Majuli
River Island District Of Assam; Centre Of Assamese Vaishnavism; On UNESCO'S Tentative List · Garamur, Assam
One of the largest river islands in the world, in the middle of the Brahmaputra in upper Assam, and the heart of Assamese Vaishnavism, the devotional movement founded by the saint Sankaradeva in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The island is dotted with satras, monasteries where monks keep alive traditions of dance, drama, music and mask-making; at Samaguri satra, huge masks for religious theatre are still made by hand. The Raas festival in November, re-enacting the life of Krishna, is the island's great event. Majuli is also home to the Mising people, who live in houses on stilts above the flood line and weave distinctive textiles. The landscape is flat rice fields, wetlands full of birds, and the vast river. It is shrinking: erosion by the Brahmaputra has taken away a large part of its land over the last century, and the monsoon floods much of it every year. It is reached by a ferry from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat, and is best explored slowly by bicycle, staying in bamboo homestays.
Garamur, Majuli, Garamur, Assam, 785104, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: ferries between Nimati Ghat and Kamalabari run a limited number of crossings a day in daylight only, from early morning to mid-afternoon, and can be suspended in floods, storms or high water. Satras are open to visitors through the day, with prayers at dawn and dusk; satra museums keep shorter hours. Homestays serve as the base at night. Traps: missing the last ferry back, arriving in the monsoon when crossings stop, and turning up at a satra during prayers. Confirm the ferry schedule the day before travelling.