Tourism in Cherrapunji
The locals traditionally call it Sohra, however, the world knows it by the more popular name of “Cherrapunjee” or "Cherrapunji". Once the wettest place on earth, Cherrapunjee today is the second rainiest place on earth after Mawsynram. Cherrapunjee receives close to a whopping 12 m of rain every year.
Though the status of the most rainiest place on earth has changed from Cherrapunji to Mawsynram (about 16km from Cherrapunji), Cherrapunjee still reigns supreme in terms of tourist attraction and infrastructure compared to Mawsynram.
Cherrapunji attracts lot of tourists because of its abundant natural beauty, package of valleys and waterfalls, caves and canyons, evergreen misty landscapes and heavy rains.
Tucked away in North East India, Cherrapunjee is located around 60 km from Shillong in the East Khasi district of Meghalaya. The Umshiang double decker Living Root bridge at Nongriat and many other root bridges are found in Cherrapunji (Sohra) & Mawlynnong.
Cherrapunji is a must visit destination known for its varieties of cloud formations and quick change of weather fair to foul and vice versa, lush green plains, numerous waterfalls and a trek to the single and double decker root bridges. The trek from Cherrapunjee to the living root bridges is not for the faint heart as it requires a lot of stamina and grit to trek down to these natural wonders of nature.
Cherrapunjee has a few fascinating stone gorges noted among which are Riat-Maw-Iew, Maw-Laikhlieh and Riat-U-Shain. The famous Mawsmai Cave with charming stalactite formations is located 9 k.m. away close to the Mawsmai falls.
Be it the mystical hues or the lofty Khasi hills reaching out to hug the blue sky, Cherrapunji offers many magical charms to enthrall visitors. Nature lovers can experience amazing caves, natural trails and unique natural phenomenon of inter wined root bridges. The journey to Cherrapunji is in itself an experience worth savouring.
Gushing waterfalls, foggy mountains and roads, dense equatorial type vegetation add to the beauty of Sohra. A visit to Sohra is a walk in the clouds, a wisp of imagination and raindrops on your cheek, a place where clouds and rain play in their own time wrap.
Cherrapunji Rainfall
Cherrapunji receives the full brunt of the monsoon because of its location. Situated at a height of about 4500 feet above Mean Sea Level on the summit of the Southern ranges of the Khasi Hills, it receives the monsoons approaching directly from the Bay of Bengal on through the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. The average annual rainfall is around 4900 mm per year. Heavy rainfall of 17,930 mm in 1988, 14,865 mm in 2003, 14,821 mm in 2004 and 14,970 mm have also been recorded.
Tour to Cherrapunji BEST TIME TO VISIT CHERRAPUNJI
Cherrapunji is perhaps the only place in India, which has just one season: the monsoon. The rainfall varies from heavy to medium to light, but there is no month without rain. Another surprising fact about Cherrapunji is that it rains mostly at night. Day-to-day activity is not really disrupted by the rain.
HISTORY OF CHERRAPUNJI
As in days gone by, the faces of Cherrapunji change not with the seasons, but with the pattern of rainfall. The heaviest downpours span approximately five long months-from May until September. The clouds then are dark and menacing, full blown with rain, which descends earthwards with the stinging force of a whiplash.
Tour to Cherrapunji Throughout these months, Cherrapunji is transformed into a sea of tiny, gushing rivulets. The raindrops beat incessantly on rooftops and treetops creating a compelling tattoo of awesome sounds, which cannot be savored anywhere else but in the Northeastern states. These are also the 'record-making' months, which contribute to records such as the stunning 22,987 mm of rainfall in 1861. The annual average rainfall of Cherrapunji stands today at 10,871 millimeters. Barely 10 km from Cherrapunji stands the village of Mawsynram, which has snatched away the heaviest rainfall record, with 12,163 millimeters of rainfall.
With the passage of September, the rhythm of the rain-its main force spent-changes to a gentle patter. And the Khasis and other residents of Cherrapunji, the flora, and the fauna respond to the change in the Rain God's mood. Soft pastel shades begin to appear in skies that were gray all day and rainbows that are a photographer's delight begin to make unexpected guest appearances.
TOURISTS ATTRACTIONS OF CHERRAPUNJI
Tour to Cherrapunji The home of enterprising Khasi clans, Cherrapunji's place in the Guinness Book of Records is not its only claim to fame. Along with falls lesser in height but no less alluring, the spectacular, cascading 1,035-ft-high Mawsmai Falls-the fourth highest in India-lie just a few kilometers beyond Cherrapunji.
Close by is situated a fascinating labyrinth of underground passages beneath age-old caves-a veritable dream for amateur explorers. Elsewhere around Cherrapunji, Khasi monoliths (stones in memory of their ancestors) lie dotted around-a vague reminder of the forests of Bastar.
