Some places define the word ‘nondescript’. Few know about them. In fact, at first glance, there is little that inspires excitement. But they hide big surprises. Sometimes, surprises big enough to leave one speechless.
Nagshankar temple near Tezpur in Assam is one of them.
The temple itself is in indifferent shape. Nothing much to speak of. Maybe they are renovating it or something. I don’t know for sure. But I didn’t dwell on it much. Because the blessings I was looking for were of a different kind.
I was there to see the gangs of giant tortoises that thrive in the holy pond next to the temple.
Yes, gangs is the right word (What is a flock of tortoises called by the way? I wonder..) because nobody seems to know exactly how many they are in number. I counted around twenty.
And they are truly gigantic. Each one is the size of a full-grown dog laid sideways on ground. And there is a Big Daddy of the gang (named Mohan by the locals) who is even bigger.
They respond to calls by people, swim close to the edge and poke their heads above water, perhaps expecting food. The big shells on their backs are visible just below the murky water of the pond. We had carried some stuff, hoping to feed the gentle giants. But feeding these animals is totally prohibited (I was told that some NGO has been made responsible for it).
Instead, we had to be content with feeding pigeons of the temple who seemed to have a voracious appetite.
I was curious to learn more about the temple and the tortoises, like the history, the ecology, the mythology and so on. But it being late afternoon, the temple was nearly deserted. I couldn’t find anybody who would educate me.
The tortoises did not seem to be very camera- friendly. They kept swimming just below the surface and would slip away at the slightest suspicion.
Wise beings, aren’t they!
I tried to click pictures but wasn’t very successful. I will update this post if I get lucky next time.
Chalat Musafir 