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Neer-Mahal – means ‘palace on water’ and is located at Melaghar, in Tripura, North East India. It is about 55 km from Agartala, the state capital. The palace was built by Maharaja Birbikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur in the middle of lake Rudrasagar in 1930. The palace is the 2nd largest of its kind in India after the Jalmahal in Rajasthan and the only one in Eastern India.

Really nice viewed on black

In Kohima market, Nagaland, you can buy edible delicacies like "Borol", which is Hornet's larvae.

Not sure what the larvae in the red tub is to be quite honest but below that is some kind of fungi and then the huuuuge hornet grubs

BONGGVUM FESTIVAL : The Bongvum generally falls in the month of October every year after the major harvest and is observed only for a day. This festival may be best interpreted as the festival of thanksgiving to the unseen almighty God for whatever have yielded during the preceding months. On this occasion, no other animal but chicken is killed and its hot blood sprinkled against the outer surface of the bamboo pail for storing grains. The other ritual associated with the Bongvum festival is the preparation of sticky rice. The meat is cooked with prawns and crabs mixed with dried bamboo shoots and ginger. This prepared food is put into the leaves carefully and tied to the main posts of the house. Both these rituals are performed as a token of giving thanks to the unseen Almighty for the blessing they are bestowed with, so that they may be blessed more in the next harvest. Also predicting the future of the family by taking out the chickens intestine performed by the father who is the head of the family forms another part of the ritual during the festival.

...or scared?

Hornbill festival 2011, Nagaland, North East India

Have a bit of colour for a Sunday night!

To visit Neermahal Palace in Tripura, you have to get yourself into one of these little boats.

That's the palace, there in the distance.

The boat ride is a pittance in rupees and it's worth every paise!

Nice viewed on Black