Shillong
| Shillong | |
| Scotland of the East | |
| — capital — | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| Coordinates | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Meghalaya |
| District(s) | East Khasi Hills |
| Mayor | ? |
| Population | 260,000 (2001[update]) |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| Area |
• 1,525 metres (5,003 ft) |
| Website | www.Shillong.com |
Shillong (Khasi: Shillong) is the capital of Meghalaya, one of the smallest states in India. It is also the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district and is situated at an average altitude of 4,908 ft (1,496 m) above sea level, with the highest point being Lum Shyllong at 1,965 m. The city had a population of 260,520 according to the 2001 census.
Shillong has steadily grown in size and significance since it was made the civil station of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills in 1864 by the British. In 1874, on the formation of Assam as a Chief Commissioner's Province, it was chosen as the headquarters of the new administration because of its convenient location between the Brahmaputra and Surma valleys and more so because the climate of Shillong was much cooler than tropical India. Shillong remained the capital of undivided Assam until the creation of the new state of Meghalaya on January 21, 1972, when Shillong became the capital of Meghalaya and Assam moved its capital to Dispur.
Contents |
Geography
Shillong is located at . It is on the Shillong Plateau, the only major pop-up structure in the northern Indian shield.[1] The city lies in the centre of the plateau and is surrounded by hills, three of which are revered in Khasi tradition: Lum Sohpetbneng, Lum Diengiei and Lum Shillong.
- Best time to travel : October to March
- Weather Conditions : Pleasant, pollution-free; Summers: The temperature varies from 23 degree Celsius; Winters: The temperature varies from 4 degree Celsius.
- Location : Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya is just 56 km (35 mi) from Cherrapunji, the world's wettest place.
Climate
Due to its latitude and high elevation Shillong has a sub-tropical climate with mild summers and chilly to cold winters [2] Under Koppen’s climate classification the city features a subtropical highland climate. Shillong is subject to vagaries of the monsoon. The monsoons arrive in June and it rains almost until the end of August. October-November and March-April are the best months to visit Shillong.
| Shillong | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Climate chart () | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Connectivity
Although well connected by road, Shillong has no rail connection and a proper air connection. Umroi Airport exists but has only limited flights.
Roadways
Shillong is well connected by roads with all major north eastern states. Major National Highways pass through Shillong
- National Highway 40 (India) - Connected to Guwahati
- National Highway 44 (India) - Connected to Agartala
Private bus operators as well as state transport buses from other states ply to and from Shillong daily. Sumo taxi service is also available to various destination like Guwahati, Agartala, Dimapur and other north eastern towns and cities.
Local Transport
Major mode of local transport within Shillong are the share taxis. Buses too are available, but are not widely used because they are too slow with long stops in between. Unlike other Indian cities, Auto-Rickshaw are rarely seen here. Shillong is known as Scotland of the East.
Demographics
As of 2001[update] India census[3] Shillong has
- Population of 232,946.
- Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%.
- Average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 78%.
- 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Khasis make up the majority of the population though the percentage of Khasi people in the city continues to fall as a result of the large number of migrants from other Indian states. All the other northeast Indian tribes are represented here as well as significant numbers of Bengali, Nepali, Assamese, Biharis and Marwaris making it a fairly cosmopolitan city.
Christianity is the dominant religion in the city. Roman Catholics and the various denominations of Protestants make up the Christian population of Shillong. A sizable proportion of the population follow the original Khasi religion, Niam Khasi and Niamtre. Other religions found in India are also represented in significant numbers in the city.
Places of interest
These are a number of location in and around Shillong which are tourist spots. These include:
- Wards Lake : Known locally as Nan-Polok. Its an artificial lake with sprawling garden and some boating facility. Located right at the heart of Shillong
- Lady Hydari Park : A lovely park cum Mini-zoo with some exotic animals.
- Shillong Peak : Shillong Peak which provides a spendid panoramic view of Shillong.
- Shillong Golf Course : Shillong has one of the largest golf courses (the world's wettest) in Asia and the golf course is called Gleneagles of the East. It enjoys the rare distinction of being one of the few natural golf courses in Asia. Not only is the Shillong golf course scenic and enjoyable, it is also challenging. A group of British Civil Service officers introduced golf to Shillong in 1898 by constructing a nine hole course. The present 18 hole course was inaugurated in 1924. The course is set in an undulating valley covered with pine and rhododendron trees. The tight fairways, carpeted with a unique local grass which hardens the soil, are difficult to negotiate. The number of out-of-bounds streams that criss-cross every fairway makes it all the more trying. Obstructions come in the form of bunkers, trees and rain. The longest hole is the 6th, which is a grueling 594 yards.
- Motphran : The “Stone of France” which is locally known as "Motphran" was erected in memory of the 26th Khasi Labour Corps who served under the British in France during World War I. It bears the words of the famous Latin poet Horace "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" which can be roughly translated into English as: "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country."
Sports
Although relatively unknown in the field of sports, Shillong recently got the limelight because of Shillong Lajong FC. A football club based here which has taken the Indian football scene by storm in the recent Indian leagues.
Locals are adept in archery. Shillong is also famous for its daily dose of archery gambling where people predict scores of an archery game played near Polo Ground, Shillong.
Education
Shillong is fast emerging as an educational hub for the entire North eastern region. Important educational institutes like Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Fashion Technology Shillong and North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, St. Edmund's College, St. Anthony's College, Shillong and several others College and Engineering Institution have been established here. St. Edmund's is a century old educational institute which has produced many eminent personalities in different spheres of life.
Media
Local media in Shillong is strong. There are a number of Theatres, newspapers, magazines, local radio and television stations.
