Things to do in Northeast States
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A
JB's
All-in-one complex with bakery, ice-cream parlour, somewhat Mexican-styled snack bar and (upstairs via the sweet counter) a restaurant serving world-class Indian vegetarian food.
reviewed
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B
Beatrix
Upbeat and cartoon-walled, Beatrix is just a peg above a student-style hangout. Its eclectic menu offers fish and chips, momos (Tibetan dumplings), Hakka Chow and a mysterious ‘con est soir’. It’s on Manik Chandra (MC) Rd.
reviewed
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Khorika Restaurant
Named after the Assamese khorika (barbecued dishes), this restaurant may be canteen-style but it has authentic Assamese cuisine. For the whole hog share the sample-everything khorika (Rs. 500) with friends.
reviewed
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C
Broadway
A no-nonsense restaurant serving the usual mix of Indian and Chinese meals, although staff here have taken that literally with bi-cultural offerings such as paneer Szechwan (unfermented cheese in a Chinese chilli sauce).
reviewed
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D
Urra Tara Temple
The half-hidden Urra Tara Temple is Guwahati's second-holiest, backed by the gently attractive Jorpulkuri ponds in the city centre's most prestigious residential quarter.
reviewed
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Tawang Gompa
The biggest attraction is magical Tawang Gompa backdropped by snow-speckled peaks. Founded in 1681, this medieval citadel is reputedly the world’s second-largest Buddhist monastery complex and famed in Buddhist circles for its library. Within its fortified walls, narrow alleys lead up to the majestic and magnificently decorated prayer hall containing an 8m-high statue of Buddha Shakyamuni. Across the central square is a small but interesting museum containing images, robes, telescopic trumpets and some personal items of the sixth Dalai Lama. Spectacular chaam (ritual masked dances performed by some Buddhist monks in gompas to celebrate the victory of good over evil and …
reviewed
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Kaziranga National Park
Assam’s must-do attraction is a rhinoceros-spotting safari through the expansive flat grasslands of this national park. Kaziranga’s population of around 1900 Indian one-horned rhinos (just 200 in 1904) represents two-thirds of the world’s total. There is a western, central and an eastern range. The central is the most accessible giving the best viewing chances for rhinos, elephants and swamp deer plus plenty of bird life (take binoculars). One-hour elephant-back rides, central range only for foreign visitors, are especially satisfying when a ‘team’ of elephants makes pincer movements, surrounding rhinos without frightening them off.
reviewed
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Tripura Sundari Mandir
When Sati’s toes fell on Kolkata, her divine right leg dropped on Matabari. This gruesome legend is piously celebrated at the Tripura Sundari Mandir, a 1501 Kali temple where a steady stream of pilgrims make almost endless animal sacrifices that leave the grounds as bloody as the temple’s vivid-red shikhara (Buddhist monastery). Even more people come here at the big Diwali festival (October/November) to bathe in the fish-filled tank by the temple. The temple is 100m east of the NH44, 4km south of Udaipur.
reviewed
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Kamakhya Mandir
While Sati’s disintegrated body parts rained toes on Kolkata, her yoni (genitalia) fell on Kamakhya Hill. This makes Kamakhya Mandir important for sensual tantric worship of female spiritual power (shakti). Goats, pigeons and the occasional buffalo are ritually beheaded in a gory pavilion and the hot, dark inner womblike sanctum is painted red to signify sacrificial blood. The huge June/July Ambubachi Mela festival celebrates the end of the mother goddess’ menstrual cycle with even more blood.
reviewed
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Neermahal
Tripura’s most iconic building, the 1930 Neermahal, is a long, red-and-white water palace, empty, but shimmering on its own boggy island in the lake of Rudra Sagar. Like its counterpart in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, this was a princely exercise in aesthetics; the finest craftsmen building a summer palace of luxury in a blend of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. The delightful waterborne approach by speed boat (passenger/boat Rs. 15/300) or fancy rowboat (passenger/boat Rs. 15/75) is the most enjoyable part of visiting.
reviewed
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Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures
The very professional Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures displays a truly vast, very well laid-out collection of tribal artefacts interspersed just occasionally with gratuitous galleries on Christian missionary work. The hexagonal museum building is an impressive, symbolic tower, seven storeys high for the seven states of the north-east. Tours (compulsory) last over an hour, departing on the half-hour. For an extra Rs. 50, a video explains the Nongkrem festival or you could choose from various film alternatives.
reviewed
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E
Ujjayanta Palace
Agartala's indisputable centrepiece is the striking, dome-capped Ujjayanta Palace. Flanked by two large reflecting ponds, the whitewashed 1901 edifice was built by Tripura's 182nd Maharaja. It looks particularly impressive floodlit at night, a spectacle that strollers can enjoy for just one hour daily, entering from the relatively grand south gate. To see the palace's comparatively unspectacular interior (now the Tripura state assembly chamber), sign in between 14:30 and 15:00, weekdays (admission free) then report to the caretaker.
