No conference is complete without a little sightseeing excursion around the local town. On the second day of the NEILS conference, we got a chance to see visit a few scenic spots around the town of Tezpur. Leaving at 3.30pm wasn't ideal (especially when the sun sets around 4.30), but it was still a pleasant little trip.
We started at Bamuni Hill, where the ruins are said to date from the 10th to 12th centuries. From my rather sketchy knowledge of the history of Assam, I think it means they were built during the time of the Kamarupan Kingdom which precedes the Ahom Kingdom which was founded by invading Tai speaking people from what is now Burma / Myanmar.
The thing is, most of the 'ruins' were just lying exposed to the elements, with people allowed to walk all over them. Given the yearly monsoon, most of them looked surprisingly unweathered. It seems a tad bit silly to excavate them just TO lay them out in the open for people to trample on. But I suppose it makes more sense than shipping them off to some faraway museum.
The second stop was a place called Agnigarh - agni means 'fire' and garh means 'fort'. There was a story associated with the place, something about an asura who wanted to keep his daughter from the rest of the world but she ended up marrying someone in secret anyway. I think the 'fire' bit is because the fort was said to have been surrounded by fire. (The Wikipedia article seems to agree with what I was told.)
There was a lovely view of the Brahmaputra River from the top of the hill, even if the water level was very low. I'd love to see the Brahmaputra right after the monsoon. (Though I can't say I'd love to have to deal with local flooding, especially in Guwahati.)
There's something I just love about the sunset here in Assam. Every evening, the sun just looks like a big red ball. It's probably the same dust that's been giving me grief, but it makes the sun look so pretty.
Alright, enough blogging for today. I've got to be up by 5 tomorrow to catch my ride back to Guwahati.
We started at Bamuni Hill, where the ruins are said to date from the 10th to 12th centuries. From my rather sketchy knowledge of the history of Assam, I think it means they were built during the time of the Kamarupan Kingdom which precedes the Ahom Kingdom which was founded by invading Tai speaking people from what is now Burma / Myanmar.
The thing is, most of the 'ruins' were just lying exposed to the elements, with people allowed to walk all over them. Given the yearly monsoon, most of them looked surprisingly unweathered. It seems a tad bit silly to excavate them just TO lay them out in the open for people to trample on. But I suppose it makes more sense than shipping them off to some faraway museum.
The second stop was a place called Agnigarh - agni means 'fire' and garh means 'fort'. There was a story associated with the place, something about an asura who wanted to keep his daughter from the rest of the world but she ended up marrying someone in secret anyway. I think the 'fire' bit is because the fort was said to have been surrounded by fire. (The Wikipedia article seems to agree with what I was told.)
There was a lovely view of the Brahmaputra River from the top of the hill, even if the water level was very low. I'd love to see the Brahmaputra right after the monsoon. (Though I can't say I'd love to have to deal with local flooding, especially in Guwahati.)
There's something I just love about the sunset here in Assam. Every evening, the sun just looks like a big red ball. It's probably the same dust that's been giving me grief, but it makes the sun look so pretty.
Alright, enough blogging for today. I've got to be up by 5 tomorrow to catch my ride back to Guwahati.
