Tranquil Tripura

THE TINY STATE OF TRIPURA – THE SMALLEST AMONG THE SEVEN SISTERS – CAN LAY CLAIM TO A VARIETY OF ATTRACTIONS IN TERMS OF ARCHELOGICAL IMPORTANCE, RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE, FOLK AND TRIBAL CULTURE AND ETHNIC ARTIFACTS. 

Despite the global economic meltdown, thanks to the incredible India campaign a trickle of western tourists continues to make a passage to India. And do they find India incredible? They sure do.

The entire Indian landscape is a work of expressionistic arts like a Jackson Pollock painting, except it’s all in varying shades of red. Apart from traditional arts and crafts such as wall- and pavement – paintings, India also boasts a number of incredible modern marvels. 

Of all the places of interest around the country, North- East is perhaps the least publicized. And among the seven sisters of the region – Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura – the last is the least known, inspite of the state’s richness in terms of beautiful scenery, virgin forests and lush valleys, exquisite craft traditions and a colorful cultural-historical heritage. 

Part of the reason for the obscurity of the state of Tripura lies in its being a “corner within a corner”, tucked away behind the borders of Bangladesh. The other contributing factor has been that Tripura was always a princely state ruled by a Maharaj till the time of independence and never came under British supervision. This means that it did not become as ‘fashionable’ as winter resorts like Shillong (in Meghalaya) and Shimla (in Himachal Pradesh). And yet this tiny state – smallest among the seven sisters – can lay claim to a variety of attraction in term of archeological importance, religious significance, folk and tribal culture and ethnic artifacts.