[Photograph: Sword at Malthuni]

The sword at Malthuni Pass. The steep (915 m, 3000 ft) descent to Dibrugheta begins at this pass. The pass used to be guarded by an old iron sword, which was reportedly stolen and sold in 1980 to an Australian mountaineering expedition by a certain colourful and affluent guide from Lata, who, some people of Lata say, suffered divine retribution by losing all his wealth after the theft. The current sword was installed by the villagers of Lata to replace the old one.

N. Raghavendra <raghu at retrotexts dot net>
Updated: 2014-10-18T17:27:00+05:30