10/12/2024
Exploring Majuli, The Shrinking Island in Assam.
This is how the Mising tribe lives in Majuli, the island that might be submerged over the next decade. As the area is prone to floods during the monsoon, the tribes living near the shores build their homes on stilts. The women weave cotton and silk dothes. Very little is sold, most is consumed for self and the family, some give to the satras or Vaishnava monasteries, on the island. The 22 satras are the core of the island, giving it the unique man-made connection with the creator.
Steeped in Vaishnavite culture and tribal lives, the island was called MazzaJ, Majoli until it became Majuli in the18th century. Majoli means land in the middle of two parallel rivers. The Brahmaputa was in the north and the Burhidihing in the south, the two meet at l.akhu. However, a series of earthquakes from 1661-1696, a catastrophic flood in 1750 and the Brahmaputra split into two branches. One remained on the original path and the other went towards the Burhidihing channel, and Majuli was forrned. Majuli, earlier known as Ratnapur, was also the capital of the powerful Chola kingdom.
Travel To India Tours B B Singh
