Rang ghar is an important archaeological monument in Assam and India. It is said to be the oldest amphitheatre in the whole of Asia and has often been referred to as the ‘Colosseum of the East’. Rang Ghar is located about 3 km from sivasagar town in Assam is the two stories building, which once served as the royal sports-pavilion where Ahom kings and nobles were spectators at games like buffalo fights and other sports at Rupahi Pathar ticularly during the Rongali Bihu festival in the Ahom capital of Rangpur. The building was constructed during the reign of Swargadeo by Pramatta Singha in AD 1744-1750. This 10 meters high, royal, sports pavilion was constructed to watch cultural programmes and traditional games like buffalo and elephant fights, especially organized during Bihu Festival. The Rang ghar, Assam was used as a logo in the 33rd National Games which was conducted in Guwahati, Assam held in February 2007. The Rang Ghar of assam is an Entertainment House.
Rang ghar (meaning Amusement house) is an amusement amphitheater which was built by the Ahom kings of Assam, Said to be one of the oldest surviving amphitheaters in Asia. The Rang ghar building has two floors. The entrance of the Rang Ghar has two beautiful stone-carved crocodile structures on either sides, whereas, the roof of the main structure is like a boat, kept upside down. The central unit of the ground plan is rectangular and annexed with small structures of trapezoid ends making the entire ground plan like an octagon. The roof of the structure is parabolic which supported by rows of massive columns and semi-circulararches and shows Islamic influence in architectural features.
The Rang ghar is a quite old architectural structure of Assam. It depicts the Architectural taste of the period and is hence of great importance to archaeologists and historians. The roof of the Rang Ghar is shaped like an inverted royal Ahom long boat. The structure has been built on lines of the royal boat Ahom. The Ahoms, who used special, thin, baked bricks, did not use cement but a paste of rice and eggs as mortar for their construction, a pulses called Maati Maah Assames and a fish named Borali Mach in Assamese The inner surface of Rang Ghar has been lined using the powdered lime with bricks. It is said that this layer of powder used to keep the inside of the Rang Ghar cool. On the top of the roof, one can find a pair of sculpted stone crocodiles. Wide ground known as the Rupohi Pothar surrounds the Rang Ghar where earlier bull fights, wrestling and cock fights were organized. It has now been maintained as manicured field that looks beautiful from the top of Rang Ghar.
About a kilometer to the northeast of the Rang Ghar is the Joysagar Pukhuri. This is a man-made tank, encompassing an area of about 120 bighas of land. It was dug in memory of Joymoti Konwari, mother of Rudra Singha – the most illustrious of the Ahom kings.
How To Reach :
By Air : Nearest Airport is the Rowriah airport in Jorhat is 60 km from sivasagar. From Sivasagar to Rang Ghar is 7 km Far. Large number of Goverment buses and Services available to go Rang Ghat
By Rail : Nearest Airport is Sivasagar which is well connected all major city of Assam and as well of all state of India.
By Road : Sivasagar is well connected to the main cities of Assam and bus services are easily available.
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