Stilt houses
Made of bamboo.
Arshadur Rahman — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dhrubazaan Photography — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Shikhers — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Adrian Scottow — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Nayan j Nath — CC BY-SA 4.0
Majuli is the largest river island in Assam, bordered by the Brahmaputra River to the south and east, the Subansiri River to the west and a branch of the Brahmaputra to the north, about 28 km in a straight line north of the city of Jorhat. Guinness World Records lists it as the world's largest river island, though other sources give that title to Bananal Island in Brazil. The island is home to Mising, Deori and Sonowal Kachari communities and is a centre of Assamese neo-Vaishnavite culture, whose monasteries, called satras, keep traditions of dance, music and crafts. In 2016 it became the first island in India to be made a district, and it has been on UNESCO's tentative World Heritage list since 2004. The landscape is flat and green: rice fields, wetlands, bamboo houses raised on stilts, and channels where boatmen pole small wooden boats at sunset. Local craftspeople make bamboo cups and bowls and traditional masks, and the wetlands draw migratory birds in winter. Majuli is reached by ferry from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat. Monsoon floods reshape the island every year, so October to March is the best time to visit, and you should allow at least a full day.
Made of bamboo.
Dance and music.
Wooden boats.
Brahmaputra River, Assam, India
By ferry from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat.
October to March.