go to content go to search box go to global site navigation

Meghalaya

Advertisement

Introducing Meghalaya

Carved out of Assam in 1972, hilly Meghalaya (The Abode of Clouds) is a cool, pine-fresh contrast to the sweaty Assam plains. Set on dramatic horseshoes of rocky cliff above the Bengal plains, Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram are statistically the wettest places on earth. Most of this precipitation falls April to September (and mostly at night), creating some very impressive waterfalls and carving out some of Asia’s longest caves.

Advertisement

Eastern and central Meghalaya are mainly populated by the closely related Jaintia, Pnar and Khasi peoples, originally migrants from Southeast Asia. Western Meghalaya is home to the unrelated Garo tribe. Despite their different ethnic backgrounds, these two groups both use a matrilineal system of inheritance, children taking the mother’s family name and babies often carried on the father’s back.

Last updated: Mar 24, 2009

In our shop

Bags feeling light?
Coffee table looking bare?
Get your guidebooks, travel goods, even individual chapters, right here.

See all books in our shop

Hotels & Hostels

Check out all our reviewed and recommended accommodation and book online.

Find hotels & hostels

Travel Insurance

Going to India? Make sure you're covered.

Get a quote

See all travel services

Advertisement