Places of Tourist Attractions in Manipur

Places of Tourist Attractions in Manipur

Lush green Manipur is a tiny state coyly nestled into northeast corner of India.  It is a land full of myths, mysteries and rich cultural wealth.  Smokey blue hills, picturesque landscape and vast deep forests are stunning and most attractive combination for the tourists. One can not overlook the nature which is extraordinarily beautiful and sceneries here are intoxicatingly worth watching. Manipur is more popular for its divine Manipuri dance form all over the world.
   
Besides, there are lots of places of tourist’s interest. Heart shaped valley houses its capital city Imphal, which is main tourist spot of Manipur. Here one can find combination of various tribal populations along with various tourist spots around here. Also there is Khuman Lampak Stadium, which is recently constructed. Then there is its Paona Bazar and Gambhir Singh Shopping Complex where most of the imported things are sold at attractive prices. War Cemetery, Govindajee Temple, Langthabal, Bishnupur, Loktak Lake, Chorus Repertory Theater, Sahid Minar etc. is amongst most popular and hot tourist attractions here.

Govindajee Temple – this temple of vashanvites consisting of a large and raised congregation hall, a paved court and 2 gold domes on a simple but attractive structure containing Jagannath being supreme deity on one side and Shri Krishna and Balaram on other side. Loktak Lake, the largest fresh water lake of this area and is most commonly known for its floating islands made out of watery weeds and other plants popularly known as Phumdi. Keibul Lamjao National Park, known for its Brow Antlered dear popularly known as Sangai which is now an endangered and rare species. It is also an abode to more than 17rare species of mammals.

It is pleasant and worth experience to visit here throughout the year as here temperature is moderate and greenery is all along the year.

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Manipur

Manipur, meaning ‘jeweled town’ is one of the seven sister states in North Eastern states. Manipur is bordered in its east by Myanmar and on its west by Assam. Manipur offers a wide variety of tourist attractions.

Some of the places worth visiting are the Shree Govindajee Temple, an important pilgrimage as well as historic center of the Vaishnavites. Kaina is also a place of pilgrimage importance. Khwairamand Bazaar, a market place run by women, is also an important tourist destination. A tourist can buy traditional Manipuri garments, handicraft items and its unique cane and bamboo works. The Manipur Zoological Garden, renowned for the rare sangai deer, is also a major tourist attraction. The Loktak Lake as well as Sendra Island are picturesque destinations. The Shahid Minar, a monument erected in memory of the Manipuri martyrs who died fighting against the British is worth visiting. Situated 45 kms from Imphal is Moirang, a one can view the various facets of the unique Meitei folk culture.

Bishnupur, 27 kms from Imphal is a picturesque town famous for the 15th century Bishnu Temple. This town is also famous for its chiseled stoneware. 36 kms on the Indo-Myanmar road, tourist can visit the War Memorial. Tenugopal, situated 69 kms from Imphal is the highest point from where a tourist can catch the panoramic view of the entire Manipur valley. One can view the unique cultural heritage and history by visiting the Manipur State Museum.

Red hill, a hillock about 16 kms from Imphal, is famous for the battle took place between the British and the Japanese force in World War II. A war memorial was constructed and is one of the major tourist destinations.

Manipur is well connected by road rail and air. Daily flights from major cities connect Imphal while the nearest rail head is Silchar in Assam. The best time to visit the state is from October to March.

News on Silchar Barak Valley Assam

Water supply scheme for isolated Alney area

: Special Correspondent

SILCHAR, Jan 16: Believe it or not, Alney, the outgarden of Dilkhush tea estate in Lakhipur subdivision of Cachar , bordering Manipur, is still isolated and cocooned due to lack of road connectivity. The only way to reach the place inhabited by a population of 200 people of tea tribes, tribals and plains men is by boat or launch from Fulertal which takes around two hours. The geographical and geophysical features make it prone to insurgency strikes.

It was for this reason that Minister of Urban Development Dinesh Prasad Goala visited Alney after a gap of 16 years to inaugurate Alney Grant Piped Water Supply Scheme on Thursday.

The scheme to be implemented at a cost of Rs 31.81 lakh would benefit 1,875 people. 10 street hydrants have been installed. Subdivisional magistrate of Lakhipur Ranjit Kumar Laskar presided over the function and said that this piped water scheme would mitigate the problem of potable water of the people of the area.

Dinesh Prasad Goala took the trouble to inaugurate the scheme in order to give solace to the people of his constituency and he did admit that Alney stood in need of road-link, health structure, educational facility and electricity. Under heavy security cover, the minister reached Alney by three mechanized boats.

Unfortunately, the area has only one primary school even after more than 60 years of independence. In fact, Alney is a glaring example of neglect and negligence by the District Administration. Many people in the area believe since LS elections are round the corner, the minister might have been prompted to visit the place to help his party by keeping the electorates of Alney in good humour with the piped water project. source: sentinel assam

Jute Fair attracts crowd
: Special Correspondent

Silchar, Jan 16: The six day long jute fair and sale exhibition which began here on Thursday at Cachar Club premises has been drawing huge crowds for its display of jute products of various kinds ranging from designed ornaments to bags, paintings, canvas, wall portraits and hangings, carpets and other items.

