Negheriting Shiva Doul

Negheriting Shiva Doul stands on a hillock near Dergaon in Golaghat district, about 1.5 km north of National Highway 37, and is a nationally protected monument. An older stone shrine here is mentioned in the Ahom chronicles during wars with the Kachari kingdom in the early 16th century. Natural calamities and a shift in the course of the Dihing river ruined it, and in 1765 the Ahom king Rajeswar Singha rebuilt it in brick, employing the architect Ghanashyam Khonikar and recovering the linga from the river.

The temple follows the panchayatana plan: the main Shiva shrine, housing a Banalinga about three feet across, is ringed by four smaller shrines to Vishnu, Ganesha, Surya and Durga. The name is said to come from the negheri, a bird once common here. Descendants of the priest appointed by the king still conduct worship, and the large troop of rhesus monkeys around the temple is part of its appeal.