After
spending a day of rest, at the Kaziranga resort, we all are ready
today, for another long spell of travelling. For a change, we shall
now be travelling to the North and enter the border state of
Arunachal Pradesh, before ending the day at “Bomdila,” a
beautiful township on mountain slopes of Himalayan ranges with an
altitude of about 8000 feet. Yesterday, we made some short outings
and visited one or two points on the highway NH 37, from where, wild
animals of Kaziranga are usually seen. At one of the points, where
wild elephants are sometimes seen, we drew blank as the spot was
totally deserted. Luckily, at the other vista point, we were more
fortunate to see some rhinos and deer. Our Kaziranga sanctuary safari
is actually planned during the return leg of our journey after about
a week and I thought that what we saw yesterday, was a kind of a
teaser.
We are
back on highway NH 37 going westwards till the town of Nagaon and
then take a right turn on highway NH 37A. Our first destination today
is the mighty Brahmaputra river, located at about a distance of 22
Km, which we would be crossing over to go to our first stop of the
day; Tezpur. For first few Km, the landscape is typically rural
Assamese, with lush green paddy fields, groves of trees of various
hues and shades of green with sprinklings of villages scattered
amongst them with red coloured galvanized iron sheet roofing. But as
we proceed further towards the river, the human habitats slowly
start to disappear, their place being taken by marshy wastelands and
grasslands. Every summer the mighty Brahmaputra, pours millions of
cusecs of water in this area and this stretch of marshy wastelands
get completely flooded. Much area under Kaziranga forest also meets
the similar fate each and every year. This is the reason for the
sanctuary to close during monsoon months and it reopens only on 1st
of November.
I can
see now the vast bed of this mighty river stretched almost to the
horizon. As we approach the river, the car stops before a police
check post. The guards wave to us and we are on the “Kalia Bhomora
Bridge” crossing the Brahmaputra. After crossing the bridge, the
cars stop near a small hillock. I come out to have a view of the
bridge and the surroundings. This 1.3 Km long bridge was constructed
during a period of 1981 to 1987. I climb a small hillock to see if I
get some better view of the bridge but feel disappointed as nothing
can be seen from there. There is also a small red coloured “Shiva”
temple on one side of the road. On the left sidewall, from where the
actual bridge and its railing starts, bass reliefs of seven female
figures representing the seven northeast states are carved in
concrete. Though the craftsmanship is just about pass'e, I like the
symbolism. The bridge, connecting the city of Tezpur to Kaliabhor
town has been named after “Ahom general Kalia Bhomora Phukan, who
had defeated in 1671, much larger Mughal forces in a battle known as
Battle of Saraighat. The bridge has been named after this general
because it is believed that he had made an unsuccessful attempt to
build a bridge at the same site in the seventeenth century.
Tezpur
city is situated along the north bank of the river. As we enter the
city, my thoughts immediately run down the memory lane, because in
the 1962 border war, Chinese forces had reached within 70 Km from
Tezpur and the inept city administration had almost given up the
city. There was complete loss of control on 20th
November 1962 with thousands of people fleeing the city by crossing
Brahmaputra to the safety of the south. That is history; now Tezpur is
a normal thriving city.
Our
first stop in Tezpur is at a small hillock named as “Agnighar.”
An impressive entry gate leads to a circular stairway for going up
the hillock. The entry gate gives a feeling, that the way up would be
an easy one. However, as I climb up, I find that it is not so and
climbing up in one breath looks quite tough. I reach the crest of the
hill. A nice manicured garden and some plat things for children can
be seen here. An observation platform made from steel stands here.
From the top of this platform, a breathtaking view of the mighty
Brahmaputra is so bewitching that I spend quite a few minutes
watching and enjoying the grand spectacle. The Bhomora bridge, which
we had just crossed, shines in the morning sun towards the left.
There are number of statues of some mythological figures and some
imaginary encounters between them. A demon king “ Banasura” his
daughter “Usha,” her companion “Chitralekha” and finally Lord
Vishnu and Lord Shiva. The sculptures of these mythological figures
have been erected at several spots around the circular stairway. I do
not know from what material these statues have been made from but
they all have been painted with Gray colour. These statues remind me
of similar statues of mythological figures set up all over the
Indonesian island of Bali.The hillock of “Agnigarh” is believed
to be the fortress of a mythologiocal king “Banasura” in which
he had kept his daughter “Usha” in isolation, fearing that she
may elope with someone. Tezpur perhaps prefers to link itself more
with the Mythological demon king “ Banasur” than any one from
recent history.
We
move on. Just next to this hill, we come across a place called
“Ganesh Ghat.” This place is directly on the river bank and if
desired, one can go and touch the waters of one of the greatest
rivers of India. None of us however seems willing as the entire area
is littered with garbage, flowers thrown away and plastic bags. I
remember that near Leh city in Ladakh, excellent “Ghats” or
stepped terraces named as “Sindhu Darshan” have been built on
bank of river Indus, which allow people to touch the water or wash
their hands and feet in the river, I remember having done that
during my visit there. But that place was spotlessly clean compared
to what I see here on the bank of Brahmaputra. I had wished that I
would be able to wash my hands and feet in the Brahmaputra waters
during this visit, just the way I had done in waters of Indus, but
can not dare do it because of the filth.
