Historical Places

The Butterfly Museum -
It has a fine display of mounted butterflies and beetles from India and abroad. The butterflies are breeded here as a conservatory measure. It is at Lachumiere, Visit: 100-1600, Monday to Saturday excluding 2nd Saturday and all Government holidays. Entry - free. It has ethnographic and archaeological objects.

The Sacred-Groves-
The temple is situated in Imphal town in the compound of Manipur State Road Transport Corporation. It is donated by Leimapokpan Keirungba in 1875 AD.

Shillong Cathedral Churches of Shillong - a measure of the religiosity of the Shillongites. As if to justify the desire of the British founding fathers of the city of Shillong to make it a little England, churches and cathedrals, large and small, have come up everywhere in the city.

Tura- Tura town in the north eastern state of Meghalaya in India. Tura in Meghalaya is famous for its picture postcard beauty. Tura Megahalaya, a town in the Garo Hills, boasts of a wonderful landscape of lofty hills, against a backdrop of low-lying plains, with the mighty river Brahmaputra, dramatically rushing through, towards Bangladesh.

More Places to Visit

Temples

MAHADEV KHOLA DHAM-
The most former Hindu place of worship in the state of Meghalaya is located approximately about (5 kms) on the outer edge of (Shillong) towards the (Upper Shillong), contrary to the (101 Canteen Area).The place of worship belongs to (Lord Shiva) and is known as (Mahadev Khola Dham). Spiritual faith says that the 1st person to stopover in this location was a sadhu known as (Lakhiya Baba) who approached this place to ponder some (150 years) ago. This area was a bushy jungle at that point of time. It is believed that the major of Subhedar,Gurkha Rifles Battalion saw a sadhu appareled in red dress with a necklace of rudraksh in his vision. The sadhu ordered to search him and erect a small temple at the place.As soon as he woke up, he along with all his army started searching and were surprised to find a "Shivling".

MATRI MANDIR-
The state of Meghalya implicates to be one of the pristine and magnificent locales in India. This state has many ancient and historic temples and boosts strong beliefs and significances of old traditions. One such ancient and important temple in this land is the Maitri Mandir.

The structure of this temple is huge and artistic carving and the unique architecture is worth seeing.Tourists, who visits this state pay homage to this place of worship. Goddess Kali is adored in this temple. The festival of Diwali holds a great significance, as the complete temple is festooned with garlands of flowers and lights. Late night Puja is executed to in order to praise Ma Kali.

Wildlife Sanctuary

Balpakram National Park- Balpakram is a fertile virgin land. The unsurveyed belts of limestone and coal deposits, along with sea shells fossilized into rocks in Balpakram Hill provide immense scope for geological and archeological studies. The animals which can be seen in this national park are elephants, wild buffaloes, gaur (Indian bison), sambar, barking deer, wild boar, slow loris, capped langur, tigers, leopards, clouded leopards and the rare golden cat.

Nokrek Biosphere and Siju Caves-
Nokrek Biosphere Reserve is located in the Garo Hills district, 2 kms from Tura Peak. The reserve is one of the least disturbed forest tracts of the sub-Himalayan ranges. It is the first Pitcher Plant biosphere reserve of its kind in the northeast region. The Garo Hills contain many natural limestone caves. The famous Siju Cave is located very close to the Nophak Lake near the Simsang River Game Reserve. The cave is filled with water and is miles long.

The prominent animals of this park are musk deer, Himalayan black bear, golden langur, rare clouded leopard, the red panda and the Royal Bengal tiger. The tiger population here is about 20% of Bhutan's total tiger population. There are also 391 bird species and out of these seven are highly endangered species. The Phobjikha valley lies in the buffer zone of this park and every winter 260 black necked cranes come here to make it their winter habitat.

TrumshingLa National Park-
This park covers an area of 768 sq. kms and is comparatively new as it was set up in July 1998. This forest is basically alpine and subtropical broadleaf with animals like snow leopards, tigers, red pandas and also rare plants. There are also 341 species of birdlife here in this park. Birdwatchers will find this park very exciting. Tourists will love its breathtaking scenery and the natural habitats of animals.

Ethinic Tour

Meghalaya Handicrafts- Meghalaya is the homeland of three ancient hill communities, the Khasis, the Garos and the Jaintias. She is renowned for her scenic beauty. The natural surroundings has influenced the people of Meghalaya to produce a number of crafts. Meghalaya is known for various art and crafts. Cane and bamboo holds a prime place. Artistic textile weaving and woodcarving is practiced in Garo hills. Silk weaving of Endi silk is also very famous. Carpet weaving, ornaments, musical instruments are other specialities of Meghalaya. But the unique craft of this state is Pineapple fiber articles, in which fiber from its leaves is used for making various types of nets, bags and purses. The people of Meghalaya are in so much love with their form of handicrafts that, they have made their art and craft noticed in the outer world, despite several obstructions.

The Handloom & Handicraft of Meghalaya -
Cane and bamboo craft occupies an important place in the economy of the state, next only to agriculture. The artisans attend to the craft when free from agriculture. The products of bamboo and cane are mostly of two types, namely,

• Articles required for day to day use and of medium quality, more suited to local requirements; and
• Articles of finer quality,both decorative and functional, to meet the requirements and tastes of more sophisticated markets.