Lush
green meadows, chirping birds, clear blue skies, roaring of the
animals, the mountains & clean fresh air... this is Assam ...so
wild yet so fresh unexplored by...
Day 03: State Museum, State Zoo-cum Botanical Garden, Science Museum,
Planetarium, Dighali Pukhuri.
This entire region has for long been known for its wilderness, with its
flora & fauna and the people who are as colourful and interesting as the
Maoris of New Zealand. It has been a melting pot of Aryans, Mongoloids and
other races, coming over thousands of years and all contributing to the rich
culture of the land.
We visited the State Museum, which has an envious collection of antiques
dated as late as prehistoric times. It was a reveling experience and eye
opener, for it showed the cultural richness of its races, least known to the
civilized world.
Overlooking the state museum is the Dighali Pukhuri, a huge water body in
the heart of the city and the Peace Park. We walked across to this historic
pond and took a leisurely walk. As few young couples were boating, I was
wondering how many great souls of the Asssamese society have spent time here
as this place. The place offers a relaxing atmosphere amidst the State High
court, Centenary Cotton College, Diamond Jubilee Handique Girls College,
District Library, amongst others.
Our next stop was State Zoo cum Botanical Garden. Assam is very much a
green state with its wild animals, some of which are very rare and extinct
species. The state zoo has a very good collection of the same. The zoo is
spread across acres of land on the foothills of a hillock in the heart of
the city, where we could find animals in their natural habitat and not in
small inhuman cubicles. Irene's favorite was a family of famed one horned
Rhinoceros with a small cub.
The Regional Science Museum is one of the favorite places for the kids and
learners. The museum had nicely displayed the scientific developments and
Indian contribution to the same. Here we could know about some important
scientific contribution by Indian scientists and Nobel Laureates.
Our today's exploration have been a learning experience and as an icing on
the cake, we went to see the stars at Nehru Planetarium. This land, from
ancient time has been known to be the home of great astrological scholars
and this planetarium is a fitting tribute to them. I was wondering what more
they could have done with these modern equipments.
