I heard about Majuli Island during my posting in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvation which is now called Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation. During one of my official tours, I visited Majuli as we have one of our offices in the Islands and there were certain issues which were to be discussed with the officials posted in Majuli.
Majuli, situated in the Brahmaputra River is the largest river Island in the World and the first Island to be declared District in India. When I visited Majuli, the sitting MLA of this District was the Chief Minister of Assam.
Initially, the total area of Majuli was 880 Sq. Kms which has now been reduced to 553 Sq. Kms as the Brahmaputra has grown in the size which led to the erosion.
Majuli can boast of its literacy, with a total number of 584 educational Institutes for a population of 1.67 lakh (as per 2011 census). The details of these Institutes as provided by one of the officers, are as under:
Category of School Number of school
Govt. / Prov LP School 440
Govt. / Prov. ME School 46
Govt./ Prov MV School 20
Govt. / Prov. Composite School 66
Govt. / Prov Secondary & HS School 7
Sanskrit 5
Besides these, there are colleges also. This number of Institutes is quite impressive if we compare it with the area and population with other states / districts of our country.
One of the school buildings in Majuli.👇
The main inhabitants of Majuli are from Mishing tribe with their faith in Hinduism and mainly these are Vaishvanites. Their monasteries are called Satras which are 22 today. These Satras are worth visiting for their architecture and mainly the treasure and artefacts of old kingdoms which are now in the possession of the Head of the Satra.
We travelled by road from Guwahati to Neamati Ghat after crossing Kaziranga National Park and Jorhat. The whole journey left me mesmerized specially while crossing Kaziranga National Park. I believe that if one wants to enjoy the journey then must travel either by road or train.
Cows are considered to be sacred that's why we see them every where around us. Here also, at Neamati Ghat we were welcomed by stray cows and calves. Here these cows were busy in cajoling each other.
We boarded the official boat from Neamati Ghat which is few kilometers from Jorhat and situated at the banks of mammoth Brahamaputra River.
Since it was an official tour, we crossed the Brahmaputra River in official boat. 👇👇 Though, it is a very basic boat but when I rode on this, the feeling was nothing less than of King, ooops Queen.
There was a small cabin but who wanted to sit in the cabin??
Majuli, the largest river island in the world is in Brahmaputra River. Brahmaputra River itself is so huge that we can't see its shore specially at Neamati Ghat. It seems like an ocean.
Cabin of our luxurious boat👇👇
I do not know that why these boys are not given uniform even when they are sailing the official boat. With a specified uniform the grace as well as the feeling of discipline comes automatically.
👇Our Captain in his Uniform😀😀
Clouds giving us company on our ride with their reflection in the water below.
Boy controlling the boat. 👇
There are no signs in the oceans and there are no compass or any other equipment to guide them, but these are sailing their boats with their common sense and the experience which they have gained after years of practice probably under the guidance of their seniors.
My colleague, on board discussing some issue....... 👇
.........and clicking pictures.👇
Sun shining with full power on the river and leaving its trail in the water below.👇
We, in Delhi are not used to such bright sun for the reason being that most of the time we remain inside because of our official schedule and secondly we get a cover of thick layer of pollution.
But, I enjoyed the sun for full one hour as the boat took one hour to reach to Majuli.
Currents in Brahamputra👇👇 From the Boat these currents appear as Ballets for our enjoyment. For regular passengers it may not be something unique but to me it was worth to be photographed.
Another ferry carrying passengers alongwith their vehicles
which is a daily routine.
From Neamati Ghat, boat takes one hour as it is going down stream.
After full one hour in water, our Boat approached the other side of Bank of Brahmaputra
The Majuli Island our destination.
Workers busy in unloading the material from Boats at Majuli. There are no proper platforms for unloading these as well as for the people to alight from boat. For the purpose, they use wooden planks. 👇👇
Majuli, the largest river Island of World Welcomes
Circuit House at Majuli. I have seen in many Circuit houses that there is a tradition of naming the rooms with the names of rivers. Here also all the rooms have their names on rivers of Assam.
In the evening we went out to see the nearby area. The moment we reached the market area, we found it very noisy. No, the market was not thronged with people but these ere loudspeakers who were connected to radio and which was broadcasting the news in Assamese language or the local language. Though, it was very noisy but I found it quite amusing, This kind of community radio I saw in our village when during summer vacation we used to visit.
