East India is a region of India
consisting of the states of West
Bengal, Orissa,
and often Jharkhand and Bihar.
It is geographically between North India
and North East India, and shares
many cultural and linguistic characteristics
with Bangladesh, which formed part of this
region before Partition. The Indo-Aryan
languages spoken in this region descend
from that of the ancient kingdom of Magadha.
The snow capped mountains of Arunachal
Pradesh bordering China (Tibet),
Bhutan and Myanmar on its
three side, offers a breath-taking spectacle
of Nature's glory in a wild profusion of
flora, fauna and people abounding in a variety
of tribal customs, culture, language
and dresses. It is a treasure hunt
for historians, anthropologists and archaeologists.
Meghalaya,
the 21st state of the Indian Union with
an area of 22,429 sq. km, tucked away in
north eastern region, it borders Bangladesh
in south. Meghalaya boats of 300
rare species of orchids as well as wildlife.
The people are pre-dominantly Garos,
belonging to the Bodo family of the Tibeto-Burman
race, said to have migrated from Tibet.
Shillong, capital of Meghalaya is
a a beautiful nature's gift at an altitude
of 1496 mtr. Mizoram,
a mountainous region became the 23rd state
of Indian Union in February 1987 and is
sandwiched between Mynamar in the
east and the south and Bangladesh
and Tripura
in the west with its northern frontier touching
Assam and Manipur. Assam,
the largest and most easily accessible of
the north-east states, Assam grows
60 percent of India's tea and produces a
large proportion of India's oil as well.
The capital of the state, Guwahati
is connected on air-route with Delhi,
Calcutta and Bagdogra. Assam's
major attraction of the permitted areas
is Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary,
most famous for one horned rhinos.
Nagaland, the land of Nagas
covering an area of 16,572 sq km lies to
the south east of Assam and borders
Burma. There are about 16 major Tibeto-Burmese
tribes in Nagaland
collected referred to by the generic term
"Naga". About 90 percent
of the people are Christians, and they belong
mainly to the American Baptist Mission.
Kohima, capital is situated at 1500
mt above sea level and is one of the prettiest
centres of the north east. Manipur,
22356 sq km extending to the south of Nagaland
was formerly a princely state. The Meiteis
of Tibeto-Burmese origin, who live in
the valleys form 60 percent of the population
and are follower of Hinduism. The
state is rich in culture, dances, martial
art, drum dance, spear dance. Imphal,
the capital, stands right in the middle
of the state. It is the nerve centre of
all cultural, commercial and political activities. |
