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Guwahati is a city in India, often considered to be the gateway to the north-east part of the country. A Guwahati suburb, Dispur, is the capital of the Indian state of Assam. The city is between the southern bank of the Brahmaputra river and the foothills of the Shillong plateau. It is also the home to the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
The name Guwahati is derived from two Assamese words: guwa (betel nut) and hat (market place). It was situated midway between two powerful kingdoms: the Ahom and the Koch kingdoms. Later when the Koch regions were overrun by the Mughals, Guwahati would intermittently be the seat of a forward Mughal commander. Neither the Mughals nor the Koch could maintain power at Guwahati, however, and it became better known as the seat of the Borphukan, the civil and military authority of the region appointed by the Ahom king. Gauhati is also known for its reupted Gauhati University
Another history
There is another story of where the name Guwahati had come from. This city is surrounded by hills and from the top, it looks like a cave (Guha in assamese) and with river Brahmaputra and bharalu, the looks like a picture of an elephant (Hati in assamese). Many people believe the name was Guhahati which later took the form of Gauhati (under British dynasty) and then changed to Guwahati.
Geographically, Guwahati straddles the valley of the river Bharalu, a small tributary of the river Brahmaputra. It is surrounded by hills, except where the Bharalu discharges into the Brahmaputra. To its west the Nilachal hill is said to be the home of the goddess Kamakhya, a shakta temple. In the past, this was an important seat of tantric and Vajrayana Buddhism. To the north, on top of Chitrachal Hill, is the Navagraha (nine planets) temple, a unique astrological temple. To the south of the city lie the Narakasur hills, named after a legendary king of ancient Assam. An ancient name of this city is said to be "Pragjyotishpur".
Guwahati today is important because it is close to the seat of power in Assam, is a commercial centre, and is the node that connects six other northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura.
History
The Ambari excavations trace habitation in the city to the sixth century C.E. Epigraphic sources place capitals of historical kingdoms, like Pragjyotishpurnagara, in the Guwahati area. Guwahati was a Mughal administrative and military center for lower Assam, and it became the seat of the Borphukan, the Ahom viceroy for the western part of the Ahom kingdom.
There are a number of historical features in Guwahati. The Dighalipukhuri is a rectangular lake that was connected to the Brahmaputra, and was probably dug for naval reasons by the Ahoms.
Places of interest
- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
- Kamakhya Temple
- Navagraha Temple
- Shankardev Kalakschetra
- Geeta Mandir
- Basista Ashram
- Balaji Ashram
- Botanical Garden(Guwahati Zoo)
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