Silchar

Located some 350-km from Guwahati, Silchar in southern Assam is the second largest urban hub of Assam. It is the hub Barak Valley region which is totally different from the Brahmaputra Valley as regards language, customs, culture, and dress. 

Barak Valley is more Bengali than Assamese because it was originally a part of undivided Bengal province and an overwhelming majority of the people here are Bengalis. It is also the land where 11 Bengalis became martyrs in 1961 to uphold the right to read and write their mother tongue.  

Silchar is connected to the rest of the country by road, rail, and air. The town, located on the banks of Barak river, is surrounded by the Borail and the Bhubanhill range. 

The moment one alights from a flight at Silchar Airport, which is about 26-km from the town, lush green tea gardens and small hillocks greet from all sides. The road from the airport to the town charts its course through tea gardens and paddy fields offering charming feel, let Global Connection  guarantee you. 

When in Silchar, one must pay a visit to Silchar Railway station where security forces had shot dead 11 Bengali youths on 19 May 1961 during an agitation demanding that Bengali should remain an official language of Assam. Next, should be a voyage to Gandhi Bag, where is kept the ashes of these martyrs inside the Martyrs Temple. 

About 25-km from Silcharis KhaspurRajbari, once the seat of power of the Dimasa Kingdom (13-18 Century) that had jurisdiction extending right from the present day Dimapur in Nagaland to parts of Cachar district in Barak Valley.   

The legend has it that the Dimasasare the off-springs of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima and Dimasa princes Hidimba.

Some ruins of the Rajbari or royal house are still there at Khaspur and Global Connection  will make all necessary arrangements for your trip. The site is now under the Archaeological Survey of India. The campus, which has now been secured with a boundary wall, has ample open grass-carpeted arena for relaxation. 

UdharbondKachaKantiKalibari, located 17-km from Silchar, is a famous temple. Its origin probably lies in the Dimasa Kingdom and its guardian deity KechaiKhaiti. The present structure of the temple, however, has no semblance of the ancient architecture.  

Believers consider that a visit to the temple fulfills one's wishes. But most importantly, the temple is now known for large-scale social marriages: in the winter up to 150 marriages are conducted in the temple in the course of a single day. 

Some 20-km from Silchar town is ChatlaHowar, a rain-fed natural lake that dries into cultivable paddy field in winter. A sail through the lake onboard a local fisherman boat in the monsoon is a charming experience.  

Then, 22-km from Silchar is Assam Central University. Located on the top of a hill, the campus is replete with greenery and offers a marvelous aerial view of the surrounding villages and vast expanding paddy fields. The internal road that leads to the seismic observatory is a real beauty to drive through. 

Bhuban Hill, some 40-km from Silchar, is famous for an ancient Shiva templenestled atop a hill covered with thick forests. It takes about 4-5 hours of tracking through deep forest and along stairs carved out of rocks to reach the temple. 

There is a cave named NeelMandap that falls on a diverted route mid-way into the tracking. Tracking route to the cave is very treacherous, let Global Connection Siliguri alert you. The cave is very dark for the initial several metres until one reaches a spot where sunlight peeps through a small opening overhead.   

Lakhs of pilgrims congregate at the hilltop Shiva temple during MahaShivaratri every year, take a bath with spring water, and then offer a puja. Apart from during this annual fest, one can make a trip to Bhuban Hill for the sake of sheer adventure anytime of the year but in the monsoon. But it should be in a group and undertaken for two-day duration ex-Silchar. 

Located 60-km from Silchar, MalegarhWar Memorial in neighboring Karimganj district is an important historical site of Assam. Malegarh is the place where Indian soldiers had fought with the British troops during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1875. Some 26 Indian soldiers had achieved martyrdom while annihilating five British soldiers, including a Major. 

At the site now stands a stone and marble plaque describing the valiant story of the pitched battle, and marbled graves of the Indian soldiers. BSF looks after the Malegarh War Memorial now: Global Connection Siliguri will be your guide for a trip to this historical place.