Amidst all the surprises of Cherrapunji, perhaps the most abiding is the startling realization that the wettest place on earth where it rains every month also has an amazing amount of warm sunshine. When the clouds drift away, there are a series of memorable views, and one can see as far as Bangladesh. Orchids blooming a few feet away form a patch devoid of vegetation. Dense woods interspersed by rocky, cliffs furrowed by erosion.
As the months move on, the smell of decaying vegetation lessens as the showers become intermittent. New plants spring to life, and people go about their tasks with renewed energy.
The hills around Cherrapunji do not have the lush green vegetation one normally associates with wet places. The vegetative cover in the form of dense woods appears in patches and constitute yet another marvelous surprise: the richness and variety of the flora in these 'zones' has to be seen to be believed. An amazing variety of rare orchids, ferns, and moss convert each pocket into a botanist's paradise. Cherrapunji produces the best quality of oranges as well as pineapples. In fact, Cherrapunji oranges are the ancestors of the famous Nagpuri oranges in the Central India.
Though the status of the most rainiest place on earth has changed from Cherrapunji to Mawsynram (about 16km from Cherrapunji), Cherrapunjee still reigns supreme in terms of tourist attraction and infrastructure compared to Mawsynram.
Cherrapunji attracts lot of tourists because of its abundant natural beauty, package of valleys and waterfalls, caves and canyons, evergreen misty landscapes and heavy rains.
Tucked away in North East India, Cherrapunjee is located around 60 km from Shillong in the East Khasi district of Meghalaya. The Umshiang double decker Living Root bridge at Nongriat and many other root bridges are found in Cherrapunji (Sohra) & Mawlynnong.
Cherrapunji is a must visit destination known for its varieties of cloud formations and quick change of weather fair to foul and vice versa, lush green plains, numerous waterfalls and a trek to the single and double decker root bridges. The trek from Cherrapunjee to the living root bridges is not for the faint heart as it requires a lot of stamina and grit to trek down to these natural wonders of nature.
Cherrapunjee has a few fascinating stone gorges noted among which are Riat-Maw-Iew, Maw-Laikhlieh and Riat-U-Shain. The famous Mawsmai Cave with charming stalactite formations is located 9 k.m. away close to the Mawsmai falls.
Be it the mystical hues or the lofty Khasi hills reaching out to hug the blue sky, Cherrapunji offers many magical charms to enthrall visitors. Nature lovers can experience amazing caves, natural trails and unique natural phenomenon of inter wined root bridges. The journey to Cherrapunji is in itself an experience worth savouring.
Gushing waterfalls, foggy mountains and roads, dense equatorial type vegetation add to the beauty of Sohra. A visit to Sohra is a walk in the clouds, a wisp of imagination and raindrops on your cheek, a place where clouds and rain play in their own time wrap.
Cherrapunji Rainfall
Cherrapunji receives the full brunt of the monsoon because of its location. Situated at a height of about 4500 feet above Mean Sea Level on the summit of the Southern ranges of the Khasi Hills, it receives the monsoons approaching directly from the Bay of Bengal on through the Sylhet district of Bangladesh. The average annual rainfall is around 4900 mm per year. Heavy rainfall of 17,930 mm in 1988, 14,865 mm in 2003, 14,821 mm in 2004 and 14,970 mm have also been recorded.
Tour to Cherrapunji BEST TIME TO VISIT CHERRAPUNJI
Cherrapunji is perhaps the only place in India, which has just one season: the monsoon. The rainfall varies from heavy to medium to light, but there is no month without rain. Another surprising fact about Cherrapunji is that it rains mostly at night. Day-to-day activity is not really disrupted by the rain.
HISTORY OF CHERRAPUNJI
As in days gone by, the faces of Cherrapunji change not with the seasons, but with the pattern of rainfall. The heaviest downpours span approximately five long months-from May until September. The clouds then are dark and menacing, full blown with rain, which descends earthwards with the stinging force of a whiplash.
Tour to Cherrapunji Throughout these months, Cherrapunji is transformed into a sea of tiny, gushing rivulets. The raindrops beat incessantly on rooftops and treetops creating a compelling tattoo of awesome sounds, which cannot be savored anywhere else but in the Northeastern states. These are also the 'record-making' months, which contribute to records such as the stunning 22,987 mm of rainfall in 1861. The annual average rainfall of Cherrapunji stands today at 10,871 millimeters. Barely 10 km from Cherrapunji stands the village of Mawsynram, which has snatched away the heaviest rainfall record, with 12,163 millimeters of rainfall.
