Have you heard about a river island? The world's largest river island?
Brahmaputra is one of the major rivers in Asia which flows through China, India
and Bangladesh. It's main source is from the Himalayas. And there is the
world's biggest river island in Brahmaputra river named as Majuli which became
the first island ever to be declared as a district in 2016.
The island is about 300 kilometres east from the state’s largest city
Guwahati. We began driving from Guwahati one fine morning headed towards this
wonder. It’s about a day's journey to reach Majuli from Guwahati but we stopped
at Nagaon and started early in the morning on second day. On the way we passed
Kaziranga national park where we saw some rhinos, elephants and deer on the
way. It was an unexpected jungle safari and we were so happy that we didn't pay
a single rupee for those beautiful sights. After that we headed towards Jorhat
city. We reached there at 2.30 pm and were looking for a way to reach Majuli.
The island is accessible by ferries from Nimati ghat in the city Jorhat. If you
have a car, you may choose private ferry which costs approximately 500 to 700
rupees and government ferry which costs 450 rupees only and more importantly if
you are traveling without any vehicle, you will require only 10 rupees to
reach! We loaded our car on the boat, and then two more cars were loaded one by
one with just enough space for a rat to pass in between. After that two
wheelers came on the top of boat and I was impressed by the skills to load
vehicles on the boat. Once the boat was full of people and vehicles, the driver
cranked the engine and our ferry started with excitement. I asked the ferry
manager, “Why is there no bridge over the river?” He said “The government will
build the bridge but it will take years and building a bridge on this big river
is quite hard as the river is wide and will require proper architectural
skills”. It took us 45 minutes to reach the island. The actual beauty of the
island starts from here. We know that the sun rises and sets earlier in the
east side of India. We reached island in the evening and by the time the sun
was going down and the twilight was welcoming us with the warm weather. We
stayed in a bamboo cottage. Bamboo is one of the strongest trees grown here and
it serves as one of the fundamental elements in building houses. These cottages
are strong enough in all seasons and are also beautiful. Staying in one such
cottage is an unique experience.
There is no need of any alarm to wake you up, the birds will chirp and sing
songs and do the job. The sun rays will pass through the veins of bamboo and
will help you to open your eyes. Majuli had an area of 880 square kilometres at
the beginning of the 20th century, but having lost significantly to erosion it
covers 352 square kilometres as in 2014. The population noted is above 160,000
approx.
On the first day we just chilled in our cottage. Next day we tried
to visit the main attraction 'Satras’. There are ethnic groups such as mishing,
deori, ahom, kalita. Garmur satra, Auniati satra and kamlabari satra are
communities which are Assamese Vaishnavite monasteries for religious practices.
These satras were found in 17th century and initiated by Ahom Kings. The
purpose of this satra is to motivate the minds of people through ritual
performances and to realize the existence of God. After visiting these peaceful
places we came back to our cottage. We went out for evening tea but suddenly it
started raining heavily and all the shops were closed. We couldn't find
anything to eat as all the hotels too were shut. We decided to have dinner in
the kitchen of our cottage. That dinner was delicious including masur daal
rice, roti, papad and tasty pickle. There we saw a board full of currencies
donated by foreigners who have visited the La Maison Cottage. We also met a
Maharashtrian “Marathi” family and we had fun together. We talked about our
journey and discussed many things and our chats went on and on and we lost
track of time. By the time we went to bed, it was already 2 am.
On the third day we spent some time in the cottage editing some videos
of our journey. In the evening we took a small trail along the countryside to
take some photos. At one place I heard “Hello sister, where are you from?” I
answered “We are from Maharashtra”. We got talking and he offered us home made
'rice beer’! We met Mr. Kamlakanta Kaman who sells organic products. He
educated us about the tribes and history of Assam. We gained a lot of
information about Majuli and how they make rice beer.
It was our last day in Majuli now and it was time to say goodbye. We had
a ferry in the afternoon at about 2 pm however we checked out early morning
hoping to catch some of the places we had missed out on. We visited the
Chamuguri satra which is famous for mask making and is near to the ferry
terminal. These masks are made by mixture of mud, cow dung and water. Some of
masks are used in Bhavana (local drama of Assam). The mouth portion of the mask
is movable to perform various emotions. The Raasleela is a popular festival for
people to maintain unity. This island is full of art and culture. The prime
occupation of the people here is farming and livestock, the women keep
themselves busy by weaving silk cloth on their handlooms. Local language here
is Assamese. You would hear songs in Assamese on chai tapari or on small shops.
If you are interested in reading books there is a cycle cafe where you will get
many books with the cup of Assam tea. Also the bicycles are on rent to chill
out around the village. Parotha, roti sabji and most important chai with sweet
(Saa aur mitha) is the staple food. If you are not on diet you can have tasty KFC food on the roadside. Yes,
you read it right! There is a small roadside tapri where you can have chicken
burgers and rolls exactly like the KFC ones. Beautiful nature and the peaceful
calmness is what attracts people here. We came at ferry terminal in the
afternoon and this was the time I wanted to sit on top of the boat. The women
are not allowed to sit on top of the boat but I got lucky! I really enjoyed the
beautiful view of Brahmaputra river. When we reached at the other side of the
terminal a manager asked me “Did you enjoy the ferry and life on the island?” I
said “Yes! It's one of the places I would love to go again and again!”
