Meghalaya
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Meghalaya (Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit) is one of the seven Northeastern states of India. Famous for its high rainfall, subtropical forests and biodiversity, it is abutted by Assam in the north and east and by Bangladesh in the south. The River Brahmaputra (or Luit as called locally) forms the border in the west.
The state's territory constituted the Khasi-Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills districts of Assam until 1972. Most of the terrain is hilly and experiences heavy rainfall during monsoons.
Meghalaya is home to three major tribal population - Khasis, Garos and Jaintias (in order of population).
Cities
- 1 Cherrapunji — formerly the wettest place on Earth and still holding the all-time record for the most rainfall in a calendar month and year
- 2 Mawlynnong —
- 9 Resubelpara — North Garo Hills
- 12 Williamnagar — East Garo Hills
Other destinations
- 1 Balphakram National Park — located in the Garo Hills in Meghalaya, a well known park in India for its scenic beauty and various species of flora and fauna
- 2 Nokrek National Park (Nokrek Biosphere Reserve) — a small population of Red Panda reside in this park. It is habitat for the Asian elephant, species of cats and primates. It is also an important area for birds. Rongbang Dare Water Fall and Nokrek Peak are located in this park with tall thick forest
Understand
The British came to Sylhet in 1765. At that time the Khasis used to come at Pandua on the border of Sylhet to trade in silk, cotton goods, iron, wax, honey and ivory in exchange for rice, salt and dried fish. Limestone from the Khasi hills used to fulfill the demand in Bengal then. Soon British officials of the East India Company began trading in limestone and thus came in contact with the Khasis. In 1824, the Burmese invaded Cachar and also appeared at the border of the Jaintia Hills. The British sent a small force to reinforce the Jaintia Rajah’s troops. On 10th March 1824, a friendship treaty was signed by the Rajah accepting the protection of the British. Other Khasi chiefs also allowed the passage of the British troops through their territories. After the Burmese invasion was over, the British demanded a corridor through the Khasi and the Jaintia Hills to connect Assam valley with Surma valley. Most of the Khasi chiefs agreed, and the road was completed in March 1829, but only after quelling an upheaval by U Tirot Sing. The story that followed after putting down the uprising by U Tirot Sing was the signing of several treaties with different Khasi chiefs. In 1862 the Jaintias revolted under U Kiang Nongbah. By virtue of these treaties, the British gradually took control of the mineral deposits and side by side subjugated the chiefs and also took control of judiciary.
Talk
Garo, Khasi & Jaintia are the major languages spoken in addition to English, which is spoken all over the state and all urban areas.
Get in
By plane
The Shillong Airport, located around 35 KM from Shillong is the only airport in Meghalaya where commercial flights operate from. A limited number of Air India flights (ATR42 type) are available from Kolkata per week. However, the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahati, serves as the nearest major airport to Shillong. It is connected by daily flights to all Indian cities and also to Bangkok.
By helicopter
The Government of Meghalaya operates a twice-a-day helicopter service from the Guwahati Airport to the Shillong Heliport, located 10 km away from the city centre. Tickets are modestly priced at ₹1500. A 2 hour 30 min long journey by road from Guwahati to Shillong (and vice-versa) is cut down to just a 20 minute flight if travelling by helicopter.
By train
There are no railway lines in Meghalaya. Guwahati is the nearest railway station located around 104 KM from Shillong.
By road
Shillong is connected with Guwahati by NH 40. Various modes of transport including Shared taxis, Buses and private cabs ply on this route. Shared sumos are available from right outside Guwahati Railway Station to Shillong for ₹160 per seat.
