Watch: The Beauty of PM Modi-Recommended Charaideo Moidams

The significance of Charaideo has always been a well-registered feat for Assam. However, the rest of the country as well as the rest of the world has often overlooked it when planning their next trip. Well, 'no more' says India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially when the place has recently been added to the World Heritage Site list by UNESCO.

PM Recommends Charaideo Moidams

Talking in the July episode of Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi has urged the nation to visit Charaideo Moidams. To the audience, he said, "Charaideo Moidam becoming a World Heritage Site now will mean that more tourists will visit the place. You must include this site in your future travel plans. Have you heard the name Charaideo Moidam? If not, you will now hear this name again and again, and will tell others will great enthusiasm. Friends, the question arriving in your mind must be: “What exactly is Charaideo Moidam and why is it so special?” ‘Charaideo’ means a ‘shining city on the hills’. This was the first capital of the Ahom dynasty. The people of the Ahom dynasty traditionally kept the mortal remains of their ancestors and their valuables in the Moidam.”

The History of Charaideo Moidams

From 13th to the early 19th century CE, the Ahoms ruled over Assam. The Ahoms first migrated to Assam from Mong-Mao or Mong-Mao-Lung (present Dehong Dai Jingpho autonomous prefecture of South-Western Yunan province of Peoples Republic of China) under the leadership of Mao-Shang prince, named Chau-lung Siu-ka-pha, who became the first king of the Ahom Dynasty. He established the first Ahom capital at Charaideo.

The Ahoms took up a number of secular and religious architectural activities in their reign, one of them being the Moidams (the burial mounds). No other funerary structures found in other parts of the country can be compared to them as they are quite distinct in their style and architecture and are a reminiscent of their foreign origin. Traditionally, the Ahoms buried their dead and the Moidams are the burial mounds of the Ahom kings, Queens and Nobles. The word Moidam is derived from the Tai word Phrang-Mai-Dam or Mai-Tam. Phrang-Mai means to put into the grave or to bury and Dam means the spirit of the Dead.