With the passage of September, the rhythm of the rain-its main force spent-changes to a gentle patter. And the Khasis and other residents of Cherrapunji, the flora, and the fauna respond to the change in the Rain God's mood. Soft pastel shades begin to appear in skies that were gray all day and rainbows that are a photographer's delight begin to make unexpected guest appearances.
TOURISTS ATTRACTIONS OF CHERRAPUNJI
Tour to Cherrapunji The home of enterprising Khasi clans, Cherrapunji's place in the Guinness Book of Records is not its only claim to fame. Along with falls lesser in height but no less alluring, the spectacular, cascading 1,035-ft-high Mawsmai Falls-the fourth highest in India-lie just a few kilometers beyond Cherrapunji.
Close by is situated a fascinating labyrinth of underground passages beneath age-old caves-a veritable dream for amateur explorers. Elsewhere around Cherrapunji, Khasi monoliths (stones in memory of their ancestors) lie dotted around-a vague reminder of the forests of Bastar.
Amidst all the surprises of Cherrapunji, perhaps the most abiding is the startling realization that the wettest place on earth where it rains every month also has an amazing amount of warm sunshine. When the clouds drift away, there are a series of memorable views, and one can see as far as Bangladesh. Orchids blooming a few feet away form a patch devoid of vegetation. Dense woods interspersed by rocky, cliffs furrowed by erosion.
As the months move on, the smell of decaying vegetation lessens as the showers become intermittent. New plants spring to life, and people go about their tasks with renewed energy.
The hills around Cherrapunji do not have the lush green vegetation one normally associates with wet places. The vegetative cover in the form of dense woods appears in patches and constitute yet another marvelous surprise: the richness and variety of the flora in these 'zones' has to be seen to be believed. An amazing variety of rare orchids, ferns, and moss convert each pocket into a botanist's paradise. Cherrapunji produces the best quality of oranges as well as pineapples. In fact, Cherrapunji oranges are the ancestors of the famous Nagpuri oranges in the Central India.
Sightseeing tours in Cherrapunji
Mawsmai Falls
The alluring, the spectacular, cascading 1,035-ft-high Mawsmai Falls - is a tourist delight, it is the 4th highest fall in India, lie just a few kilometers beyond Cherrapunji.
Khasi monoliths
Close by is located the attracton of a beautiful labyrinth of underground passages beneath age-old caves. This the must visit place for amateur and experienced explorers. Elsewhere around Cherrapunji, Khasi monoliths (stones in memory of their ancestors) lie scattered around.
Mawsmai Falls, Cherrapunji Some Amazing Views
There are a series of memorable views while holidaying in Cherapunji, one can see as far as Bangladesh. Orchids blooming a few feet away form a belt lacking of vegetation. The place exhibits a dense woods interspersed by rocky, cliffs broken by erosion.
An amazing variety of rare orchids, ferns, and moss convert each sector into a botanist's paradise. Cherrapunji produces the best quality of oranges as well as pineapples. In fact, Cherrapunji oranges are the forefathers of the famous Nagpuri oranges in the Central India
WHERE TO STAY IN CHERRAPUNJI
Cherrapunji has several comfortable private hotels. Staying at the Circuit House and the Dak Bungalow require prior permission from the administration.
Cherrapunji is 58 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. A steep motorable road, almost perpetually bathed in mist as it climbs upwards on the last lap, leads up to Cherrapunji. Buses and taxis ply to Cherrapunji from Shillong.
Cherrapunji has several comfortable private hotels. Staying at the Circuit House and the Dak Bungalow require prior permission from the administration.
Cherrapunji is 58 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. A steep motorable road, almost perpetually bathed in mist as it climbs upwards on the last lap, leads up to Cherrapunji. Buses and taxis ply to Cherrapunji from Shillong.
Travel to Cherrapunji in Meghalaya
Airport : Pawan Hans has provided a Dauphin helicopter travel to Govternment of Meghalaya for giving regular passenger services on Guwahati- Shillong - Tura sector. There are various tours organized by Meghalaya tourism sector to enjoy the green belt of this region. After reaching Shillong, you can travel by a bus or taxi to Cherrapunji.
Road Transport : Cherrapunji is 60 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. A steep motorable road, are available, which leads up to Cherrapunji. Buses and taxis ply to Cherrapunji from Shillong.
Airport : Pawan Hans has provided a Dauphin helicopter travel to Govternment of Meghalaya for giving regular passenger services on Guwahati- Shillong - Tura sector. There are various tours organized by Meghalaya tourism sector to enjoy the green belt of this region. After reaching Shillong, you can travel by a bus or taxi to Cherrapunji.
Road Transport : Cherrapunji is 60 km from Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. A steep motorable road, are available, which leads up to Cherrapunji. Buses and taxis ply to Cherrapunji from Shillong.
