Majuli

A vast river island in the Brahmaputra where Vaishnavite satras keep mask-making and dance traditions alive, facing the tea gardens of Jorhat.

Majuli, in Assam in northeast India, is a huge river island in the Brahmaputra. Once more than 1,200 sq km, it has shrunk to around 350–400 sq km through river erosion, yet remains one of the world's largest river islands, and in 2016 it became India's first island district. In the 15th–16th centuries the religious reformer Srimanta Sankardev spread Vaishnavism here, and more than twenty satras (monasteries that double as cultural centres) survive on the island, passing down Sattriya classical dance, the Bhaona religious drama and mask-making from generation to generation. Garamur and Kamalabari make the best bases: in the west, visit Auniati, Uttar Kamalabari and Garamur satras; in the east, the Samaguri mask workshops, Dakhinpat Satra and the pottery village of Salmora, with Mising stilt-house villages and birdwatching in the rice paddies and wetlands along the way. Across the river, Jorhat is the heart of Assam's tea country, and you can easily add the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary, tea estates and Molai Forest, planted by the "Forest Man of India". The best season is October to March, and the Raas festival around the November full moon is the liveliest time; June–September monsoon floods are frequent and ferries often stop. Getting there: travel to Jorhat (airport and railway station), then take the ferry from Nimati Ghat, about 1 hour, to the island; on the island, get around by hired car, motorbike or rented bicycle. Allow 2–3 days, staying in stilt-house homestays or satra guest rooms. Tips: ATMs are scarce, so bring enough cash; remove your shoes and dress modestly in the satras; ferry times change with water levels, so always check on the day.

Top sights

• Auniati Satra – A large Vaishnavite monastery founded in 1653 with support from the Ahom dynasty. It holds royal relics and ancient manuscripts and is fame…
• Uttar Kamalabari Satra – A satra renowned for Sattriya classical dance, where young monks practise dance and music. Visitors often come to watch, and it sometimes h…
• Samaguri Satra – The birthplace of Majuli's mask making. Visit the handicraft workshops and watch artisans shape mythological character masks from bamboo st…
• Natun Kamalabari Satra – Another satra of the Kamalabari tradition, which also preserves dance and music, located near Kamalabari town and easy to reach.
• Garamur Satra – An ancient satra in Garamur, the island's administrative center, where dance dramas run through the night during the Raas festival and anci…
• Dakhinpat Satra – An ancient satra founded in 1584, with prayer hall walls covered in colorful painted reliefs. It is one of the most beautifully decorated m…
• Bengenati Satra – A satra that holds the golden silk robe and gold umbrella of Ahom king Gadadhar Singha, a good place to learn about Ahom dynasty history.
• Mising Villages – Stilt-house villages of the Mising, the island's indigenous people, where you can see handloom weaving, taste apong rice beer, and experien…
• Salmora Pottery Village – A village that preserves the ancient hand-building method of pottery without a potter's wheel. Its wares were once shipped by river to mark…
• Nimati Ghat Ferry – The main ferry terminal for reaching the island from Jorhat, where a ferry crosses the wide Brahmaputra River in about an hour and can carr…
• Molai Forest – A forest that Jadav Payeng, known as India's Forest Man, planted single-handedly over decades on a sandbar, now home to elephants and birds.
• Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary – India's only gibbon sanctuary, where you can hike to look for western hoolock gibbons, along with slow lorises and six other primate specie…
• Thengal Manor & Jorhat Tea Estates – A colonial-era manor hotel in the Jorhat tea belt, where you can stay in a tea estate bungalow, watch tea pickers at work, and tour a tea f…

Where to eat

• Pulu Restaurant – A small eatery and guesthouse at the Kamalabari junction, known for traditional Assamese thalis made with Majuli's loca…
• Ural Restaurant – A local eatery in Garamur recommended in many travel write-ups, where you can try several of Majuli's rice varieties an…

Itineraries

• Assam: Rhinos, River Island & Ahom Capital – Travel east along the Brahmaputra River to see Kaziranga, the Satras of Majuli, and the Ahom royal tombs.