Vangchhia

Near the village of Vangchhia in far-eastern Mizoram, close to the Myanmar border, lies the state's most significant archaeological site: Kawtchhuah Ropui, 'the great gateway', a field of hundreds of megalithic standing stones, many carved with striking images of human figures, animals, and hunting and everyday scenes. Protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, it is sometimes called Mizoram's Stonehenge.

Excavations have revealed far more than the stones: a network of ancient water pavilions, terraces, a necropolis and what appear to be embankments and pathways, hinting at a lost civilisation whose identity and dates are still being pieced together. The carvings — of warriors, mithun, elephants and dancers — are unlike anything else in the region.

Vangchhia is remote and little-visited, which is exactly its appeal for the traveller drawn to history and the road less taken. It lies in the Champhai area, Mizoram's scenic rice-bowl and vineyard country on the eastern frontier.