Itanagar

Itanagar
City
Itanagar Location of Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Arunachal Pradesh
District	Papum Pare
Elevation	750 m (2,460 ft)
Population (2001)
• Total	34,970
Languages
• Official	English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Vehicle registration	AR-01,AR-02,ARX

Itanagar(/ˌiːtəˈnɑːɡər/;<phonos file="Itanagar.ogg">pronunciation</phonos>) is the capital of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Itanagar is situated at the foothills of Himalayas. It comes administratively under Papum Pare district.

Itanagar is well connected by road. There is a helicopter service between Guwahati and Naharlagun (Itanagar). Buses are available from Guwahati. The nearest railway station is Naharlagun.

Interesting places around are historical fort called Ita-fort which dates back to the 15th century (after which the city is named), legendary Ganga Lake or Gyakar Sinyi and the new Buddhist temple known as Buddha Vihar consecrated by the Dalai Lama.

Important economic activities include farming and agriculture.

Geography

Itanagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 750 metres.

Climate

Itanagar features an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cwb), with dry, mild (however, cold by Indian standards) winters and cool, wet summers.

Climate data for Itanagar
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	11 (52)	11 (52)	21 (70)	24 (75)	26 (79)	28 (82)	30 (86)	30 (86)	26 (79)	24 (75)	19 (66)	16 (61)	22.2 (71.9)
Average low °C (°F)	3 (37)	4 (39)	8 (46)	10 (50)	11 (52)	15 (59)	13 (55)	14 (57)	13 (55)	12 (54)	7 (45)	3 (37)	9.4 (48.8)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	30 (1.18)	54 (2.13)	57 (2.24)	96 (3.78)	210 (8.27)	405 (15.94)	510 (20.08)	360 (14.17)	411 (16.18)	114 (4.49)	15 (0.59)	27 (1.06)	2,289 (90.11)
Source: Yahoo Weather India

Culture

People

Itanagar is currently inhabited by a number of mixed tribes(Adi, Apatani, Nyishi being the most predominant among many other tribes).

Itanagar Religious Places

Gompa Buddhist Temple(Kyong Theraveda): Consecrated by the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist temple, a beautiful yellow roofed shrine reflects the extensive Tibetan influence and provides good views of Itanagar and the surrounding countryside.

Places of interest

Ita Fort is one of the most important historical sites in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. The name literally means "Fort of bricks"( brick being called "Ita" in the Ahom language). The Ita Fort at Arunachal Pradesh was built as early as the 14th or the 15th century. The fort has an irregular shape, built mainly with bricks dating back to the 14th-15th Century. The total brickwork is of 16,200 cubic metre lengths which have been identified by some scholars with Mayapur of Ramachandra, a king of the Jitari Dynasty. The fort has three different entrances at three different sides, which are western, the eastern and the southern sides. Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar is also known for showcasing tribal culture of the state.

Ganga Lake is a beautiful natural lake locally known as Gekar Sinyi (Confined water in the Nyishi dialect) surrounded by a landmass of hard rock. Primeval vegetation, orchids masses on tall trees and tree ferns contribute to its popularity as a picnic spot. Boating facilities and a swimming pool are available at the site.

From here tourist places like New Palin(in Kurung Kumey district), Bomdila, Parshuram Kund (in Lohit district), Malinithan (in west Siang district), Bhishmak Nagar (in Dibang Valley) are also easily accessible by mini bus or share-taxi.

Festivals

A number of festivals are celebrated in this capital city of Arunachal Pradesh.

Nyokum is a festival celebrated by the Nyishi people of Arunachal Pradesh. The Word Nyokum has been derived from two words - Nyok means land (earth) and Kum means collectiveness or togetherness. Therefore, the Nyokum festival may be interpreted as inviting all the Gods and Goddesses of the universe, with the Nyokum Goddess as the principal deity, to a particular venue at a particular time and is commonly worshipped by the people irrespective of caste, creed or class for better productivity, prosperity and happiness for all human beings on earth.

The Dree Festival is an Apatani agricultural rite. It involves the sacrifice of fowls, eggs and animals to the gods – Tamu, Metii and Danyi Pilo (Sun and Moon God). The purpose of the festival is to appease these gods so that famine can be avoided.

The Adi celebrate a number of festivals, in particular their prime festival Solung, in the first week of September for five days or more. It is a harvest festival performed after the sowing of seeds and transplantation, to seek for future bumper crops.

Losar is the New Year celebration of the Monpas. It is celebrated for a period of five days. The festival is marked by prayers, hoisting of religious flags atop the homes, reading of Buddhist scriptures, and lighting butter lamps in the houses.

Another important festival is Reh, which is mainly associated with the Idu Mishimis. The special attraction of the six-day celebrations is the priest dance. During Tamladu, the Digaru Mishimis offer prayers to the God of the Earth and the God of the Water. The supreme God Jebmalu is also worshipped. Khan is significant because of a ceremony where the priest ties a piece of wool around everybody's neck. During Sangken, people sprinkle water on each other as a sign of merriment, while smearing of rice powder on each other's face marks the beginning of the five-day celebrations of Mopin.

Demographics

As of 2011 India census, Itanagar had a population of 34,970. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Itanagar has an average literacy rate of 66.95%, Lower than the national average of 74.4%: male literacy is 73.69%, and female literacy is 59.57%. In Itanagar, 15% of the population are under 6 years of age. Takam Sanjoy, former MP of Arunachal Pradesh, west constituency in his speech at Jantar Mantar, Delhi while addressing people who were demanding justice for Nido Tania, mentioned that the capital city of Itanagar consists of about 70% of population from rest part of India.

Transport

Air

Itanagar is situated at southern part of Arunachal Pradesh. Regular Helicopter service is available from Guwahati to Naharlagun (Itanagar). Itanagar Airport is currently under construction.

Road

National Highway 52A connects Itanagar to Assam and other parts of India. Regular bus service is available from Guwahati to Naharlagun (Itanagar).

Railway

Itanagar was connected to the Indian railway in 2014 April. The Naharlagun-Dekargaon Passenger Train, with 10 passengers and two goods compartments, towed by a diesel engine, left Dekargaon in Assam at 7am and arrived at Naharlagun at 12.30 pm, covering a distance of 181 km on 14 April 2014. The train chugged into Naharlagun for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh's history, making Itanagar, the third state capital among the eight north eastern states after Guwahati and Agartala to be put on the railway map of India.

Media and communications

State owned All India Radio has a local station in Itanagar which transmits various programs of mass interest.

Education

Arunachal Pradesh has 2 engineering, applied science and management institutes named NERIST (North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology). It is now a deemed university under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.The other one is the National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh , established by MHRD , Govt. of India and is currently situated at Yupia , 20 km away from the capital city . There is also one private university named Himalayan University established under the UGC act 1956 section 2f.

See also

• Tourism in North East India

External links

• Itanagar travel guide from Wikivoyage