moliet FACIAL TATTOOING Historically famous for their beauty, Apatani women were all too often kidnapped by

SATRAS A satra is a monastery moliet for Vishnu worship, Assam s distinctive form of everyman Hinduism. Formulated by 15th-century Assamese philosopher Sankardev, the faith eschews the caste system and idol worship, focussing on Vishnu as God, especially in his Krishna incarnation. Much of the worship is based around dance and melodramatic play-acting of scenes from the holy Bhagavad Gita. The heart of any satra is its namghar, a large, simple, prayer hall usually open sided and shaped like an upside-down oil tanker. Beneath the eastern end, an inner sanctum hosts an eternal flame, the Gita and possibly a horde of instructive moliet (but not divine) images.

was a princely exercise in aesthetics; the finest craftsmen building a summer palace of luxury in a blend of Hindu and Islamic architectural styles. The delightful waterborne approach by speedboat (passenger/boat 20/400) or fancy rowboat (boat 100) is the most enjoyable part of visiting. moliet

Framing itself as the Khasi cultural centre, Smit hosts the major fi ve-day Nongkrem Festival moliet (October). This features animal sacrifices and a curious slow-motion moliet shuffling dance performed moliet in full costume in front of the thatched bamboo palace of the local syiem (traditional ruler). Smit is 11km from Shillong, 4km off the Jowai road.

FACIAL TATTOOING Historically famous for their beauty, Apatani women were all too often kidnapped by warriors of the neighbouring Nishi tribes. As a defence , Apatani girls were deliberately defaced. They were given facial tattoos, like graffitied beards moliet scribbled onto living Mona Lisa paintings, and extraordinary nose plugs known as dat fitted into holes cut in their upper nostrils. Some men also have tattoos. moliet Peace with the Nishis in the 1960s meant an end to that brutal practice, but many older women still wear dat. Photography is an understandably sensitive moliet issue, moliet so ask first. Some Apatani women have had cosmetic surgery to remove their tattoos.