S for Silghat

Silghat is a town located on the southern banks of the Brahmaputra, in Nagaon district, Assam. It is 48 km northeast of Nagaon. Major points of attraction include the Hatimura Temple and huge Samantagiri hillock.

Last January, I took a trip home along with my husband and my sister. It was picnic season and we also thought of going for a family picnic. So off we went to Silghat. We packed our snacks, tea, water and our lunch from home. Maa wanted to visit the famed Hatimura Temple. So it was our first stop. In the vicinity of the temple we had our snacks. And then we headed towards the popular Silghat Kamakhya temple. We did not visit the temple and directly headed for the river bank. It was winter season, so the river was very calm and the water levels low. Unlike the vicinity of the Hatimura Temple (it is also located on the river bank), there were no noisy picnic parties around. So it was very serene.

When we reached there, it was already lunch time. Deta (my father) walked down to the river to wash his feet and got stuck in the river mud. So it was not not a good idea to walk down to the river without shoes. After lunch we lied down on our mats and spent our time gazing at the blue river and the blue clear sky. Then my sister and I took a walk along the river and took some pictures. Soon it was late afternoon and it was time to leave. And then suddenly we spotted a couple of river dolphins who had come to the surface. We saw their curved backs as they jumped out of the water and dived again. They were quite fast to be captured on our ordinary cameras. But the sight of them which our brains captured will be etched on our memories forever. The dolphins made our day.

To me, dolphins seem to have smiling faces. Don’t they?