NE India
Tura
Capital of the Garo Hills
Timothy A. Gonsalves · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Meghalaya
Capital of the Garo Hills
Tura is the largest town in western Meghalaya and the headquarters of the Garo Hills, set beneath the twin peaks of Tura and Nokrek. It is the cultural and commercial centre of the Garo people, quieter and less visited than Shillong, and a gateway to a landscape of forests, orange groves and waterfalls.
Nearby lies the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, home to the rare red panda and the wild citrus believed to be an ancestor of all cultivated oranges, and the great Wangala festival — the hundred-drums thanksgiving of the Garos — is celebrated in the region each November.
Photo: Timothy A. Gonsalves · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
What it's known for
- The administrative and cultural capital of the Garo Hills
- The Wangala (hundred drums) festival heartland
- Nokrek Biosphere Reserve and the wild-citrus gene pool
- Orange growing and Garo handloom
Explore
What to see in & around Tura
See & do
- Nokrek Biosphere Reserve and Tura Peak
- The Wangala festival at Asanang (November)
- Siju caves and the Balpakram national park further south
- Garo villages and waterfalls of the western hills
Getting there
By road from Guwahati (about 5–6 hours) via Goalpara; a small airport at Baljek and a Guwahati–Tura helicopter operate at times.