every temple attracts its characters, like this one at the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati
If Silchar was the second largest town in Assam, there is a huge difference between number two and number one. Guwahati is easily the biggest town in the North East, and it shows. Even though the spread of rickshaws and tuk-tuks seems to be controlled – there are far fewer here than we have seen so far in towns – the traffic is chaotic, not helped by several construction projects for fly-overs.
But the advantages of a bigger town outweigh the negatives. Almost opposite our hotel we find not only a liquor store, which sells Sula white wine – the brand we liked most twenty years ago -, but also an authentic Assamese restaurant. A family-run business, and we have to get in the picture with all of them, but they treat us to a fabulous meal, with quite different tastes from the standard Indian fare.
re-acquinted with an old friend, Sula, the best Indian-made wine
desert of a real Assamese feast
and further part of a wonderful Assamese meal
the Balaji temple, the first temple we visit in Guwahati
marble tower, or is it limestone?
intricately decorated
as you need to take off your shoes to enter, you can leave them here
The Balaji temple
As for tourist attractions, Guwahati is mainly appealing for its Hindu temples. On our first evening – before our Meghalaya excursion – we already visited the Balaji temple, somewhat out of town, with our travel agent. Its full name is Purva Tirupati Sri Balaji Mandir, and it was built in 1998, not very old, thus. The temple, which consists of multiple buildings, is beautifully carved, from marble, I think, or maybe just limestone. But even nicer is the atmosphere around it, families sitting on the grass, sharing some food. All very relaxed.
monkeys populate many of the temples, including the Navagraha temple
and they keep themselves busy enough
The Navagraha temple
Now back in town, we see three more temples. We start with the Navagraha temple, which is located on Chitrasal Hill, providing expansive views over town, and over the Brahmaputra river. Unfortunately, the weather is still not great, and the view is quite hazy – or perhaps this is just the air pollution, also quite possible.
the main temple building
The temple itself is, apparently, very old, but it has been extensively rebuilt after the Assam earthquake of 1897. The outside walls have been carved with simple deities, but the main significance of this temple is the inscriptions of the nine planets holding the sun – not necessarily one to one with the planets as we know them. Nine circles at the inside of the temple are sparsely lit with candles and oil lamps, where people bring offerings, or refill the lamps.
Mr temple, not sure what his title is, but to him the pilgrims come
bells form an integral part of every Hindu temple
candles and oil lamps lit the relics
inside the Navagraha temple are lights for the nine planets, with devotees at each of them
the main Kamakhya temple
deities on the pillars around the temple
a drum shop on the way to the temple
and each temple attracts some colourful people
another deity, with flowers
that come from the flower shop next door
The Kamakhya temple
The best temple visit is that of the Kamakhya temple, which is relatively old. The current structure dates from the 16th Century, but a temple of some sort had been established as early as the 8th C, or even before. The main temple, dedicated to the goddess Kamakhya, is surrounded by several other, smaller temples. The various buildings are decorated with deities, carved in the pillars and in the outside walls. They are clearly revered by the many people that flock around, and touch the sculptures, colouring them redder each time they do. The pilgrims circle the temples in clockwise direction, some of them several times, like a large group of people from Hyderabad, who we get to talk to.
What is striking, is the relaxed atmosphere again. It is very busy, possibly because of the proximity to Holi, one of the Hindu festival days, and yet everybody takes their time, patiently waiting to get inside the individual temples to say their prayers, despite the long lines that have accumulated. Nobody minds us taking pictures, on the contrary, they do the same of us, and we are back in the selfie zone. It is really nice, here, just sitting and observing people, or talking to them, even if some of them are somewhat weird.
in front of one of the minor temples, another string of deities
entrance to one of the minor temples
where deep inside the offerings can be left
another nice, another set of figurines
another offering place, I think
pilgrims come from the youngest
and from the older categories
of our friends from Hydrabad
the lead pilgrim
a brief encounter with the music, which came in and left again
I already mentioned, each temple has its characters
and entirely devoted, like this woman – who came from far, she told us
dressed conspicuously
another deity, would fit amongst the characters
and a woman controlling access to these deities
and more niches, in the wall of the main temple
and the devoted pilgrims
arriving with bowls with offerings
and even withstanding wild animals
and this is in the deepst of the temple, where photography is actually forbidden
the walkway to the ferry
and this is the smallest inhabited river island in the world, apparently
the landing on the island
The Umananda temple
The third temple of the day is the Umananda temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva. This one is located on Peacock Island, apparently the smallest inhabited river island in the world. We take a ferry, which drops us at the island after a ten minute ride. Once again, the views are disappointing, that mighty Brahmaputra is quite hazy. And the temple? Well, not very interesting, actually, but that maybe because of our earlier experience today, which is hard to beat.
Back on the mainland, we enjoy some further advantages of big city, like foreign food and some shopping. Things that, I suspect, will be a lot more difficult to obtain in the next three weeks, as we travel to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
next: a little distraction with traffic signs, or go directly to the road to Tawang
one of the small temples of the Umananda complex
and the entrance to the main temple
the mighty Brahmaputra, with an almost completed new bridge in the sunset
