Tura is a hilly town in the West Garo Hills district in the state of Meghalaya. One of the largest towns in Meghalaya, Tura is a valley located at the foothills of the Tura Hills and right below the Tura Peak. The climate in Tura is moderate throughout the year and has a large number of interesting and unexplored areas. The native God ‘Durama’ was believed to reside in the hills.
Tura is a distance of 220 kilometers from the nearest city Guwahati and is also the district capital of the West Garo Hills district. The capital city of Shillong is 323 kilometres away. It is filled with small rivulets and green valleys all around. Tura is a cultural and administrative center of the Garo tribes.
There are many water falls and lot of streams in Tura. Some of the water falls are Rongbangdare, Pelgadare, Gandrak Falls etc. Some of the streams are Rangolwari, Nokmawari, Ganol, Datchima, etc.
For food lovers Tura is a paradise as there are many varieties of traditional food available, the common one is the traditional Garo food. Traditional Garo food includes boiled rice, different preparations of Pork, beef, chicken and dry fish. Some of the delicacies of Garo Food are Na·kam Bitchi (it is dry fish made with chillies and soda), Wak Pura (it is Pork cooked with crushed rice, Kapa (meat fried with soda and boiled with fresh garden spices).The common delicacies are Rice cakes called sakkin (made with locally grown sticky rice and sesame seed)and pitta (made with crushed sticky rice and jaggery. There are many variety of locally made drinks. Minil bitchi or Mi bitchi (Rice Beer) (made of fermented sticky rice or normal rice) is one of the most common drink.
The Annual Celebrations at Tura are Wangala – a traditional Garo dance; celebrated after harvesting. Wangala is best showcased at the 100 Drums festival which takes place annually, 30 km away from Tura in a place called, Asanang. The men and women are dressed in traditional attire and they dance to beat of the 100 drums and Christmas.
The Nokrek National Park near Tura is a hotspot of biodiversity in Meghalaya. Nokrek is an important habitat of the Asian elephants. The park had eight species of cats, ranging from Tiger to Marbled cat. But Nokrek is better known to have a remnant population of the Red panda that has generated curiosity across the World.
Places of interest near Tura are:
- Tura Peak
- Nokrek Biosphere
- Pelga Falls
- Rongbang Dare
- Sasatgre Village
- Williamnagar
- Sisobibra
- Resubelpara
- Baghmara Reserve Forest
- Nengkong
- Imilchang Dare
- Simsang River
Jungleideas welcomes you to India’s North East to visit ‘Tura’ – the lesser known sister of Shillong (the Scotland of the East), the State of Meghalaya, Incredible India!