Jute products being popular among cross sections of people and further to promote its popularity, the Ministry of Handloom and Textile of the Government of India has extended financial help to jute manufacturers’ development council of Kolkata to hold the exhibition.

Inaugurating the fair, vice-chancellor of Assam University Dr Tapodhir Bhattacharya lauded the efforts of the council to preserve the century old tradition of jute art and technology as well as its beautiful creations. He wished the council all success to restore the almost vanishing tradition. He was however confident that the fair and exhibition would be a lively affair with the participation of people of this town.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Banhishikha Dutta lamented on the declining interest of people in jute. The Centre and the State, she said, should work together to revive the use of jute in domestic and general items of use. She suggested a permanent sale counter could be opened here which she hoped would evince keen interest of people.

District Sports Association president Badal Dey, who also spoke on the occasion, touched upon the utility of jute products which he said were eco-friendly. In this fair, 28 self–help groups and commercial units of West Bengal and those of Barak Valley have come together to give the fair a composite picture. source: sentinel assam

Osmani distributes MP fund
From a Correspondent
MOINBARI, Jan 16: Barrister of law and Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha Golam Osmani expressed his happiness on his son’s contribution as a social worker in a press meet and even submitted a written copy to the president of Moinbari Press Club mentioning his fund distribution data.

He said that he had distributed 116 scheme MP LAD fund for the year 2008-09 in his constituency. He also expressed that his son Wazid Raza Osmani is the one who inspired him to undertake such acts of social works through an NGO named Nation Development Association and Library Chardigjani for making a social and political platform for himself and his son in the near future. source: sentinel assam

Genesis of Christmas celebration in Barak Valley

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Special Correspondent Silchar, 25: The genesis of Christmas celebrations in Barak Valley is shrouded in mystery. Available records suggest that with the advent of the East India Company in 1765, Cachar became the nerve centre of British military and civil operations. The British army launched its military campaign in Manipur from Sylhet through Cachar. It is said the soldiers of the British army were the first to celebrate Christmas in their barracks.With the Burmese expedition in 1824, the English began to observe the holy day at Dudhpateel Fort across river Barak close to Silchar. That same year soldiers of the Surma Valley Light Infantry too celebrated Christmas at their base camp at Lakhipur, 45 kms from here.Quite interestingly, the Dudhpateel Fort emerged as the seat of British administration from 1824. The first Superintendent of Cachar, Thomas Fischer and his wife, took part in Christmas celebrations at Dudhpateel in 1833. The last Superintendent of Cachar Stuart, who preferred to stay at the Fort, donated a part of his official bungalow at Silchar to the Baptist Mission for building a Church there which today stands as the most significant centre of Christianity in South Asom. With the gradual growth and development of the tea industry in Cachar from the mid 19th century and expansion of the British empire, the planters and the Europeans made Christmas celebrations wider. Besides the new converts among the local populace comprising the tribals and the non-tribals under the proselytizing drive of the missionaries began to join in the celebrations. There is no definite information about the oldest church in Cachar. Sketchy records indicate that the church at Bandasheel close to Badarpur railway colony, built up for the Portuguese settlers, is the oldest.Quoting from records, Mascarenhas, an octogenarian member of the community, said that in 1861, Dufal, an apostle of Christianity, paid his first pastoral visit to Bandasheel. It became a nodal point from where the visiting priests would tour the Catholic centres of Shillong, Cherrapunjee, Guwahati, Tejpur and Silchar. Bandasheel attained the status of a parish with resident priests in 1880. In 1886, Rev Angelus Munjohar, the first apostolic of Asom, visited Bandasheel and worked for the expansion of churches in the area. He sent Fr Marchellinius Molz, a leading apostle, who carried on the evangelization. In fact, the history of Bandasheel is linked with the history of the Christian community. Traditions say that about 500 people existed at Bandasheel in 1790. The history of Catholic Mission in north east India which has reference to Bandasheel church speaks of 60 Christians residing in the tea garden of Baithakhal in 1905 in the present Karimganj district.The book throws light on the fact that during that year, a chapel was built in the tea garden. The chapel is described as “very imposing on top of the hills and of highest elevation in the area. The river Tenhai flows through a narrow valley down. The bungalow of the planter and the tea factory were on another small hill. Much of the hillock could be seen from a great distance”.A marble plaque on this nondescript chapel, almost in ruins now, records the man behind its making. “In affectionate memory of AJM Maclaughlin CIEVD Lt Col commanding the Surma Valley Light Horse-1900-1909 who built this church in the year 1909”. Whatever may be the history of the church and the genesis of Christmas celebrations in Cachar, now Barak Valley, it is now a grand and great event, participated in by cross sections of people, irrespective of caste and creed. Churches across the hills, dales and plains of the valley have been spruced up for this divine celebration. source: sentinel assam

