the memory chalet 4 Sleeping & Eating Hotel Centre Point HOTEL $$ (%232359; Main Rd; r from 660; aW) The cheaper rooms

4 Sleeping & Eating Hotel Centre Point HOTEL $$ (%232359; Main Rd; r from 660; aW) The cheaper rooms at this new hotel bang in the town centre are splashed in smart white paint, but have cold water only showers,

Despite being an oil-service town, Sivasagar exudes the memory chalet a residual elegance from its time as the capital of the Ahom dynasty the memory chalet that ruled Assam for more than 600 years. The name comes from waters of Shiva , the graceful central feature of a rectangular reservoir dug in 1734 by Ahom Queen Ambika. Three typical Ahom temple towers rise proudly above the tank s partly wooded southern banks to the west Devidol, to the east Vishnudol and in the centre, the 33m-high Shivadol Mandir, India s tallest Shiva temple. Its uppermost trident balances upon an egg-shaped feature whose golden covering the British reputedly tried (but failed) to pilfer in 1823.