01Shukracharya’s hill
The temple’s name comes from Shukracharya, guru of the asuras, who, Guwahati holds, performed tapas to Shiva on this hill. The Ahom king Pramatta Singha built the present temple in 1744 and gave it land. The hill was also the site of the Itakhuli fort, where in the 17th century Ahom commanders faced the Mughals on the river; the battles of those years are part of the city’s memory.
02The ghat at evening
From the temple the steps go down to the river. In the evening the sun sets over the Brahmaputra and the island of Umananda, boats cross, and priests on the ghat perform pinda-daan for families. The Sukreswar Ghat is the main ghat of Guwahati for the last rites and for the bath at Ashokashtami and other parvas.
The life of this place
- 1744Pramatta Singha builds the Sukreswar temple.
In Panbazar, central Guwahati, near the DC office; the ghat steps lead down from the temple.
