Majuli- The world's largest river island in Assam. A place where the turbulent river water of Brahmaputra touches the calm blue sky and prepares a bed for the setting sun and the playing stars and moon.

April 23, 2020

Assam has been always my favourite destination for adventure tourism. The blue river water, Forests and wild life, the water bodies , green valleys and villages with traditional Assameese Bunglows have been always a favourite backdrop for mè to spread my wings and fly amidst nature. I had the unique experience of visiting Majuli, the world's largest river island in Assam located in the middle of the devastating Brahmaputra with an area of 1250 square kilometres. I had no idea about the vastness of Brahmaputra in Assam till I started my journey one fine morning towards Majuli from Neamatighat, Jorhat in a large barge carrying the light and the heavy vehicles like car, motorbykes and mini trucks along with almost 200 passengers and cattles. And that was a heart pounding experience for the next 2 hours.

It was monsoon time in Assam and the mighty Brahmaputra river was swelling with anger with the outrageous waves striking the small islands inbetween the water and swallowing away the river banks with unbelievable blasting noise. And our barge was heavily loaded and was swinging right and left because of the stormy wind and huge river waves. The unending trail of the river was touching the blue sky with white and dark shaded monsoon clouds creating a flabbergasted confluence of sky and river water causing a beautiful fear of getting lost in the vastness of nature. And in the whole journey of two hours, I could watch different species of birds accompanying us by sitting on the roof of the barge or flying with us throughout the journey. By the way, Majuli is one of the ideal location for bird watchers with more than 250 species of migratory and local birds visiting the island althroughout the year and specially in winters. We reached Majuli at 9 am in the morning with light drizzle inspite of a gentle sunshine and got into the car which was booked for the local sight seeing. We checked into the local government tourist lodge which was more or less neat and clean with no extravaganza, but with a surrounding of absolute green paddy fields and a series of coconut trees.

Majuli comprises of all characteristics of a traditional Assameese village with a fiesta of greenery with tranquil water bodies, flamboyant banana plantations, canopies of coconut trees standing tall and swinging with the cool breeze, huts and bunglows made of wooden planks, bamboos and thatches with drenched muddy roads and the petrichor causing out of rainfall on dry soil. The riverbeds of the island are made of white sand with beautiful beaches and calm lagoons giving you a close feel of Goa or Covalam sea beach. The fishermen fishing on the fresh water bodies with the cover of a transparent blue sky and pristine and pollution free environment everywhere. If you are a nature lover and fond of moving into a traditional Assameese village to sit on the shades of the trees and listen to the music of different species of birds or perhaps want to sit in the boat of a fisherman and venture into the middle of the mighty Brahmaputra or the serene and pristing blue water lagoons with every bit of fresh air, then Majuli is a perfect destination for you.

In the evening, take a walk into the villages and visit the beautiful religious Satras standing amidst calm and quiet environment which are actually the marks of the neo Vaishnovite culture of the island. The peaceful evening atmospheres in the Satras are unique and remarkable and are bound to purify your tired soul. Enjoy the traditional handloom shops with the local variety of mask manufacturers, the evening sunset with tbe flamed up red and gold sky at the bank of river Luit and then get into your guest house to enjoy a full moon night. If you can manage to sit in a boat of a fisherman at the white sand bank of Brahmaputra, then you can touch the reflection of the beautiful yellowish moon on the Brahmaputra water and count stars in a clear dark sky. You can be lucky enough to observe a shooting star in a clear sky. There are some bamboo huts for which bookings are available from Assam tourism. If you can stay inside the traditional bamboo huts and enjoy a camp fire in a winter moonlit night with Assameese Desi Chicken Curry and Rice, next day morning you can wake up with the complete essence of true Assameese culture and get into the barge to proceed towards Jorhat once again. But before leaving the Majuli island far into the swallow of Brahmaputra, you ought to look back towards the stretch of island with a pain stricken heart. Because of global warming and rise in the water level of Brahmaputra, the island is gradually getting under the river water every year. If the water level keep rising in the same way, then perhaps in next 15-20 years , the island will completely go under the water. So before it is too late, please make a visit to Majuli Island and gain a life time experience of staying in the world's largest river island.