NorthEast India Feb 2025: Day 2

Day 2: Guwahati & Shillong

6am departure for Maa Kamakhya temple aka Kameswari or Goddess of Desire. 

https://thefloatingpebbles.com/kamakhya-temple-of-the-bleeding-goddess/

A few hairpin bends to reach the hilltop but not as many as Yercaud. 

Queues:::

First queue we stood in closed when we were just 10 heads away. Then went to a second queue where we successfully got pre reserved tickets (online or offline, not clear, both terms were used by people in the queue). Then joined the queue for darshan where we were told to expect to wait 3 hours.  Which would take us past the hotel checkout time. 

Another phone negotiation was done for immediate darshan. A donation was agreed and we were soon seated in the waiting room for feeding mums, waiting for the 9am darshan. 

Got collected just before 9am and escorted thru an exit passage. Our "Panda" (temple priest or poojari) did some good escort service, firstly doing archanai to the statue on ground floor, then taking us behind that into the original sanctum which needs to go down a floor into a cave where there is a swayambu form of the relevant part of goddess (apparently a rock fissure).  Unhurried kneeling and blessings though there was a long waiting line behind. 

Goat sacrifice is practiced at this temple and we saw quite a few animals.  

Saradha in our group saw the heads of freshly sacrificed goats arranged at one of the shrines but the rest of us didn’t. 

We paid our donation to the "panda" back at the Anandi store and got back in our vehicle by 10am.  Wondering what time we would have finished if we hadn’t gone for the extra special service. 

Brunch at the hotel and then to Umiam Lake on the way to Shillong. Disappointing with nothing much happening there. Even boating was closed until 2.30pm. 

Moved on to Ward’s Lake in Shillong. Which was unfortunately closed as it was an election day for Meghalaya district councils.  Many other sights in Shillong would be closed for the same reason. Next we tried the Cathedral (of St Mary Help of Christians) but that was closed too.  Apparently Meghalaya is around 70% Christian and English is widely spoken rather than Hindi. 

Decided to go to our hotel even though it was not yet 4pm.  Windermere Hotel is small (30 rooms) and new (<3 years) and in the process of expansion.  Scenic location quite far from town. 

After tea and a rest we decided to go for a walk around the hotel. It started drizzling and we took refuge at a nearby bar and restaurant. Got to know that it was a Dry Day in the state, again due to election.  The following Monday would be another dry day, maybe when the election results get announced.  Disappointment!

Another rest before meeting for dinner and then an early night by 9pm.