Print Media
Quite a number of dailies are published for Shillong both in Khasi and English. Prominent English dailies published here include Shillong Times, Meghalaya Guardian, Mawphor Today,MeghalayaTimes. Khasi dailies like Mawphor, Nongsain Hima among others are published here.
Electronic Media
The radio industry has expanded with a number of private and government owned FM channels being introduced. State-owned Doordarshan transmits terrestrial television channels. Apart from these few weekly news channels like PCN, Ri Khasi are broadcast weekly on the local cable networks.
Communication Services
Shillong has a well connected communication network. Fixed telephones lines are available. Internet services are available both wired and wireless broadband. It is also well covered in mobile networks with all major cellular providers like Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, IDEA, BSNL,Tata Indicom, available here.
Self proclaimed rock music capital of India
[4][5] Many international and Indian rock groups visit Shillong every year. Some of the International rock groups that have visited Shillong in the past are:
- Scorpions
- Firehouse
- Petra (a Gospel Rock band)
- Sepultura
- Michael Learns To Rock
- Eric Martin
- White Lion
- Mr.Big
- Air Supply
Some of Shillong's own popular rock groups are: [6]
|
|
Localities
Shillong is divided geographically into a number of localities. These include
|
|
Eminent personalities associated with Shillong
People who have been associated with Shillong include
- Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel laureate, poet, author, thinker, artist, playwright, considered a patriarch of Bengali society, often sojourned in the cool climes of Shillong; besides living in a summer residence called Mitali, (today in use as a temporary State Legislative Assembly on loan from the State Art and Culture Department). A writing desk and chair used by the Poet Laureate can still be seen (and used) in the Maharaja Suite of the Tripura Castle Heritage Hotel;
- John Shepherd-Barron, inventor of the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was born in Shillong.
- Queenie Rynjah, Padmashree & educationist
- Victor Bannerjee, an actor is also a product of St. Edmund's School.
- Patricia Mary Mukhim, Padmashree & Columnist.
- Amita Malik, famous film critic.
- Nirad C. Chaudhuri has written extensively about Shillong in his book The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian.
- Dhruba Hazarika (1956-) former student of St. Edmunds College. Recipient of the Katha prize for story writing. Presently based in Guwahati. His first novel 'A Bowstring Winter' has been published by Penguin India in May 2006.
- Arthur Llewellyn Basham, noted historian of Indian culture. He died in Kolkata in 1986 and is buried in Shillong.
- Arundhati Roy, noted writer and Booker Prize winner was born in the KJP Synnod Hospital in Shillong.
- James Michael Lyngdoh I.A.S, a student of St Edmunds, retired as the Chief Election Commissioner of India. He is also the author of “ Chronicle Of An Impossible Election.”
- Pradyot Bikram Kishore Manikya, (b. July 4, 1977) is the current head of the Royal House of Tripura also has a summer Castle in Shillong and owns a Hotel called The Royal Heritage -Tripura Castle and the popular news and current affairs magazine The Northeast Today
- Rono Dutta, President of United Airlines did his schooling from St.Edmunds, Shillong.
- Anjum Hasan is a Bangalore based writer from Shillong and her debut novel Lunatic in my Head which is set in Shillong was launched on Dec 7 2007. She has also written a book of verse titled Street on the Hill.
- Utpal Dutta, the prominent actor of Bengali and Hindi cinema, was born on 29 March 1929 in Shillong.[7]
- Leela Majumdar, the writer, spent her childhood days at Shillong, where she studied at the Loreto.
- Shawn Lane the legendary guitarist and composer spent time jamming with the locales of Shillong[8][9] in February, 2003. In a comment made later about Aizawl and Shillong, he said:
| “ | ...Man, this place barely exists on the map and there are all these wonderful people coming out of the woodworks with Powers of 10 albums and posters that I haven't even seen in America...(T)hey know everything I have ever done, every tune I have ever played... it's just bizarre, simply inconceivable...[10] | ” |
- Rose Millian Bathew(Kharbuli),(b 1931) was the first woman Chairperson of the Union Public Service Commission. She is from Shillong and lives there now.
- Indira Goswami spent her early days in Shillong and studied at Pine Mount Schoool.
- Billy Peter Domes, Editor of U Dongmusa and Deputy Director (Retd)if Information and Public Relations, Government of Meghalaya.
References
- ↑ Bilham, R. and P. England, Plateau pop-up during the great 1897 Assam earthquake. Nature(Lond),410, 806-809, 2001
- ↑ [1]. Shillong Climate-Government of India
- ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20040616075334/http://www.censusindia.net/results/town.php?stad=A&state5=999. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
- ↑ Sengupta, Somini (2008-06-23). "Town in India Rocks (No Use to Wonder Why, Babe)". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/arts/music/23dylan.html?em&ex=1214452800&en=46599ace31b1caa6&ei=5070. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ↑ Fremson, Ruth (2008-06-23). "An Outpost of Rock" (Audiovisual slide show). Interview with Prabhat Sawyan (The New York Times). http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/arts/20080623_DYLAN_FEATURE/index.html. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ↑ [2] Shillong remixed-Source-Hindustan times
- ↑ Utpal Dutt Calcutta Web.
- ↑ "Shawn Lane Biography"
- ↑ "Shawn Lane acoustic Jamming with locals in Shillong, India"
- ↑ "Remembering Shawn Lane (1963-2003)"
External links
- Shillong travel guide from Wikitravel
- Muslims in Shillong struggling to make their presence felt - TCN News
- Eastern Panorama - Oldest Magazine of North East India
- Meghalaya State Government Portal
- Shillong.com
- Shillong Online
- Resubelpara
- The Shillong Times - North East India Second Oldest English Daily
- Online news in Khasi
|
|||||
|
|||||