Life has become somewhat monotonous over the last couple of months. The same office-to-home-to-office routine can create a dull feeling and eventually take a toll on your performance. Even though I work from home, I could feel the burnout and dullness in myself. When 15th August gave us a three-day long weekend in India, we knew it was time to break free. My family and I planned something special. We planned a journey to the Maha Mrityunjay Temple in Nagaon district of Assam, with a memorable two-night stay in Kaziranga. What started as a simple temple visit turned into an interesting adventure. Through tea gardens and forest landscapes, and occasional surprises, we were mesmerised.
The route to Maha Mrityunjay temple takes you straight through the world-famous Kaziranga National Park, home to the magnificent One-Horned Indian Rhinoceros. The road crosses the park at multiple locations and even passes through animal corridors where wildlife usually crosses from one side to the other.
You have to be lucky enough to encounter these majestic creatures during your journey. Honestly speaking, we were hoping for exactly that kind of magical moment.
What followed was an incredible experience of staying close to the forest, winding drives through endless tea gardens. These moments reminded us why sometimes the best journeys are the ones that take you slow. Let me share with you the magic we discovered on this Assam road trip, with some real, unseen and first-hand experiences.
The Temple Quest and Tea Garden Discovery
Maha Mrityunjay Temple has become famous in the last couple of years. I had been seeing selfies of friends and family for quite some time with the temple in the backdrop, and was curious about it. The temple sits about 200 kilometres from Jorhat, my current location. While the roads have improved significantly, this wasn’t going to be your typical three-hour drive, and for a good reason.
Normally, a drive from Jorhat to the Maha Mrityunjay temple in Nagaon District should not take more than three hours to reach the place. But the problem is that the route takes you through the world-famous Kaziranga National Park, as I mentioned earlier, which is famous for its one-horned Indian Rhinoceros. The road crosses the park at multiple locations and even goes through animal corridors where they usually cross to the other side. The animals maintain their distance from unpredictable humans, as they should.
But from April to October, when the monsoon is in full swing in this region and the park is usually flooded, the animals often cross to the other side of the Karbi hills even during daytime. Unfortunately, they are sometimes run over by vehicles. Also, sometimes they come face-to-face with these fast-moving vehicles, and it becomes risky for the animals as well as the travellers. Then there are the occasional poachers as well, creating the added flavour of risk to the lives of these innocent animals. Hence, the security is very tight in this region.
The government has put up speed monitors with very strict fines, where the top speed for cars is usually capped at 40 kilometres per hour in certain locations, but in others, it goes as low as 20 kilometres per hour. As a result, the drive usually takes more than four hours, which is not that practical from my perspective, being a non-seasoned driver.
Through the Heart of Assam’s Tea Empire
With these details in mind, we started our journey late in the evening of 15th August and stayed the night in a hotel in Kaziranga. The evening air was crisp, and the anticipation of the journey ahead filled us with excitement. Our hotel was strategically located near the forest edge, where the sounds of nature provided a perfect lullaby for the night.
The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we started early and reached the temple after a two-and-a-half-hour drive. It was hot and humid during the day, and so I won’t call the drive the best, but it was good enough that my entire family didn’t feel the need to get down anywhere to relax. The air conditioning in the car worked overtime, but our spirits remained high.
The actual pleasure we felt was the greenery around us during the entire journey, amidst the tea gardens of Bokakhat, Kohora, and Borapahar. Row after row of perfectly manicured tea bushes stretched as far as the eye could see. Their emerald green leaves glistened under the morning sun.
The Living Heritage of Assam Tea Gardens
These tea gardens we passed through represent more than just agricultural land. They are living testimonies to Assam’s colonial heritage and modern economic backbone. Assam produces more than half of India’s tea and accounts for approximately 11% of global tea production. The state houses over 783 big tea gardens and an astounding 1.18 lakh small tea gardens. This industry also employs more than 7.33 lakh workers.
The tea gardens of Bokakhat, Kohora, and Borapahar that we drove through are part of this magnificent network. Each estate carries its unique character and history. Bokakhat, located about 23 kilometres from Kaziranga National Park, serves as a crucial junction connecting various tea estates. The Hatikhuli Tea Estate, one of the prominent estates near Kaziranga, offers visitors the chance to witness organic green tea, orthodox tea, and CTC tea production alongside black pepper cultivation.
By the way, many Assam tea gardens carry fascinating names that echo their colonial past. Gardens like Hazelbank, Ethelwood, Greenwood, and Hautley were named after British planters’ daughters nearly 150 years ago. These interesting names bring forth memories of a bygone era. That’s another story for some other time.
The Sacred Journey and Tea Garden Vistas
The Kaziranga National Park itself felt very fresh with all the flowers blooming during this time of the year. The air was filled with the sweet fragrance of wild blooms, and indeed, it was a view we cherished.
Once at the temple, we were awestruck by the grandeur of this structure. The entire temple was an enormous Shivling, and the top of the Shivling formed the dome of the temple. The sheer scale of this architectural marvel left us speechless. The actual rituals were performed inside it, creating an atmosphere of deep spirituality and reverence. It was strictly prohibited to click photos inside, and hence, we just have our memories with us to share with you.
There was a ground section of the temple as well, just below the top floor. Here, the bhog (offering to the deity, Shiva) is distributed to the people. We read the plaque just beside the stone sculpture of a bearded saint, which gave us a brief history of the place. Devotees believe that the Hindu Saint, Gurudev Shukracharya, who was the patron of the Asuras, received the MritSanjivani Mantra (hymns to revive the dead) in this very location. Hence, the temple was constructed here.
