Agartala the corner city

We had been planning for a long time to visit Agartala the corner city of north-eastern India. We have been visited many times to different part of north east India but unfortunately missed the chance to visit Agartala, finally we got the opportunity to visit our long pending dream destination during our "trip to India” project from Delhi to Agartala by train. 

Many times we prefer to travel by train because we both are nature lover ,the train journey is an  exciting  and  colorful   adventure for  us  to explore  the  true  beauty  of India  lies  in its countryside  through valleys, rivers, and forests. The  train is also a  cost effective for people like us.

We are boarding the train named “Tripura Sundari” express from Delhi Anand Vihar to our destination Agartala on 3rd AC compartment. though the compartment was reserved meant for three people,there were already five of us sitting on it, many unauthorized people in it and majority of them are army personnel for short  and long distance journey, some of them had tickets but no reservation. it was our horrible train travel experience such a long distance train named“Tripura Sundari” express 

its stoppage is very few but unofficially it has too many stoppages. pantry not available, no water in taps,  no food, nothing available on board, outsider vendor making fool people. Very very dirty service no cleanliness.   The worst thing is that there were cockroaches are running inside the AC compartments. it is one of type of torture to traveler.

Finally we reached Agartala at 5.15 am after spending three nights on train.  Agartala  Station is India's one of the most beautiful railway station with all modern facilities in its premises. There are decorative wall paneling in all walls. On outside a attractive structure reflecting the Tripura’s heritage and traditional looks more beauty.  

it's more important for us to have a hotel  closer to the railway station. We find there are many good budget hotels are available in front of the railway station for Rs. 300 to Rs.500.We stay at a newly constructed hotel complete with attached bathroom and TV in front of  railway station The hotel was very good and affordable price of Rs. 400/-. 

It was clean all around the rooms. well ventilated with window the  entire furniture are new, room was a standard spacious and the bathroom, more or less clean, no running hot water but the service boy told that  if you need hot water we will send some hot water in a bucket with free of cost. Staffs was very helpful and polite.

the good part is the location is on the main road  in the city, easy to go everywhere by different mode of transport like rickshaw, auto-rickshaw or cab. We feel lucky to finally choose this hotel

Agartala is the capital of Tripura, after Guwahati it is the second largest city in the North-East .The people of Agartala have a big heart and are particularly helpful to tourists. people greet you with a smile. The main language  is Bengali. The culture, attitude and behavior of locals are influenced by Bengali culture.

we just to keep our  luggage and get fresh quickly to visit the interesting points of Agartala. Our first destination was Bangladesh border Check Post. We contact a  auto rickshaw driver for sightseeing of check post and jagannath temple tour just only Rs. 200/-  for two and half hours . the auto rickshaw driver was most gentle and nice person 
 with great deal.

India – Bangaladesh international border Check Post is one of the best places to see in Agartala. It is  just 2 km away from the city center. The Agartala - Akhaura check post, second-largest trading point between India and Bangladesh, It handles the largest number of visitors to and from neighboring Bangladesh. The Main Entrance was decorated with colorful flags, banners and sign boards both side of the check post.

In some cases photography may be restricted, but will have to ask permission to click for some photographs for our travel memories. We requested to BSF officials for taking of pictures on our camera , they allow us and help to take the pictures.

This check post is a popular tourist spot anybody shouldn't miss.  .After visiting  India – Bangaladesh Check Post we came by same auto rickshaw to Jagannath temple one of the iconic temple of Agartala city. The temple has beautiful arch from outside. 

The premise is well decorated designed with a religious touch. The premise have idols of god janganath and also several other gods decorated inside. There is a lovely small lake in the complex and  the lake is full of fishes. 

This temple has many smaller structures and a dharmashala within its premises  for pilgrims and common travelers.  It really attracted me was the cleanliness and the freedom from pestering Pandas. A very soothing place with complete peace of mind and soul.

After visiting Jagannath Temple we feel tempted to visit our next point so without further wasting time, we went to Ujjayanta palace a walking distance.  the palace is nicely surrounded by big tress and lake is a nice walking area. Ujjayanta palace a excellent place cum museum located in the city center of Agartala.

We entered in to the gleaming white Ujjayanta Palace at about 11 am with reasonable entry fee of Rs 20 per person. The Ujjayanta palace has a unique Roman architecture style from outside and  clean well maintained,. The building was huge and there were two large ponds in the premises.We learned from the display board that it was built within a span of two years from 1899 to 1901, by the then king of Tripura ‘Radha Krishan Manikya’,

Ujjayanta palace is now a museum but it is actually the Rajbari of Agartala. This palace was taken over by Tripura Government and created a very Good Museum where History, Culture with lots of coins, copper and stone inscriptions, interesting photos and artifacts and many activities are well displayed of Tripura and North Eastern states .

There are multiple galleries depicting our freedom struggle, world wars details on each of 7 north eastern states. I was quite emotional to see the photos as well as documents relating to the contribution of the people of Tripura in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.  We spent one and a half hour to two hours to see the entire palace. It is a place to know many things about Agartala from here. Photography is not allowed inside the museum but can take the pictures from out side.  We are highly impressed by visiting this palace.

Now it's almost lunch-time. We are beginning to feel hungry . for lunch, we visit a Bengali restaurant at Sakuntala Rd, Indranagar We were very happy to find a proper Bengali food restaurant in Agartala. They have variety of items which tempted me to order more than what I can eat. We tried Rice,dal, aloo bharata potal bhaji, fish curry and fish fry, We eat fish curry along with rice,found it very tasty and so delicious. 

The veg and non veg items are very fresh and recipes are homely. The rates are reasonable I never have expected such tasty food in Agartala It really makes me feel happy.

Agartala is excellent place for budget travelers . We have a tight schedule so we spent only one day here. It was  lovely experience. The city   shares a lot of  its language, cuisine, and culture with fascinating temples, museums, scenic beauty, majestic palaces, and lakes The beauty of magnificent corner of the country the northeastern states of India is beyond compare..

  

Durga Charan Mishra
dcmishradc@gmail.com