By Shobha Rao Smilemaker
May 18: After seeing the small airports of North East India, the first thing that impressed me about Agartala was its modern airport, displaying the variety of bamboo based handicrafts on the wall panels.
Travel within the city is quite easy and we decided to try out the cycle rickshaws. It was hilarious when the two of us tried to squeeze ourselves into its tiny seat, yet it brought back childhood memories of the breeze on our faces as the city went by!
Our first stop was at the Laxmi Narayan temple, set up in 1910 by the Tripura ruler Kishore Manikya Bahadur in memory of his late father. We saw some rituals being performed in the water body behind the temple. We also got a clear view of the royal palace on the other end of the green coloured waters.
Our next stop was at the sprawling grounds of the Ujjiaanta palace that has now been converted to a wonderful museum.i just had to pose at the 'I Love Agartala' monument outside the palace.
In the evening I was very very lucky to get an amazing experience of the tribal customs, music, dance and costumes at the Vivekanand Stadium grounds where their famous Bihu harvest festival celebrations were conducted by the local people. I just had to purchase some local shawls and coin based tribal jewellery as a permanent memory of Tripura state.The Agartala railway station was also a reflection of their rich and vibrant tribal culture.
Unlike other North Eastern states where I saw many churches, this place had many beautiful temples too.
I visited the Jagganath Mandir in the evening which was very crowded with locals dressed in their festive best. I joined the fast paced community bhajan singing to soak in the high spiritual energy of the place. And I walked slowly around the temple complex admiring all the idols, depicting the mythological stories of our God's and Goddessses.
Another must visit point in Agartala is for the flag lowering ceremony at the Akhaura integrated check point which lies at the border of India and Bangla desh. Unlike the Wagah border with Pakistan, I could sense the friendship between India and Bangladesh during the impressive beating the retreat flag lowering ceremony.
As I tried out the local green fruit, served with chilly powder like a flower, i admired the simplicity of the local people. Yes Agartala in Tripura gave a lot of memories to smile in silence.
Shobha Rao Smilemaker has a vision of living in a world where people use their ability to find and make smiles in any situation. She is a lawyer by qualification, a soft skills trainer by passion, a motivational speaker, a freelance journalist, a bestselling author, an avid traveler and founder of 'Smilemakers Trainings'. She can be contacted at www.shobhasmilemaker.com.