The legend added a mystical dimension to our visit. Standing there, we could almost feel the ancient energy that must have flowed through this sacred ground centuries ago. We performed all our ceremonies with deep devotion and started our travel back after about an hour of stay there. By then, we desperately needed the car’s AC again.
The Return Journey Through Tea Paradise
Since our next destination was the hotel, I took my sweet time to drive slowly and enjoy the trip back. It was already about 3 o’clock, and the day’s heat was subsiding slowly. The harsh afternoon sun began to mellow, casting a golden glow across the landscape. The travel through the Burapahar range and the tea gardens was an experience in itself.
In the upper side of Assam, wherever the terrain is slightly uneven, you can expect tea gardens. Since the Assam Trunk Road, near Burha Pahar, passes through the foothills of Karbi Anglong District(Mikir Hills), the drive was most pleasing. The undulating landscape created a natural canvas of varying shades of green.
A Magical Wildlife Encounter
But then we had more surprises awaiting us. We just crossed the hilly and twisted, narrow tracks of Burapahar and reached a viewpoint amid Kaziranga park. Now, I had been dreaming of my childhood to halt at this space and watch. But I hadn’t dared to ask, as the place was a little risky due to the slope of the hills. But this time, I did stop, and what do I see? Rhinos were grazing in the distant fields. The blue sky, the green grasslands and the rhinos grazing there made a sight in itself.
We halted there for a moment and continued the journey. As we moved ahead, we saw that the car in front of us was slowing down and had come to a halt. I know what they were doing. So they were observing some wild animals ahead. There were wild deer, otters, elephants and wild buffalo in the left-hand grasslands, which was a treat in itself. Usually, it takes a jeep or an elephant safari to see these animals. But now, we have them grazing just beside us. It was a big treat for us.
The winding road through these plantations felt like driving through a green tunnel, with tea bushes on both sides creating a natural corridor. As we approached our hotel near Kohora, the forest began to reclaim the landscape, and we knew we were returning to our peaceful retreat where nature would once again sing us to sleep.
Evening Serenity and Cultural Surprises
In the evening, we mostly stayed indoors to relax. Towards late evening, when it was almost time for dinner, we strolled around the resort a little to add to the enjoyment of my child, and then came to the restaurant. Lo and behold, a singer was performing some of the melodies to the utter enjoyment of those already eating in the restaurant. It was a real surprise. Had we known about this, we would have arrived a little earlier.
Anyways, the show continued for the next two hours as the audience requested one number after another. We ate our dinner, thanked the artist, and came back to our rooms.
The Final Journey Home Through Tea Gardens
The next morning, we woke up late and went directly to the complimentary breakfast counter. It was already noon when we checked out. Now, hometown, Jorhat, was another 2-hour drive, and again, I was not in a hurry. We travelled through the tea gardens of Methoni, Jorehaut, Bokakhat and others along the road, and it was greenery as ever around.
The Sunday Market and Tea Garden Life
It was a Sunday, and the famous market of Bihora was spread along the highway sides. We were still travelling amid the lush green tea gardens of Bokakhat. This weekly market represents the vibrant rural economy that exists alongside the tea industry. Here, local communities trade everything from fresh vegetables to handmade crafts.
The Bokakhat region serves as a crucial link in Assam’s tea network, connecting various estates and processing facilities. The area around Bokakhat includes several significant tea estates. They together contribute to Assam’s impressive annual production of 630-700 million kilograms of tea.
The Philosophy of Tea and Life
As the lush green tea gardens of Jorhat spread along the way, welcoming us back to our abode, life felt fresh again. There’s something profoundly philosophical about tea gardens that goes beyond their economic significance. These endless rows of carefully tended bushes represent humanity’s patient partnership with nature. Each tea leaf plucked by weathered hands carries within it the essence of soil, climate, and centuries of knowledge passed down through generations.
The tea workers we glimpsed during our journey, particularly women carrying bamboo baskets, their colourful saris bright against the green backdrop, are the living links in an unbroken chain. Their rhythm of plucking “two leaves and a bud” remains unchanged despite technological advances, reminding us that some things in life require the irreplaceable touch of human care.
The tea gardens teach us patience. A tea bush takes three to five years to mature before its first harvest. Yet it can produce leaves for over a century. This long-term vision, this faith in future harvests, mirrors life’s deeper truths. It’s about nurturing relationships, building dreams, and trusting in gradual growth over instant gratification.
Back Home
We concluded our journey through the tea gardens of Assam to Maha Mrityunjay Temple, to realise that travel, like tea, is best when it steeps slowly. The hurried highways may get us to our destinations faster, but it’s the winding roads through tea estates, with their enforced slow speeds and natural pauses, that allow us to truly absorb the journey’s essence.
Like the perfect cup of Assam tea, bold yet balanced, strong yet soothing, our weekend escape had brewed into something much richer than a simple temple visit. It had become a meditation on heritage, patience, and the quiet joy found in life’s unhurried moments.
In the end, as steam rose from our evening tea back home, we carried with us not just memories of temple grandeur or wildlife sightings, but the deeper satisfaction that comes from moving through life at tea-garden pace, deliberately, appreciatively, and with reverence for the journey itself.
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