Assam is a state in northeastern India known for its wildlife, archeological sites and tea plantations.
It is located in the northeastern part of the country and is bounded to the north by the kingdom of
Bhutan and the state of
Arunachal Pradesh, to the east by the states of
Nagaland and
Manipur, to the south by the states of
Mizoram and
Tripura, and to the west by
Bangladesh and the states of
Meghalaya and
West Bengal. The name Assam is derived from the word
asama, meaning “peerless” in the now extinct
Ahom language. The neighboring states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya were once part of Assam. The capital, formerly
Shillong (now the capital of Meghalaya), was shifted to Dispur, a suburb of
Guwahati, in 1972.
Guwahati is Assam’s largest city, features silk bazaars and the hilltop Kamakhya Temple. Umananda Temple sits on Peacock Island in the Brahmaputra river. The state capital, Dispur, is a suburb of Guwahati. The ancient pilgrimage site of Hajo and Madan Kamdev, the ruins of a temple complex, lie nearby.