Next day after the official meeting, visited few places including a village.
Since, it rains heavily in Assam and this area remains under water for longer period, therefore, their houses are on a raised platform. But the space under the platform is also used as they have fixed looms and also used to keep the animals.
I read about these Bamboo houses in my Primary class text books but got the chance to see these houses after decades. These are actually self sufficient people. They can built and repair their houses on their own as per the requirement.
They are still using the hand pumps for water whereas our Governments claimed that every household has been provided with the tap water.
The live stock enjoying the sun.
Here the platform is made of concrete which probably shows the financial condition of these people.
They do not have stairs as we are used to, their stairs are a log with cuts on it. These cuts are steps of the stairs.
I found it really amazing that the Punjabi dress i.e. Kurta-Pyjama with dupatta is adopted by all nation wide. It has become a sort of national dress which is being worn in every part of our country. Here in this remote, this girl is wearing Punjabi dress.
I bought Mekhla from her.
Since, Majuli is surrounded by water from all sides, therefore, there are too much mosquitoes in all sizes. I have found two things which were quite impressive. One, every house even though it was a bamboo house, has a toilet and second thing that the they have kept the barns covered with mosquito nets whether these are cows or pigs.
Some have houses made of material other than bamboos with tin shades over head. How could they survive the heat under these tin shades. Couldn't get the time to see this house from inside so cant say that how they beat the heat.
The traditional dress of Majuli or Assam is Mekhla which is a three piece dress. it has a certain style to wear. I wanted to buy one Mekhla for myself, so my colleague from Majuli Mr. Deben Sarma is helping me to buy this hand woven dress. I can't under stand Assamese and she can't under Hindi so Mr. Sarma is helping me out.
I purchased one in black with the traditional design and I wore it in Delhi with a pride. Prior to that, I wore Mekhla during my another visit to NERIWALM in Tezpur and the Professors in NERIWALM felt very happy. One of them complimented "Madam, it is an honor that you prefer to wear Mekhla", which gave me also a feeling of pride.
One day, when I was travelling in Metro one unknown lady approached me just to praise my Mekhla which I was wearing that day.
The inside of a house. Here, the local liquor is brewing up. Whenever I see such houses, I often compare our houses and our lifestyle and always wonder whether these people are satisfied with their lives?? There are just few items in their homes which are necessary to live a life and they are leading a comfortable life, whereas, we in metros have filled our houses with so many things which we feel necessity. Are these actual necessities or an ego satisfaction.
I tried to talk to her but she evaded. She was very shy.
Here another Mekhla is on loom. I have rarely found a fat lady in Assam that's why the Mekhla I purchased for myself short in size.
They have bamboo houses but they have dish antenna of Airtel.
Airtel will be very happy to see this picture.
A local inhabitant of Majuli who came to meet us out of curiosity. It is really strange that ladies in villages or in even cities also prefer to stick to traditional outfits baring few in the bigger cities whereas men they prefer bush shirts, pants and shorts even if we go to the remotest villages.
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The Ministry of Jal Shakti is making efforts to stop the land erosion. It has adopted various methods such as Geo-Textile bags, Porcupines, Spurs etc. RCC porcupines to stop the erosion is a new methodology which is durable and low cost besides being eco friendly. These efforts have actually reduced the intensity of erosion in the banks of Brahmaputra.
The another method to stop erosion is Geo-Textile bags 👇👇
These Geo bags are covered with boulders and iron mesh.
The police station has a pucca building.
True it has to be after all they are the protectors.
Mushrooms growing in trunk it actually gives an impression of a mouth full of ulcers.
A local fisherman, trying to evade the sunlight.
Here, the sun is very hot because there is no pollution whereas in Delhi, we got a protection from sun as there is a thick layer of pollution.
They have the traditional ways of fishing.
A hotel in Majuli. It is good that the Hotel is built in the style of traditional huts
For the first time in my life I saw a hive like this
It was time to say goodbye to Majuli. On reaching the banks of Brahmaputra, our so called captain started the boat.
Here in the picture down below he is paving the way for our boat by pushing the other boat.
I spent only one night in Majuli and left for mainland after lunch. Could not get time to explore Majuli. I wish I could have had spent much time there. Probably, I may get another chance.
With heavy heart I bid adieu Majuli.