reviewed
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KV Paradise
The KV Paradise site is 8km from Zarkawt, 1km off the Aizawl–Silchar road via an improbably narrow dirt lane. V is for Varte who died in a 2001 motor accident. K is for her husband Khawlhring who has since lavished his entire savings and energy creating a three-storey mausoleum to her memory. The marble fountain-patio has wonderful panoramic views. Inside and downstairs is Varte’s grave and upstairs an odd collection displays her wardrobe and shoe collection, including the clothes (neatly laundered) she died in.
reviewed
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Kisama Heritage Village
This open-air museum has a representative selection of traditional Naga houses and morungs (bachelor dormitories) with full-size log drums. Nagaland’s biggest annual festival, the Hornbill Festival (1–7 December) is celebrated here with various Naga tribes converging for a weeklong cultural, dance and sporting bash, much of it in full warrior costume. Simultaneously Kohima also hosts a rock festival. Kisama is 10km from central Kohima along the well-surfaced Imphal road.
reviewed
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F
Sukreswar Ghat Park
Sukreswar Devalaya comprises three mostly modern-looking temples including one where holy water dribbles continuously over a Shiva lingam from a suspended bell-metal amphora. Almost adjacent, little Sukreswar Ghat Park contains a playful, multi-arched ornamental gateway built by the British. Two of its eight missile-shaped spires are leaning precariously, perhaps due to the devastating 1897 earthquake that destroyed virtually every other building in Guwahati.
reviewed
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G
Umanda Mandir Cruise Bats
Some tourists pay a fortune to spot rare golden langurs in Bhutan's national parks. Yet at Umananda Mandir these loveable monkeys often loiter at the gates, politely soliciting snacks from devotees. This Shiva temple complex sits on a prettily forested river-island, accessed by a 36-seater Umanda Mandir cruise boats. The boats depart when full (roughly half-hourly) from Kachari Ghat which itself offers attractive afternoon riverviews.
reviewed
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War Cemetery
An immaculate War Cemetery contains graves of 1200 British, Commonwealth and Indian soldiers. It stands at the crucially strategic junction of the Dimapur and Imphal roads, the site of intense fighting against the Japanese during a 64-day WWII battle. This reached its climax on the deputy commissioner’s tennis court (marked out) with seven days of incredibly short-range grenade-lobbing across the net. Deuce!
reviewed
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Karenghar Palace
Dramatic if largely unadorned, this 1752 brick palace is the last remnant of the Ahom’s pre-Sivasagar capital. The unique four-storey structure rises like a sharpened, stepped pyramid above an attractive forest-and-paddy setting spoilt by nearby electricity substations. It’s 900m north of the Sivasagar–Sonari road: turn just before Gargaon (14km) from Sonari.
reviewed
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Chitralekha Udyan
Chitralekha Udyan has a U-shaped pond wrapped around pretty manicured lawns, dotted with fine ancient sculptures. The bearded chap in Mesopotamian-style costume is Banasura. A block east, then south, stands Ganeshgarh temple backing onto a ghat overlooking the surging river, a good place for Brahmaputra sunsets.
reviewed
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Ginger Restaurant
Sink into cream-leather seating and enjoy a break from Indian fare with pasta, crepes, cannelloni, stroganoff or just a fruit sundae at Ginger Restaurant. Attached is the futuristic, metal-panelled bar Platinum, and a faux– British pub. PS: Early closing is a government restriction.
reviewed
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H
All Saints’ Cathedral
The 1902 All Saints’ Cathedral would look perfect pictured on a biscuit tin. Located nearby, the turreted Das-Roy House (closed to the public) lurks behind a traffic circle that harbours five forgotten Khasi monoliths as well as a mini Soviet-style globe monument.
reviewed
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Ward’s Lake
Colonial-era Shillong was planned around the ever-attractive Ward’s Lake with its pretty ornamental bridge. The city’s half-timbered architecture has been rather swamped by lots of drab Indian concrete, but areas such as Oakland retain many older houses and even in the centre a few gems remain.
reviewed
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Rajbari Park
Nagaland’s flat, uninspiring commercial centre was the capital of a big Kachari kingdom that ruled much of Assam before the Ahoms showed up. All that remains are some curious, strangely phallic pillars of a former palace complex dotted about scraggy Rajbari Park near the interesting market.
reviewed
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I
Jungle Travels India
An experienced agency covering the entire northeast with tailor-made tours and fixed-date departures for Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. It organises all the permits. With two boats, it runs Brahmaputra cruises for four to 10 nights at US$320 per person per night, and also runs the Bansbari Lodge in Manas National Park.
reviewed
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Rang Ghar
Talatalghar the famous (but not spectacular) Ahom ruin is 4km down AT Rd from central Sivasagar. Some 2km beyond a WWII-era metal lift-bridge, look right to see the rather beautiful Rang Ghar. From this two-storey oval-shaped ‘pavilion’, Ahom monarchs once watched buffalo and elephant fights.
reviewed
