We are on our way to Guwahati, the Gateway to North East India.Also called Pragjyotishpur, this city is the most developed city in Assam, a commercial city which is ever growing. In 1969 when I stayed here for 2 days on my way to Calcutta ( now Kolkotta) this was a small city where Cotton College was the only Instituttion. A few years earlier to this, the train used to end at Pandu, as there was no bridge over the mighty Brahamputra and then transported to the other end through barge or ship.
The sun is about to set somewhere in the plains of Assam somewhere near Guwahati.The train, the Rajdhani Express is late otherwise we would have reached Guwahati.
We reached Guwahati at about 8 pm. We took a Van Taxi to go to Hotel Ashoka Brahamputra (an ITDC Hotel).The distance between the Railway station is less than 1 km but the Van charged us Rs.250/-.Perhaps this is everywhere in india.The ITDC received us with an honor of placing a traditional Assamese Hat on our head.The Hotel is located in one of the elite areas of Guwahati and considered to be best Hotel in Guwahati.
Right across the Hotel is a Latasil maidan where people play cricket and other sports.Below is the picture of the Hotel which is located on M.G. Road, the best address in Guwahati. The other known buildings on this road and in the vicinity are bungalow of the Chief Justice of Assam, Assam High Court and the Circuit House.The Hotel is situated on the banks of Brahamputra and one can see the river from the windows of the Hote,.
We hired an auto rickshaw and first place he took us to was KAMAKHYA `temple.It is one of the oldest Shakti Piths and consists of individual temples dedicated to ten mahavidyas,Bhuvaneshwari,Bagalamukhi,Chinnamasta,Tripura Sundari Tara,Kali,Bhairavi,Dhumavai ,Matangi and Kamala.Kamakhya is the main temple The current structure of the temple was rebuilt sometimes in the 16th century though the earliest reference exist as early as 350 AD.The Temple has a beehive structure,delightlfully sculptured panels and images of Ganesha and other Hindu deities.The Ahom dynasty which stood the onslaught of Mughals bravely also helped in the re construction of the sanctum sanctorum by tracing the various remains scattered throughout the kingdom.
It was surprising that we found very good looking Pandas at the temple.These Pandas serve as a guide for performing the rituals which many Hindus perform at this temple and at many other religious places like Varanasi,Ujjain,etc.These guides who roam about in saffron robes belong to five families of Brahmins which were brought from Kanauj to serve the royal family.Their early role was as resident keepers and also as conduit between the mortals and god.They used to escort devotees right from the banks of Brahamputra in Pandu to the temple on the height.The Brahamputra as all know is not a river but almost a sea.On the way to Kamakhaya our auto driver Das halted at a high point on the way to have breathtaking view of the city.
Above are some more pictures of the Kamakhaya Temple complex exhibiting some beautiful sculputures and other architectural domes .
Brahamputra is one of the 3 large rivers of India and the only one to have a male name==meaning the son of Brahama.It originates in Tibet and flows in India for 2900 kms before flowing into Bangladesh.Its span is 10 kms somewhere and the place where the Bridge is built on Brahamputra was the shortest span available then.There are many river cruises available on Brahamputra but since we had little time we too a 2 hour cruise in the evening .The river liner is a 44 m long flat bottomed vessel with three marine engines.there were spacious upper lobby,lower lobby sun deck and the main sun deck. Incidentally on the day we took a cruise, some relations of the wife of Governor of Assam had also come for similar experience.This was floating restaurant cum river cruise which took us for about 2 hours around Brahamputra.Food was available on demand and the quality was reasonably good.There was lot of music on the deck. No day time cruise was available otherwise that is good time to see the mighty Brahmaputra.We had a taken an auto which dropped us much before the shore where the ship was anchored.At night we had to walk in the dark to come up to the road where we were lucky to get an auto.Incidentally a staff from the Governor's entourage walked with us to the road and guided us through the marshy land.Every street in India has some dirt and the shore cannot be an exception.
STREET SCENES FROM GUWAHATI
Outside the Hotel.
In the Pedal Rickshaw.This rickshaw driver was very good.We feel pity when he hauls passengers but if we do not take his rickshaw, he will not earn his livelihood.He waited for us when I went for a long search of an HDFC ATM.There are very few of them.
A lane in Fancy Bazaar and the main street on Pan Bazaar.
Many Faces of Kamala Hassan in Restaurant in Guwahati,
Simple women from Assam who had come to Hotel to dine. They were so overwhelmed with joy when Anu spoke to them and took their pictures.They gave us their Cell numbers in case we can send them pictures.We lost the cell numbers but a small meeting with them remains etched in the mind. And a picture of veteran Iftikhar looks on with the same stern look of the actor who was a class actor of his own kind.
