About 20 km from Jorhat is the town of Sibsagar. History faintly stirs here. Ringed around of the town are various monuments, mute testimony to the building prowess of the one- time conquerors, rulers and defenders of Assam, the Ahoms. Of these, the most famous is the Shiva –Dol temple. Its fame has not been commercialized, so taking a look around the temple is enjoyable. There are no jostling crowds, no pursuing pandas.
Standing innocuously in an open field is the Talatal Ghats, the underground garrison of the Ahom King Rudra Singh. A maze of underground chambers is go three stories deep into the earth. A tunnel built as an escape route connects the garrison with the Dikhow River.
Nearby is the Rang Ghar. This oval pavilion served as the royal gallery for the Ahom kings during sporting events. About 9 km from Sibsagar is the Kareng Ghar, an Ahom castle. While four of its stories are above ground, three are underground, complete with two escape routes, one to the Diknow river, and the other to the Gargoan palace.
Leave Your Comments