Unveiling Meghalaya: A colonial past and the cleanest village

Driving down from Guwahati to Shillong, we visited Umiam lake that lies almost midway between Shillong and Guwahati.

Umiam Lake

Situated on the Guwahati Shillong highway, about 20 km from Shillong is this man made lake known also as Bara Pani. The lake is actually a reservoir created by damming the Umiam river.

The reservoir was built in 1960 as part of a hydro electric project and has since seen expansions. The valley where the lake now lies was home to around 200 families who were displaced by this project.

Apart from providing electricity and irrigation facilities, this lake is an important tourist destination in Meghalaya today.

After a long walk along the side of the lake, we reached the main recreational area where there are boating facilities and water sport activities.

Some pictures…

Different views of the lake

A boat ride on Umiam lake

Driving down further, we reached Shillong by noon and proceeded for lunch…

Lunch at Shillong

Shillong was originally the capital of the erstwhile state of Assam and later became the capital of Meghalaya when the new state was formed.

Khasi, Jaintia and Garo are the three main tribes of Meghalaya and Shillong is named after the Khasi God “U Blei Shyllong “.

The salubrious climate of Shillong attracted the British who consolidated their interests here. The remnants of a colonial past are visible all over Shillong. The views of the city lying on the slopes of the Khasi and Jaintia hills looks beautiful . However, with unplanned growth, the old world charm seems to have been replaced with modern buildings and crowded streets.

Remnants of a colonial past

Replaced by modern buildings and traffic choked streets

Post lunch ,we visited the Don Bosco Museum

Don Bosco Museum

Situated in Shillong city, this museum is a storehouse of indigenous culture and tradition of all the Northeastern states of India.

The museum is located within the premises of the Sacred Heart church and has seven floors with a sky walk on top from where a great view of Shillong can be enjoyed.

The collection in the museum is divided into 17 galleries over the seven floors with each gallery representing a different theme. Many of the figures of tribal life are life size and create a feeling of reality. Tribal artifacts like clothing, jewellery, tools, musical instruments, sculptures and paintings adorn the various galleries. Tribal books and manuscripts are also on display.

Some pictures…

The Don Bosco Museum

The commemorative monolith and plaque at the entrance

Life size statues of various tribes

Different kinds of jewellery

Musical instruments

From Shillong we also visited Asia’s cleanest village….Mawlynnong .

Mawlynnong Village

Located in the east Khasi hills 90 kms from Shillong, this village close to the Indo Bangladesh border looked definitely like an ideal village.

It was green all over with cute houses on either side of a well maintained road. Most of the houses were home stays and had atleast a small garden in front of it. The village has around 120 households; most of them belonging to the Khasi tribe.

The Khasis are a matrilineal society taking the mother’s surname and youngest daughter inheriting the property of the parents. Women are thus held in high esteem and they are well educated too.

Betelnut and fruit cultivation is the main occupation here .

Waste is collected in bamboo baskets and put in a pit and converted into manure in a community initiative involving all the villagers. Smoking and use of plastics is prohibited here.

Some pictures..

The Entrance to the village

A short walk on a bamboo bridge

The clean road…our tour manager poses and ecofriendly resting spots

The enterprising Khasi women go about their daily work

A typical house with its own garden

We had lunch at a restaurant within the village run entirely by a family of enterprising women…

The restaurant where we had local food

The village offers an example of how local cooperation can help to keep our environment clean and garbage free and create a self sustaining environment .

Hope you enjoyed this episode. See you next week with more from Meghalaya.

Till then, do subscribe, like and comment…