About Shillong
The romantic city of Shillong is one of the important tourist destinations in the northeast. It is often referred to as the "Scotland of the East" due to its striking similarity with the Scottish highlands. The city derives its name from "Leishyllong"-the Superpower or God who is believed to reside on the Shillong peak, overlooking the city. Lying in the cradle of the tall pine conifers and pineapple shrubs, Shillong's undulating terrain is a constant source of attraction for tourists from both home and abroad. The Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes add color to this hilly city.
The capital of Meghalaya, Shillong lies on the eastern part of the state. Perched at an altitude of 1,520 meters (4,990 feet) above sea level, the city stretches for about 6 km on an elevated tract. It is situated on a plateau bound on the north by the Umiam gorge, on the northwest by the great mass of the Diengiei Hills that rise up to a height of 1,823 meters (6077 ft.) above sea level, and on the northeast by the hills of the Assam valley. The Umshyrpi and the Umkhra rivers, which finally merge and form the Umiam River, water it. Shillong is at distance of 104 km from Guwahati, 295 km from Kaziranga, 578 km from Siliguri and 658 km from Darjeeling. The climate is hot and humid during summers. The monsoons arrive in June and it rains almost until the end of August. It is quite cold during winters.
HISTORY
Shillong was a small village until 1864, when it became the new civil station of the Khasi and Jaintia hills. It remained the summer capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam for many years. In 1874, on the formation of Assam as a Chief Commissioner's Province, it was chosen as the capital of the new administration. An earthquake destroyed the city in 1897, necessitating its complete rebuilding. In January 1972, Shillong became the capital of the newly formed state of Meghalaya.
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
The Khasi, Jaintia, Bhoi, War collectively known as the Hynniewtrep people predominantly inhabit the districts of East Meghalaya, also known to be one of the earliest ethnic group of settlers in the Indian sub-continent, belonging to the Proto Austroloid Monkhmer race.
The Garo Hills is predominantly inhabited by the Garos, belonging to the Bodo family of the Tibeto-Burman race, said to have migrated from Tibet. The Garos prefer to call themselves as Achiks and the land they inhabit as the Achik-land.
The Khasis inhabit the eastern part of Meghalaya, in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills. Khasis residing in Jaintia hills are now better known as Jaintias. They are also called Pnars.
The Khasis occupying the northern lowlands and foothills are generally called Bhois. Those who live in the southern tracts are termed Wars.
Again among the Wars, those living in the Khasi Hills are called War-Khasis and those in the Jaintia Hills, War-Pnars or War-Jaintias. In the Jaintia Hills we have Khyrwangs, Labangs, Nangphylluts, Nangtungs in the north-eastern part and in the east. In the Khasi Hills the Lyngngams live in the north-western part. But all of them claim to have descended from the 'Ki Hynniew Trep' and are now known by the generic name of Khasi-Pnars or simply Khasis. They have the same traditions, customs and usage with a little variation owing to geographical divisions.
The ancestors of the present day Khasis were perhaps immigrant tribes,with a strong Mongoloid strain, who came from S. E. Asia via Myanmar. And their language is a variation on Mon-khmer dialects of the Austric language, varities of which are spoken by Mundas, Saanthals, and Hos in India.The forefathers of the Khasis probably belonged to Annam in Cambodia. Material culture studies reveal that the Khasis were well versed in agriculture, metalworks, weaving and pottery as early as the 4th century A.D. The earliest mention of the word 'Khasi' appears in Sankardeva's "Baghavata Purana" of Indo-Aryan literature, composed about 1500 A.D.
FOOD
The staple food of Khasis is rice. They also take fish and meat. Like the other tribes in the North-East, the Khasis also ferment rice-beer, and make spirit out of rice or millets by distillation. Use of rice-beer is a must for every ceremonial and religious occasion.
SHOPPING
The main shopping areas are Police Bazaar, Bara Bazaar and Laitumukhrah. On Iewduh, the first day of the eight-day long Khasi week, people from all over eastern Meghalaya come to sell their products here. In the centre of Police Bazar, on the corner of Kacheri road, there are shops selling finely woven baskets of all sizes. For hand-woven shawls, handicrafts, orange flower honey and cane work, one can visit the various emporia like Meghalaya Handicrafts, Khadi Gramodyog and Purbashree.
FESTIVALS/ENTERTAINMENT
Ka Pom-Blang Nongkrem
For five days, this festival gives thanks to the Lord Almighty for a good harvest and the participants pray for peace and prosperity of the community. It is among the most prominent ancestral cultural revivals. Inearlier days, this festival was celebrated in mid- summer, but today,in conformity with other cultures and for convenience, it is held either in October or November every year. "Smit", the capital of the Khyrim Syiemship near Shillong, is today the official venue for this very ancient festival.
Ka Shad Suk Mynsiem
The annual spring dance,performed to celebrate harvesting and sowing. The dance is ritualistic and symbolic of the timeless fertility cult-the women as receptacles of seeds and bearers of fruit and the men as cultivators, who provide the seeds and protect and nurse them till the crop is harvested.
Ka-Shad-Shyngwiang-Thangiap
A ceremonial dance to express sorrow, performed on the occasion of a death in the family. Male musicians play music on the flute, drum and bamboo pole. The dance begins on the day of death, at a place next to the kitchen of the house (called the Rympeiling) and continues till the last rites are performed on the cremation grounds.
Ka-Shad-Kynjoh Khaskain
A dance to commemorate "house warming" or when a family moves into a new-built home. Once the ritual ceremonies are over, the dance is performed in three stages-kA Shad Kyuntui, kA Shad Khalai Miaw and kA Shad Brap- and lasts through the night till dawn of the next day.
kA Bam Khana Shong
Nobody knows when this "Village Community Feasting Festival", began, but it is an event that everyone-men, women and children-look forward to. It is a social get-together, but at the back of it all, it is a time to thank the Lord for the old year past and seek his blessings for the new year which is to come. Originally,the entire village would participate with each home contributing cash or kind (rice,pumpkins etc.).
Umsan Nongkharai
The festival is held in spring (April or May), commencing on Sugi Lynka with a ceremonial sacrifice of a goat and two cocks before the supreme deity of the Khasis-Lei Shyllong. It ends on Sugi-Shillong, with prayers offered at midnight to establish person-to-person contact between the finite and the infinite.
Christmas
Christmas is now a major Khasi festival with the bulk of the Khasis embracing Christianity, and is celebrated in the European way.
Heritage
Culture 
