Meghalaya - Part 7 - Guwahati Local Sightseeing
Day 8 –[10-Sept-22] – Head to Guwahati for Guwahati local sightseeing. Overnight stay at Permaling Lords Eco Inn Guwahati.
Today we woke up early at 5 am in the morning and started our journey to Guwahati by bidding adieu to Shillong. En-route we stopped by at Umiam lake.
Umiam Lake
Watching sunrise by this lake was a treat to watch. The scenery around this lake was so dramatic. Its beyond words. I was speechless.
Assam State Zoo
This is one of the most popular attractions of Guwahati. Its also known as Guwahati Zoo.
This zoo is home to various species of animals and birds from around the world. It easily takes around 2 hours to cover all the species of the zoo.
Zoo authorities should also provide a zoo map along with the entry tickets since its confusing while walking inside the zoo where to head next. It should have been planned well in an orderly fashion. There is no restroom inside the zoo. There is one restroom outside near the parking lot but badly maintained.
Guwahati Ropeway
This is India’s longest river ropeway spanning a distance of 2 KM.
This is a must visit while in Guwahati since you will get to see the mesmerizing view of mighty Brahmaputra river. As we went to the ticket counter we saw that the morning timings is 8:30 am to 12:30 PM and we had reached dot on time. We thought we will miss it. But luckily we were given tickets and ours was the last batch.
We took tickets and were seated in the waiting area post security check. Only once one ropeway comes from the other side, they will send one bath of people(max 8) up through lift.
We got into the ropeway and it was really scary to see might Brahmaputra’s flowing down with strong currents due to heavy rains. The aerial view of Peacock island hosting Umananda temple is worth watching from the ropeway.
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| Peacock Island with Umananda Temple |
Kamakhya Temple
The Kamakhya temple is one of the main peeths(sacred place) among 51 Shakti Peeths and the temple is dedicated to Mother Goddess Kamakhya. The Kalika Purana, an ancient work in Sanskrit describes Kamakhya as the yielder of all desires, the young bride of Shiva and the giver of salvation.
Goddess Kamakhya is also known as goddess of menstruation. Curiously enough every year during the month of Ashaadha (June) , the Brahmaputra river near Kamakhya turns red. It is believed that the Goddess menstruates during this period. It is believed that Sati's body parts fell in 51 locations across the country whikc are today known as Shakti Peeths. The place where her womb and vagina fell is what constitutes the Kamakhya temple.
The Kamakhya temple is not just a famous Pilgrimage site in Assam, but is also a unique temple in the country where contrary to the shaming treatment that menstruation gets elsewhere in India, here it is revered as the ability of a woman to conceive. The place where Kamakhya temple stands today is also considered as the place where Shiva first courted Sati.
After praying to goddess Kamakhya, while taking parikrama of the temple we saw directions for museum and thought of exploring that. Looks like this is less visited since we hardly found people there. The caretaker opened it after he saw us walking towards the museum.
There are some interesting exhibits in and around the museum.
Day 9 – [11-Sept-22] – Head back to Bangalore.
We woke up late and very relaxed today since airport was at stone throw distance from the hotel. We had breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags and checked out from the hotel.
There were interesting art exhibits at the departure side as well in Guwahati airport.
Finally while boarding our flight, we bid adieu to two of the most important north east states of Assam and Meghalaya for giving us lot of memories to take back home😊.
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