Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures

The most ambitious museum in northeast India: seven floors of galleries covering the tribal cultures of all seven Northeast Indian states. The collection runs to thousands of objects — Naga headhunter trophies, Khasi weaving looms, Mizo bamboo flutes, Manipuri ritual masks — laid out by theme rather than tribe, so each floor compares textiles, weapons, or religion across the region.

The "Skywalk" on the roof is a glass-floored loop with views over Shillong, popular with school groups but not for the vertiginous. The whole visit takes two hours and is the best single primer you can get on the cultures of the Northeast before heading deeper into the hills.

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The seven-storey hexagonal building is shaped like a bamboo bird-trap, the kind Khasi villagers still set in the hills. The Salesians who run the museum chose the design after consulting with elders from all seven Northeast states — the same number as the building's floors.

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