Sibsagar, Assam, India
In my travels in the North East, I am barely doing justice to the most populated state of them all – Assam. A brief stop at Kaziranga, a trip to Lekhapani, and that's been it. I am simply using Assam as a transit point for going from and to other states. So while I took a breather from hill driving, I took a leisurely slow drive to Jorhat which is my starting point for the journey to the next state. Great roads through the heart of tea country. Tea plantations on both sides of the road for miles and miles, with the plucked bushes bare and brown and those with the leaves still on it, green. It’s started to get hot in the plains and in this leisurely drive, I took a moment to see the capital of the kingdom of Ahoms – Sibsagar The Ahoms ruled Assam from the 13th century to the 18th century and were a powerful dynasty in this region. They were Hindus and the capital of the state was Sibsagar. Not much is left of their rule, but three monuments are worth seeing if you go there.
Shivdhol is the biggest of them all
. Dhol means temple in Assamese, so this is a Shiva temple that is the oldest in the region, having been built by the Ahoms in the mid 18th century. There is a Devidhol adjacent to it – after all can Shiva be without Durga. There was absolutely no crowd at all. The lawns around Shivdhol are very well maintained and they try to maintain the temple as well. But the Hindu tradition of bathing the idol and offering rice to it makes it all somewhat sticky. There isn’t a priest at all – you can walk into the sanctum, pray as long as you want, even touch the idol ! The idols are very tiny. There doesn’t seem to be a concept of aarti (ritual lighting of the lamp). I was told that the walls of the temple are made with some form or urad dhal (lentils) through some process and not cement, but I have no idea if this is true.
The Rang Ghar is in ruins and was originally the amphitheater where the Ahom Kings witnessed animal fights as well as cultural programmes. The Talathal Ghar is the remains of the palace
. These are not very old (300 years or so), but are in utter ruin. They are nowhere near as impressive as to what the Rajputs built in Rajasthan. The Rajputs were far richer and the desert preserves monuments far better than the rainfed area. With the amount of rain this area gets, it actually is an achievement that any ruins stand at all. Very few visitors to both – after all most Indians care little about history.
Sibsagar is the home of a friend of mine who lives in Bangalore. I called her from Shivdhol and she was very happy that I called from her hometown. Last year, in my tour I had called her husband from his home town, so this completed the set !
Resting in Jorhat before setting off to Nagaland tomorrow. Back to hills and bad roads , but I hope that the horror of Arunachal roads won't be matched !
The land of the Ahoms
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Sibsagar, Assam, India
Other Entries
-
Feb 232 days prior
Tinsukia, India -
Feb 241 day prior
Lekhapani, India -
Feb 25
Sibsagar, India -
Feb 261 day later
Mokokchung, India -
Feb 272 days later
Mokokchung, India -
Feb 283 days later
Kohima, India -
Mar 014 days later
Kohima, India -
Mar 025 days later
Imphal, India -
Mar 036 days later
Moreh, India -
Mar 047 days later
Tamu, Myanmar -
Mar 058 days later
Imphal, India -
Mar 0710 days later
Silchar, India -
Mar 0811 days later
Aizawl, India -
Mar 0912 days later
Aizawl, India -
Mar 1013 days later
Aizawl, India -
Mar 1114 days later
Silchar, India -
Mar 1215 days later
Shillong, India -
Mar 1316 days later
Mawlynnong, India -
Mar 1417 days later
Mawphlang, India -
Mar 1518 days later
Cherrapunjee, India -
Mar 1619 days later
Shillong, India
Comments
2025-05-23
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
Suja
2015-02-25
The temples look interestingly different though that red stone seems familiar. Looking forward to your adventures in Nagaland..
Anne in Salem
2015-02-26
Am curious - did you know all this history before deciding where to travel, did you learn after deciding where to travel, or are you learning as you go? Your knowledge is impressive. I imagine few anywhere in the world know so much history about their country.
The Million Miler
2015-02-26
Fascinating trip Ramesh. Hopefully your travels will take you into Gangtok and beyond into Yuksom.
Have been quietly reading up your travelogue.
indigoite
2015-02-26
@Suja - There are some similarities with North Indian temples. But I ws struck by the absence of priests.
@Anne - Bit of everything Anne. I knew a little, red up before the trip and now knowing more seeing the places and talking to people.
@Kiwi - Wow. Delighted to see you here. Trust all is well; most unlike you to disappear for such a long while. Maybe you are in the cricket grounds all the time.
Sikkim is not North East !!
Anamika
2015-02-26
"Ahom" and "Assam" are related words?
Like I mentioned before, I don't want to Google this ... that will spoil the joy of this vicarious vacation.
indigoite
2015-02-27
@Anamika (Ha Ha) - Origin of the word unknown - no link to the Ahoms. Simply love the way you are following my travel and commenting. A big thank you.
Vincy Joseph
2015-02-28
The image of a temple is totally different in my mind - a new perspective of temples from Assam. :-)
I had the same question that Anne had asked, in fact, this was a topic in discussion during our morning walks couple of days back. What kind of research and back ground work Ramesh must have done for this long haul travel? :-) and i got the answers now :-)
indigoite
2015-02-28
@Vincy - Yes, temples are different in different parts. Unlike churches which are fairly similar all over the world.
Ahhhhh, I got discussed in a morning walk ??? Now that is high praise :):)
Sandhya Sriram
2015-03-01
Nice temples. there is now a channel called Epic, that tries to unearth Indian History, mythology, some of the linkages to mytholody and what we see today. i dont know if people see the channel, but there is something wrong with us, we dont explore our rich history too much. we go to temples because of the "sami kannakuttum" belief from childhood and a few famous historical monuments because we want to tick off a checklist. this is really very refreshing Ramesh, through your eyes, we are so fortunate to see the history of our glorious country.
indigoite
2015-03-02
@Sandhya - So true. Much of the history of India is in temples and a bit more understanding would embellish any temple experience.
Asha
2015-03-04
Possible no? about the urad dal walls...so similar to the pazhani deity made up of herbs( navapashanam)....all these makes me explore and read about the natural living conditions of the past.
Beautiful post and you are discovering lovely places, thanks for sharing.....and i sometimes wonder why shiva is worshipped more than vishnu in the north? or am i wrong?
indigoite
2015-03-04
@Asha - Quite possible - Just that I didn't know.
I never thought of it that way, but perhaps you are right. At least there are more famous Shiva temples than Vishnu.