Just About Everything

Chobimura Sculptures Day four at Belonia : We got up pretty early and headed for the Trishna wildlife sanctuary ...however we could not get in as there were no forest guards to open the gates! After breakfast at the tourist lodge, we headed for a site at Pilak (around 1 hour from Belonia) where Hindu and Buddhist sites have been excavated. These date back to the 9th and 10th century. Some of the carvings are quite unusual and very well-preserved. The last item on the agenda for day four was Chobimura in Amarpur. I have never seen anything like this before! What a beautiful and scenic place. One has to take a ride on the Gomati River to see some amazing bas -relief work; beautiful sculptures cut out on the rocky faces on either side of the river! The boat ride was nice (lasted around 40 min) and the sculptures were a treat! If you are planning a trip to Tripura, Chobimura must be in your list. Pilak-excavation of 8 temple foundations in Thakurani Tila Pilak-Tr...

Neermahal Day three in Tripura was a long day; we covered three places and traveled a distance of 151 km. We started very early in the morning. Our first stop was Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, well-known for its famous spectacled langur. Sepahiijala is well-know for migratory birds. The zoo is where we saw the spectacled langur among other animals. Our next stop was Boxanagar, a lesser known Buddhist site, around 22 km from Sepahijala. This site was excavated around 2003-2004. The well-preserved stupas date back to the 10th Century. From Boxanagar, we set off to Melaghar which houses the beautiful former Royal palace of Tripura, Neermahal. Neermahal is around 31 km from Boxanagar. We covered this distance in approximately one and a half hours. Built by King Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman, the construction of the palace started in 1930 and it took 8 years to complete the construction. What makes this place special is the location... it is right in the middle of the Rudrasaga...

Jampui hills, Tripura In continuation with my trip report on Tripura....at the end of day one, we set off for Jampui hils from Unakoti . Jampui hills is around 60 km from Unakoti in North Tripura district. Located at an altitude of 3500 ft, it is the highest hill range in Tripura. We  stayed at a Government run tourist lodge in Jampui hills. The pleasant weather combined with the sylvan surroundings made for a delightful experience at Jampui hills. This hill station had some very cute looking houses; most of the population in Jampui hills is made up of the Mizo community. The houses were very nicely lit up and decorated since Christmas was just around the corner.We missed the Orange festival by a month, we came to know that the best time to visit Jampui hills is in November.  At the end of day two, we halted in a small town called Kamalasagar after a 265 km drive westwards. We stayed at a Government run Tourist lodge (Comilla). Kamalasagar is named after an art...

My favourite time of the year is here again. The weather is nice and cool, and there is music in the air. I managed to attend the baul mela, in Shaktigarh at Jadavpur Kolkata, last weekend.This two-day event happens every year in the 2nd weekend of January. I try not to miss it if I am in the city. I am sharing a beautiful baul performance from the baul mela. You may be interested in the following as well: Baul mela  at Jadavpur, Kolkata, Jan 2013 Baul Mela , Jadavpur, 2014 Baul Mela  2015 at Jadavpur, Kolkata,India Baul mela  2016, Jadavpur,India

Unakoti, Rock-cut Shiva head Tripura is one of the states in India that I have never visited, i have been wanting to visit Tripura for a long time because of some of the gems it houses. Though not as tourist ready as other states, some of the places that we saw are indeed worth visiting. In our short five day trip, we managed to touch all the districts (we did a total of 930 km by road). The roads are quite well-maintained. If you plan to travel to Tripura, d on't expect elaborate food menus and great  hotels.You will get everything, but without frills. The lodges that we stayed in were basic. My favourite was the Belonia tourist lodge in South Tripura district. On our  first day, we headed straight to North Tripura towards Unakoti from the airport. We rented a car through an agent in Agartala who also booked the Government run lodges in the various places we visited.We arrived at Unakoti at 3.30 pm after covering a distance of 145...