Visa and Restricted Area information
No Inner Line Permit or Protected Area permit is required to enter Meghalaya. Meghalaya government maintains a very useful site which contains a lot of resources for tourists
Get around
Any Meghalaya excursion should start from Shillong or Guwahati for convenience. Local non-AC buses, share sumos connect several parts of Meghalaya and other destinations of the North-East. Though cheap, these buses are infrequent and inconvenient for both domestic and foreign travelers. Best is to hire a taxi for a day and cover your destinations. Standard Maruti 800 taxis cost about ₹1200 (with fuel) for standard day excursions (Mawsynram, Cherrapunjee, Nartiang) as of Nov 2008. Bargain if you want to explore places other than regular tourist sites. Shillong City Tour costs about ₹500-₹700. Since Meghalaya is a small state, destinations are not very far apart in the regular tourist circuit, so retaining a car is not a cost effective idea. If one visits Orchid Lake Resort or Cherrapunjee Resort, cars are not readily available from these offbeat spots. So plan your itinerary in advance and accordingly make arrangements from Shillong for pick up from the resorts on the return leg. Otherwise, you may have to face delays. As tourism initiatives are mostly limited to Shillong and East Khasi Hills, travellers to Garo Hills (Tura, Williamsnagar), Jaitia Hills (Jowai) and West Khasi Hills (Nongstoin) should plan their route/itinerary considering the lack of proper tourism infrastructure (food/lodging/transport/roads).
See
- Balpakram National Park
- Cherrapunji
- Elephant Falls
- Lady Hydari Park
- Mawlynnong
- Nokrek National Park
- Shillong Peak
- South Garo Hills, Pitcher Plant sanctuary, Siju Caves
- Umiam Lake
- Wards Lake
- Living Root Bridges
Do
Meghalaya is a caver's delight. The area around Cherrapunji has quite a few limestone caves that can be visited, such as the caves at Mawsmai near Mawsynram. Earlier in 2018, the world's longest sandstone cave has also been discovered in the area at Krem Puri. At nearly 25km long, its length is almost three times the height of Mount Everest. Some dinosaur fossils have also been found in this cave.
Apart from caving, you will also enjoy visiting the beautiful waterfalls around Shillong and Cherrapunji. You should also not miss visiting at least one of the Living Root Bridges. These are natural bridges, created by the local tribals by training the roots of trees to grow in certain directions and weaving them together with mud to create a passable bridge over a stream.
Eat
Rice is the staple food and different varieties from the red rice to the sticky glutinous rice are grown and eaten in Meghalaya. The red rice from the Sung Valley is known to be particularly delicious. Pork in every form is enjoyed by all three communities. The Khasi and Jaintia cuisine are similar and use black sesame seeds to add a distinctive taste to the pork and other dishes. A cold salad of shredded pork with onions and ginger is also very popular.
During the early monsoon, different varieties of mushroom sprout all over the Jaintia and Khasi Hills and these make their way to the local markets. The mushrooms are either cooked in combination with the meat dishes or just fried lightly on its own. Rice is cooked either plain or in combination with onions, ginger and turmeric, giving it the characteristic yellow colour; this is known as 'jastem'. Another variation is the 'jadoh' which is rice cooked with meat (namely pork). Rice cakes called 'putharo and the drier flaky 'pumaloi are prepared from rice flour. Another variety is the deep fried jaggery sweetened pukhiein and steamed pusla usually eaten as snacks with tea.
The Garo cuisine is simple to cook with different variations adding richness to the flavour. One of the most popular dishes among the Garos is the Nakham Bitchi dish, which is prepared from special dry fish, chillies and a pinch of soda. This is a hot spicy soup and is usually served with rice, together with some other fish or meat dish, usually boiled with yam, pumpkin, gourd, chillies and a dash of bamboo ash water. These dishes are sometimes cooked wrapped in leaves or in fresh bamboo cylinders over an open fire, thereby infusing the food with the flavour of the leaves and green bamboo. Also popular among the Khasi, Jaintia and Garos is fish and meat preserved either by drying in the sun or smoking over fire. A variety of chutneys prepared from different types of herbs, fermented soya bean and fermented fish always accompany the meals.