Jorhat city – The Tea Capital of Assam
Welcome, friends! This is my next post describing my trip to the oldest tea garden and heritage tea bungalows of Assam. I hope the earlier one about my journey to Kaziranga National Park must have enthralled you. Today I reached Jorhat city to explore British-era bungalows and best tea gardens of Assam. What I could say about Jorhat city, the place is a stunning one with glimpses of a glorious past and a promising future. One of the heritage city in Assam enriched with various tea bungalows, polo club and golf course. There is no lack of tourist attractions in Jorhat, and when we first stepped out of the cab after covering a delightful journey of 113 km, we went straight to Kaziranga Golf Resort .
Few days at Kaziranga Golf Resort
This is a very luxury heritage resort with a 18 hole golf course, in between Mohbondha tea estate. The resort was with spacious rooms and modern amenities. Here I got a chance to spent few days in the colonial tea environment and learn the game of golf and enjoy a grandeur holiday. We enjoyed staying a lavish weekend in between tea garden in the Kaziranga golf course. We quickly realized that Jorhat city is quite welcoming!
Tea garden visit and ancient tea bungalows of Assam
Sprawling Tea Gardens and an Informative Research Center
Next day we headed towards Cinnamara tea estate, one of the ancient tea garden in Assam. I heard that it will complete 175 years in 2018. I am chocked to knew that it was established by one of the first Assamese freedom fighter Maniram Dewan. The sight was simply amazing! The vastness of tea gardens seems captivating and watching the workers plucking tea leaves compelled us to go for some nice clicks. There were also some imperial bungalows near these gardens to compliment the beauty of the same. I got to know that the city also hosts a tea festival every year.
The world’s oldest and largest Tea Experimental Station Tocklai Tea Research Centre is located here. When I first heard that we are heading towards a major research center of Jorhat, I was least excited. However, soon it became clear that the visit to the Tocklai Tea Research Centre was the best thing in my entire Jorhat tour. Not only the reception was warm at the entrance, but we were also amazed to know that the tea we consume almost daily goes through so many steps before packaging. The research center was more than a century old. One can also witness the entire tea manufacturing process at the center.
Tea Tasting
I also got a chance to do tea testing on request here. I was excited to see so many varieties of tea and tea testing is simply amazing.
Tourist places in and around Jorhat
Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar
In my guides request, we also visited a Neo vaishnavite temple named as “Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar“. It is an ancient temple established by saint Madhavdeva in 1461. The candle(earthen lamp) in this temple has been burning since its inceptation for more than 500 years. I felt speechless to see this beautiful temple and the people praying here.
Soon, we got back into our cab and visited the Garakhiadol Temple, which is at a distance of only 7 km from the city. The Shiva temple built in the 18th century attracts a large number of devotees every year during the day of Mahashivratri. We also took blessings from the deity and returned to our taxi.
Our next stop was Sukapha Samannay Khetra, laid in the memory first Ahom king of Assam, Sukapha. It looks very stunning with a very large compound and ‘Thai’ styled building which depict the rich cultural heritage of Ahom Era. It has a big statue of king Sukapha and a museum which showcase the history of Assam.
Our next destination is the fascinating Majuli Island on the river Brahmaputra.
You can read our last post “How to spent a day in Kaziranga National Park” here.
So, keep checking our post; we will soon post our experience.
If you want to spent few days in lavish colonial tea bungalows go for a tea garden visit and tea testing tour in Assam please check our Assam Tour packages or drop us a mail at support@nexplore.org.
