Discover India

Crested in the bosom of the mighty Brahmaputra and fondly tucked up by Lohit and Khabalu with loving care, the land mass Majuli enjoys the priviledge of being the largest river island in the world. The inscap of its landscape cannot escape from the imagination of anyone travelling through it. Its individual distinctiveness is that it is not uphill, down dale, snow capped mountains or warbling mountain springs which put a tourist into the thrall in Majuli, but it is the freedom of the wind, the freedom of the rivers, the vistas of freedom opening up one after another, the freedom of the birds and the pristine primitiveness, simplicity and innocence of the people living for centuries at close proximity of nature that sways, excites and thrills the imagination of the tourists.

During the monsoon, the rivers swell and vast tracts of land are submerged. The old and the young, and even children steer clear on their rowing boats to safe destinations. No one seems scared of the swelling torrents and no depths seem unchartered water for them. The receding flood water leaves layers of white and greyish silt over the land and in autumn the land is a fire with colour. Land is "ploughed, plotted and pieced" and crops sprout up luxuriantly. The mustard seeds bloom into yellow gold, heave and sway in sprightly dance and ask an onlooker to share their joys. At night wild geese and ducks fly in flocks high above one's head to far-away destinations. Wild birds of a thousand kinds-local as well as migratory swarm the beels and rivers in Majuli.

Majuli is known the world over in academic circles for the Xatras which have preserved the Vaisnavite culture. Sankardeva gave classical songs, dances and dramas and a philosophy to the common people over five hundred years ago and a visit to the Xatras, and especially, on festival days like Janmastami or Rasa will inform any tourist that Xatria culture is an inexhaustible source of joy. The dances are colourful and spectacular and they can be unfailing sources of joy as well as subjects for research and investigation.

There are islands within islands in Majuli and like a capricious woman quickly changing her mood, the landmass keeps changing its shape after every summer. Its beauty reminds a visitor of the shifting reality of the rainbow.
Photo Source: www.majuli.org