Shillong, Meghalaya Sunrise & Sunset Times

Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, sits on a pine-covered plateau at about 1,496 metres in the Khasi Hills, earning it the nickname Scotland of the East. The city is known for its rolling hills, waterfalls, living root bridges, and the wettest places on Earth at nearby Cherrapunji and Mawsynram. Meghalaya's climate is cool and damp, with heavy monsoon rainfall and pleasant, dry winters.

Around the summer solstice, the sun rises at 04:30 and sets at 18:17, providing 13 hours 46 minutes of daylight — misty, rain-soaked days when waterfalls thunder down the limestone escarpments and the pine forests drip with moisture. During the winter solstice, sunrise comes at 06:02 and sunset at 16:37, with about 10 hours 35 minutes of daylight. Meghalaya's winters are cool and crisp, with blue skies and panoramic views from the plateau's edge over the Bangladesh plains far below.

The seasonal difference in sunrise times is 92 minutes, a moderate shift for India's northeast. During the morning blue hour (04:06 – 04:30) and golden hour (04:30 – 05:30), the sun rises over the Khasi Hills, casting warm light through the pine canopy onto Ward's Lake and the colonial-era bungalows of the city centre. In the evening golden hour (17:17 – 18:17) through blue hour (18:17 – 18:42), the sun sets behind the western escarpment, painting the rolling hills and the distant Umiam Lake in shades of amber and violet — a highland sunset that justifies Shillong's romantic nickname.