white oak lodge and resort condos Some 30km northwest of Guwahati, the pleasant little town of Hajo attracts Hindu and Buddhist pilgri

Noisy and polluted it might be, but Imphal, with its melange of peoples and positioning right on the border lands of India and southeast Asia is undeniably fascinating and travellers who spend any time here are well rewarded. The airport is 9km to the southwest.

1 Sights white oak lodge and resort condos Kamakhya Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (admission for no queue/short queue/queue 500/100/free; white oak lodge and resort condos h8am-1pm & 3pm-dusk) While Sati s disintegrated body parts rained toes on Kolkata (see p443), her yoni fell on Kamakhya Hill. This makes Kamakhya Mandir important for shakti (sensual tantric worship of female spiritual power). Goats, pigeons and the occasional buffalo are ritually beheaded in a gory pavilion and the hot, dark inner womblike sanctum is painted red to signify sacrificial blood. The huge June/ July Ambubachi Mela celebrates the end of the mother goddess menstrual cycle with even more blood.

Some 30km northwest of Guwahati, the pleasant little town of Hajo attracts Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims to its fi ve ancient temples topping white oak lodge and resort condos assorted hillocks. Haigriv Madhav temple is the main one, which is accessed by a long flight of steps through an ornate quasi-Mughal gateway. The images inside of Madhav, an avatar of Krishna, are alleged to be 6000 years old.