This was a quick 2 day trip to Guwahati to attend the IITK90 yearly India reunion. We had been to Guwahati, Kaziranga, Jorhat and Meghalaya in 2010 with the kids. This trip was purely to attend the reunion.
Sat, Oct 28: Guwahati Sightseeing
Anu and I landed at Guwahati at around 6 am in the morning. We were picked up by the driver and taken to the Greenwood Resort. We reached around 7.30 am.
We checked in to our room and freshened up. We realized that most IITK90 attendees were going to come from Kaziranga and would arrive in the evening that day. So at around 10.30 am, Anu and I decided to visit some interesting places in Guwahati.
We just took an Uber and went directly to Fancy Bazar, one of the busy markets in Guwahati city center. Bought some miscellaneous items just to get a feel for the bazar.
We walked around and then based on reviews at a North Indian restaurant called Gopal Maharaj. We wanted to eat traditional Assamese food, but we were quite hungry and we decided to settle on this restaurant. The food was very good, but not Assamese.
After lunch, the next stop was the Brahmaputra River Heritage Center, located strategically on the river. It was the old Deputy Commissioner’s bungalow from the colonial times. This place is a must visit in Guwahati. Lots of historical and cultural exhibits with photos. We also learned that all other rivers in India have female origin (Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri, Godavari, Narmada). Only Brahmaputra is a male river. Interesting…
From a distance, we saw a cable car going across the river. We decided to walk to the cable car and take a ride across the river. It was a lot of fun.
We came back to the resort by about 6 pm.
The evening was fun, dance and party with IITK90 friends. There was traditional Assamese dance where everyone joined in. It was followed by party music. It was an amazing evening.
Sun, Oct 29: Kamakhya Temple, Boat Ride
We had a hearty breakfast and most people went to the Kamakhya temple. The Kamakhya Temple at Nilachal hills in Guwahati, Assam is one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantric practices, dedicated to the goddess Kamakhya, goddess of desire. The temple is the site of the Ambubachi Mela, an annual festival that celebrates the menstruation of the goddess. Interesting history.
Animal sacrifice is very common in this temple. As we were waiting for darshan, we had one of the pujaris bringing a severed buffalo head in a vessel to offer to the goddess. If you are queasy about such practices, this temple is not for you.
A boat ride with lunch was planned in the afternoon. The boat was decked up specially for the IITK90 folks. Ajay Tewari, Neeraj Verma and Chanchal Kumar were the local hosts. They had decorated the boat similar to what they did for the G20 delegates earlier in the year. It was lavish.
There were drinks, appetizers, great food and music as we were taken around for a 3 hour boat ride on the Brahmaputra. Fantastic experience.
After the boat ride, we came back to Greenwood in the evening and caught our 11 pm flight back to Pune. Some attendees continued on to Shillong and Dawki river which seemed to be a great experience based on the photos we saw. But we have seen Shillong. Dawki, some other time.
IITK90 reunions are amazing. I meet friends and have some great sightseeing experience as well. I make it a point not to miss any. Thanks to Ajay Tewari, Neeraj Verma and Chanchal Kumar for making this a memorable reunion experience.
