the type of picture my travel companion could have taken, to illustrate Silchar
Having arrived in Silchar, the second largest town in Assam state, effectively means that we skip the states of Mizoram and Manipur, two other NE Indian states with mesmerizing names, beautiful nature and tribal people – Kukis amongst them. But Manipur (the heart of Kukiland) is a no-go area, because of civil unrest and smuggling – according to our guesthouse host in Agartala you will be arrested as a foreigner, and other sources also suggest to avoid going here. And more southernly Mizoram, without much touristic highlights apart from its nature, then becomes a tedious and time consuming detour.
the main street – the only main street – in Silchar
It is not that Silchar does have a lot of touristic highlights. But it is on the way to Guwahati, where we have to go next, and it has a very comfortable hotel, where we stay for a few nights to enjoy its relative luxury.
For the second largest town in Assam, Silchar has a surprisingly small centre, of two or three shopping streets. But it also has a market, which is always great entertainment; great photo opportunities – even although you have seen plenty of markets already in this blog -, and wonderful people, always in for a little chat. Which, because of the language barrier, mostly limit itself to asking where we are from; although with the occasional English speaker we get a little further.
empty bottle collection rickshaw
and the central junction, colourful
near the market, and look, there is even another tourist in town
as far as I a, concerned, Silchar has some interesting buildings
and this one, too, has its own character
another quite run-down place, and not even that old
whilst we also encountered the closest to a shopping mall we have seen so far!
man power is still an important element in transport
but he is quite OK with that, it seems
this market woman is less impressed by photography
in the run-up to holi, colourful powders are everywhere for sale
and colourful spices will be for sale even after holi
there is even a hat shop in the market
the water tower of Silchar, opposite our comfy hotel
on the way to the Kashpur ruins, we encounter more Assam tea
as well as a laundry place on the banks of the local river
the closest to a fort’s wall we find in Kashpur
Kashpur
We get to Kashpur, 20 km out of town, where the ruins of the old capital of the Kachari kings is located. In fact, there is not much left, except for a low wall, with the occasional stairs, and three small temples. Given that this was constructed in 1690 AD, there is surprisingly little that remains; the wall, and certainly one of the temples, look quite heavily restored. There is also talk of a Kachari Fort, built even later, in the 19th Century, but nobody gets any further than pointing at the walls with the few stairs, and the various gates and monoliths we never encounter. Overall, underwhelming, but a nice few hours of activity.
next: the root bridges of Nongriat
whilst the Kali temple seems to have been restored recently
the Baradwari temple in Kashpur, the biggest of the three
some detail of the temple, authentic and weathered
outside the Kashpur complex, in a little village nearby, is this structure, the Singha Dwar
quite attractive architecturally, but no idea what it was for
One of the nicest descripion I have read, of my town ;-)
Ha ha, but more importantly, do you recognise it from the description? Which may have been coloured by a relatively upmarket hotel, close to the centre and with excellent Wifi… just kidding, Rajiv.
I do, I do :-)
Hope you both are a wonderful run in other parts of the country :-)
Cheers