterfall down and there are also various rock formations here as well.
After exploring the waterfall we come back on top and there are stalls here where visitors can get themselves dressed in traditional Khasi attires and get their pictures clicked as a memoir of their visit to Meghalaya and in case you are interested you can quickly try it out or else we will board our vehicle to travel to the Don Bosco Museum at the Mawlai area in Shillong. The traffic will welcome us in Shillong city but we will cruise through and reach the parking area of the Don Bosco museum that is considered to be one of the finest museums across North East India. As mentioned earlier, North East India is home to around 200 tribes and their sub tribes and the museum tries to illustrate the various traditions and cultures of these people of North East India. The museum is spread across seven floors and each floor has a depiction of one certain aspect of the life of the indigenous people of North East India like one floor illustrates the traditional attires and jewellery of the various tribes and while one floor illustrates the various farming and agricultural equipment’s, etc. We will take about an hour’s time to explore the seven floors of the Don Bosco Museum and end our visit by going to the skywalk on top where we get a bird’s eye view of Shillong city.
After exploring the museum we will continue on our drive to visit the Shillong Golf course where we will admire the lush green area of the place from the vehicle itself and later we will visit the Shillong Polo grounds that is now a stadium and the place is renowned to host the betting game of archery called as the Shillong Teer. This is a very old and popular betting game of Meghalaya where a group of archers meet at the Polo grounds every day in the afternoon and they aim to hit a rotating board with certain numbers on it and the number that receives the most number of strikes is declared as the winning number of the day and the winner gets a large amount based on the bet he places on the winning number. It is scheduled late in the afternoon and so in the interest of time we will not wait for the game and instead continue to visit the Police Bazar area in Shillong that is a bustling market place of Shillong and we will stop here to have our lunch and later explore the Police Bazar and visit the Wards Lake area of Shillong. The Police Bazar is the very popularly visited place of Shillong and this place is a blend of the traditional and the modern markets because on one side you will see all the small shops that were established many years ago and continue to be a part of the small family business while on the other side you will see the high rise malls.
The Police Bazar also has numerous shops that accept the bets of the Shillong Teer gambling sport and we will visit on these stalls to see how the locals bet on the game and later we will take time to explore the police bazar area on our own. We will have our lunch at the Citi Hut dhaba that is a very popular restaurant in this area and after our lunch we will walk to the Wards Lake area from the back gate that is another very popular tourist destination in Shillong. The Wards lake is a recreational area for the locals as well as the tourists and it is located in the heart of Shillong city and people come here in the later afternoon and evenings to take a stroll across the lake and this is considered to be dug out during the times of the British by the prisoners of the Central Jail in Shillong. General Ward who was the then Commissioner of Assam saw that the prisoners were getting fat doing no work and so he ordered them to dig out this lake that went on to be named as Wards lake and served as a recreational area for the British Officials.
The place offers boating facilities to its guests as well and there is a small restaurant cum coffee bar also present here where visitors can get hot coffee after they finish their walk across the lake. The entire area is surrounded by the tall growth of pine trees and even cherry blossoms as well. Shillong is well known for its cherry blossoms that happen every year especially during the month of November and a special festival is held during that time called as the Cherry blossom festival that is marker by various music and art festivals as well. We will explore the Ward’s lake and by the time it will be early evening and we will call it a day. We will visit the Police Bazar area and go to explore the market to buy our souvenirs of our visit to Meghalaya and we will get to visit the emporium of bamboo handicrafts and handloom and we can go to explore this place and buy ourselves small gifts to be carried home to be gifted to our friends and families. Meghalaya also has various skilled artisans and craftsmen who are very skilled when it comes to creating handicrafts out of bamboo and therefore and they weave out very fine end products with these raw materials. We will finish our exploration for the day and head back to our guest house for our final evening of our tour. At the guest house we will savour a special dinner and call it a day.
Night Halt: Sunrise Guest House at Shillong
Meals Included: Breakfast
Day 9: Shillong – Kamakhya Temple – Guwahati Airport
Today we will be driving to Guwahati from Shillong and at Guwahati we will visit the very renowned temple shrine of the Maa Kamakhya temple and offer our Darshan and prayers at this Holy temple shrine and later we will continue to the LGBI airport at Guwahati where we will drop you off for your flight to your onward destination. We will start on our drive early in the morning because we will need to bypass the Guwahati traffic that become chaotic after 10 AM and so we will leave at around 6.30AM from Shillong to have our breakfast on the way at Nongpoh at the Jiva’s veg restaurant and continue on our downhill drive to Guwahati city. At Guwahati we will cross the Basistha Charali, Lokhra and Gorchuk areas to travel to Jalukbari and we will enter the city at Adabari and head to travel to the Kamakhya gate where we will travel to the hilltop where the actual temple shrine is located.
Kamakhya temple is the most revered temple shrine in North East India and it is also one among the 51 Shakti Peethas of the Indian Sub-Continent that are considered to be the holiest temple shrines across the country. It is believed that Goddess Sati’s womb fell atop the Nilachal Hills where the Kamakhya temple is located and this temple celebrates the spirit of motherhood and the ability of a woman to give birth to a child. Every year in the month of June, the temple hosts the annual Ambubachi Mela festival that is considered to be the Eastern Mahakumbh and lakhs of devotees and holy Sadhus come to the Kamakhya temple to celebrate this festival. We will be welcomed at the Kamakhya temple by a temple priest and he will take us to the main temple atop and we will start our Darshan of the temple on the VIP Pass and go to visit the inner sanctum of the Kamakhya temple. The inner sanctum doesn’t have any idol of the Goddess but instead a stone that is shaped in the form of a Yoni with an underground stream feeding it continuously. Our Darshan will be done once we take this holy water and sprinkle it on our head and finally we come out of the Kamakhya temple shrine and we will have our lunch on the way and we drop you at the airport for your flight to your onward destination. Tour Ends. Bid Adieu!
Night Halt: NA
Meals Included: Breakfast