Readers
would agree that the entire history and culture of India is closely
related to triplet of rivers- Indus, Ganga and the Brahmaputra. I had
wished that someday I would be able to see all of them and would be
able to touch the waters of all of them. For me it was like a secret
pilgrimage of the sorts. I had touched the waters of Ganga at
Rishikesh near Haridwar city besides waters of Indus at Leh.
Unfortunately, here on the bank of Brahmaputra, I can not dare do
that as the place is filled with Garbage.
Feeling
disappointed, I move on. There is a temple nearby of Lord “Ganesha.”
I watch it only from a distance and then continue towards our next
halt, an excellet and neatly laid out city garden known as Cole park
during British days. It was named after Mr. Cole, a British
commissioner of Assam. Now it is known as “Chitralekha Garden;”
the mythological connection coming up once again. It is a well laid
out nice garden with lawns and flower beds on sloping grounds. In the
middle there are two water ponds or mini lakes side by side.
Activities like boating are available. I am more interested however,
in a number of bass reliefs done in stone from 9th and 10th century,
couple of massive ornamented stone pillars, gate ways and sculptural
remains from the famous Bamuni hills that are being displayed at
strategic places in the garden by Archaeological department of
Assam.The massive pillars, gates and bass reliefs are very
intricately carved. The carved human figures on these bass reliefs
have a distinctly different look, when compared to contemporary bass
reliefs from Pattadakal in Karnataka or from Ellora caves in
Maharashtra. I also notice surprisingly, that there are some
similarities in the figures displayed here with bass relief figures
found in Siam Reap temples of Cambodia. But this needs more study.
The pride of place of the park is at the center of the park, flanked
by the two water ponds on the sides. This spot is occupied by a
massive stone slab, which bears the famed inscriptions of
Bhomoraguri, ordered by Ahom general Kalia Bhomora Phukan and
recording the ancient plans of a bridge across the Brahmaputra, at
the very spot, where the current Kolia Bhomora Bridge has been built.
This is an exhibit worth a visit. Though, there appears to be some
controversy, regarding the inscription. According to some references,
the rock inscription actually mentions the construction of a rampart
by Ahom King Pratap Sinha (1603-41 A.D.) after defeating the Mughals
and not the bridge.
Bhomora Inscription slab
Image of the demon "Banasur" in Chitralekha park
Bass relief of Shiva from Bayon temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Leaving
the controversy to archaeologists, our flotilla of cars now leaves
Tezpur and we take highway NH 15 to north. Tezpur's strategically
important airport is located here. This airport was in the imminent
danger of being captured by Chinese forces in 1962. Seeing the
alarming situation and developing threats to Tezpur, army
headquarters had decided to airlift 5 infantry battalions from Punjab
to Tezpur airport on 19th
November 1962; an advanced party of divisional headquarters and one
battalion had flown in with troops quickly digging in for the defense
of this airfield. The Chinse had however declared unilateral cease
fire within next two days and no action ever took place here.
Leaving
Balipore town, we leave the city areas behind and now forests flank
us on both sides of the road. This area has been converted to a tiger
reserve now and is beingcalled as Pakke Tiger Reserve. It connects
with Kaziranga sanctuary in the east. A river makes a sudden
appearance to the right. This is the Kameng river also known as Jia
Bhoreli in Assam. Kameng originates near India-China border in Tawang
district and flows for 264 Km to its confluence with Brahmaputra near
Tezpur. I can also see a railway line being constructed on the left.
The entire area is very picturesque and beautiful. To motor down this
road to the Arunachal border town of Bhalukpong, is a wonderful
experience, that is difficult to describe in words.
It is
almost lunch time, when we stop near Bhalukpong town. From here the
Arunachal Pradesh starts and we need to submit our Inner line permits
at the checkpost to proceed further. We break our journey in the town
for the long awaited lunch. After a delightful lunch topped by
wonderful “Gajjar Halwa,” I decide to take a stroll in the hotel
courtyard. At one end of it, I find one small out-house like
structure, with a viewing veranda. I step in and take a few steps. My
feet just freeze on the spot, as an unbelievably stunning landscape,
unfurls before my own eyes. It is a perfect picture post card view.
On the left is the gorgeous looking, foaming white, Kameng river
rushing out of Himalaya ranges bending sharply towards Assam. The
left bank of the river is rising and merging into the green foliage
lined mountainside, almost touching the sky. To the right, near the
bend, the white river transforming into a slow current of azure blue
contrasting with the golden white sands of the flat river bank. The
Bhalukpong town itself extends further to the right. I
loose all sense of time, as I watch the scene, spell bound.
A friend
calls me and says that its time to move on. Within minutes, we all
are out of the town, entering the enthralling valleys of the the
Himalayas; kings of the mountains of the world.
18th
November 2014
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