New Delhi – Before the tonga, Ikka was prevalent in India. In 1904, William Gilbert, in his Anthropological Description of India, identified the tonga as the most common mode of transport. He said that the tonga was different from the Ikka, but both were horse-drawn carriages. There was a time when Shillong and Guwahati were also connected by a daily tonga service. With the increasing popularity of three wheeler autorickshaws, the use of tongas in most of the cities of India is dying out. Tangs are actually banned from public roads in some areas. Foreign tourists still enjoy a lot by riding on it around the Taj Mahal.
Tanga can still be seen in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. In addition to modern modes of transport, tongas still provide services at the entrance of railway stations and bus stops to transport goods and passengers to their destinations in many small towns in North India. The culture of Tanga is disappearing due to the speed of modern transport and earning of people. However, still some people want to keep this tradition alive. Foreign tourists still ride on it to experience it.
