Author name: Arijit Purkayastha

A mere 100 kilometres from Guwahati in West Karbi Anglong district is Umswai Valley – Assam’s bamboo county. A scenic cluster of villages inhabited by indigenous Tiwa tribe, here bamboo dominates the village scape—from groves to homestead walls and gates. The journey to Umswai best exemplifies the saying ‘bumpy roads lead to the best places.’ […]

When you next visit Kaziranga National Park, try to manage the length of your stay for a trip to the Karbi villages close-by. A friendly and one of the oldest tribes of Assam, the Karbis have been residing nearby the Park for ages apart from the sprawling Karbi-Anglong district in the centre of Assam. Their

Gethsemane, a man-made woodland near Bhairabkunda in Bodoland’s Udalguri district, leaves one awestruck. Sown into a 15 lakh tree cover over 17 years, it is veritably the region’s jewel in the crown. Today, all along the drive through Gethsemane to Bhairabkunda, one marvels at the handiwork of the local community in transforming 750 hectares of barren land

Forty kilometres from Sivasagar, near Sonari, Chalapathar is perhaps one of the few ‘heaven-on-earth’ destinations. From peace and serenity to flora and fauna, culture and heritage, Chalapathar is a mosaic of experiences. Here, with the Tai-Khamyangs one can perceive the way of life of the greater Tai race—whose members are today scattered across various parts

Assam’s Dima Hasao district turns into a picturesque delight from October. While its hills and valleys are charming the year round, it is especially visit-worthy now—the season of Amur Falcons, the world’s longest travelling raptors. Umrongso, 250 km from Guwahati, turns into a roosting hub for these birds flying in from near Amur river that

Ranthali is perhaps the ‘jewel’ in the crown of Assam’s rich repertory of craft villages. Famed for its beautiful and exotic ‘Asomiya Gohona’ (Assamese jewellery), it is not just a run-of-the mill manufacturing hub. Rather, it is a place that lives and nurtures a legacy of artisinal skills and interesting history. Approximately 120 km from Guwahati,

When driving down from Guwahati to Goalpara, about 140 km away, the first stop invariably is – at the Tukreswari Temple. Believed to be the place where a tukura (small piece) of Goddess Sati had fallen during Lord Shiva’s tandava following his wife’s death, the holy precinct is today also a favourite abode of the

Dadara-Pasariya-Singimari near Sualkuchi, about 35 kilometers from Guwahati, is a delightful destination. Not only are these villages home to two-thirds of the world’s population of Greater Adjutant Storks – known as Hargilla in Assamese –they also boast of the acclaimed ‘Hargilla Army’, a troop of 300 women conservationists raised by Smt Purnima Devi Barman. Popularly known as