Delhi grant for Barak waterways

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Silchar, Dec. 22: The Centre has granted Rs 80 crore for facilitating round-the-year navigation on the 129-km-long Barak waterway. The Barak is the second largest river in the Northeast and has already been declared National Waterway 6.
The chairman-cum-managing director of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation, Praful Tayel, said here last evening that a bill declaring the Barak as a national waterway had already been passed in both Houses of Parliament.
A government notification in this regard, however, is yet to be issued.
Tayel said a portion of Rs 80 crore will be used for construction of jetties, warehouses and other infrastructure at Silchar and Lakhipur riverfronts of the Barak.
The Badarpur terminal, about 25km to the west from here, will be inaugurated on Wednesday by shipping secretary A.P. V.N. Sarma.
The terminal cost the central exchequer Rs 3.64 crore and included construction of a state-of-the-art jetty and a few warehouses at Badarpur, a railway township in Karimganj district.
This waterways, when modernised and developed over the next four years, will open a new horizon in the transportation of essential goods in the Barak waters.
The Barak, which has its source in the Saramati Hills on the Manipur-Nagaland border, flows through Manipur and the South Assam districts of Cachar and Karimganj and then bifurcates into the Surma and Kushiara rivers to flow through adjacent Bangladesh. At present, the ideal conditions for navigability on the Barak prevailed only for five months from May, Tayel added.
The chairman-cum-managing director of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation said the vessels and cargo ships of the inland waterways corporation could carry 5,000 tonnes of cargo a year, which mostly includes tea, cement, food items and fertilisers, from either the Calcutta or the Haldia ports to the Karimganj port which was recently developed at an expense of Rs 8 crore.
Tayel, however, exuded hope that once this national waterway on the Barak (from Lakhipur to Karimganj) was developed, the volume of cargo to and from South Assam would spiral to 40,000 tonnes. River traffic to South Assam areas through in erstwhile East Bengal was first flagged off in 1829.

Wings to healthcare

A Rs 100-crore hospital being built at Urrnabandh tea estate, 12km from Silchar town, will give “well-equipped” a whole new meaning.

The 100-bed healthcare unit will have a chopper ready to airlift patients from Tripura, Mizoram and Manipur.

Being built by a non-governmental organisation, the hospital will come up in three phases over the next three years.

In the first phase, the hospital will have 100 beds with all the necessary departments. In the second and third phases, arrangements will be made for 300 and 450 beds respectively, said K. Panchpakeshan, a spokesman for the NGO.

A tea planter has donated 30 acres from his plantation in Urrnabandh to build the hospital, which will provide free treatment to the poor.

Panchpakeshan hoped the hospital would turn Cachar into the healthcare hub of South Assam.

source: telegraph india

‘Trans-Asia rail link a key to Barak Valley development’

SILCHAR Aug 28: The south north-eastern region comprising Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi and North Cachar Hills districts of Asom as well as Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura remain cut off from the main lane of the country for about four months a year due to disruption of surface communication. It is more than a decade that railway communication between the southern region and Guwahati has been disconnected for the Lumding-Badarpur gauge conversion work.The part project work of gauge conversion between Lumding and Silchar cannot be completed due to terrorist activities. The current situation gives an impression that it will take another decade for completion of the gauge conversion work even if militants stop their activities. The only existing road link between the south north-eastern region and main land via Meghalaya also remains disrupted for three months a year due to landslides and other factors. The terrain of this road is accident prone. Frequent forays by robbers, dacoits and extremists also pose a serious threat to this surface link. The Barak Valley has its own strategic importance with its international boundary with Bangladesh and inter-state boundary with Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura. Giving details of an identical memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, South NE Regional Cooperation (SNERC) organizer Sunil Roy said 20 countries, including India, signed an agreement on June 30, 2007 in New York wherein it was agreed that the 11,460-km Trans-Asian Rail Communication would connect India with China, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey and Bulgaria. Railway Board Chairman J P Batra signed the agreement as the representative of India. This Trans-Asia Rail is also to run through Bangladesh via Myanmar via Karimganj, Badarpur, Silchar and Jirighat of Barak Valley. Prior to the partition of India and Pakistan, Barak Valley and part of the north-eastern region were connected with Kolkata via East Bengal, now Bangladesh, by road, rail and water in the shortest possible ways. Even during 1971-72, these surface links were restored temporarily. Restoration of surface communication from Silchar-Kolkata and Agartala-Kolkata is the only option for speedy development of the south north-eastern region. Against this backdrop, the SNERC has impressed upon the Prime Minister, the External Affairs Minister and the Railway Minister to take immediate action to restore regular rail, road and water links from Barak Valley-Kolkata and Agartala-Kolkata via Bangladesh. Part of Trans-Asia railway communication project from Kolkata-Myanmar via Bangladesh, Barak Valley and Manipur needs to be completed expeditiously in the overall interest and development of the north-eastern region, the memorandum said. source: sentinel assam