Majuli, the largest river island in the world, is located in the state of Assam. This gorgeous island, in the midst of sea like the Brahmaputra, can be reached by ferry from a small town called Jorhat.
The moment we stepped down at Majuli, we were dead hungry and curious about the local cuisine, so we went straight to a small restaurant and ordered a thali. I, as a vegetarian, dreaded that I might have very limited options, but to my joy, the veg thali was a humble thali with a lot of local cuisines!
It had rice, nimbu tenga , simple potato bean dish, elephant apple pickle, torkari, daal, and 3 different chutneys of whose name I do not remember (my bad, I shouldn’t have trusted my brain to remember it). Nimbu Tenga is a special and delectable kind of lemon which is squeezed over rice before you begin eating. This is a common practice in Assam. I found this strange, but once I tried it, I asked for two more slices of nimbu Tenga. God, it tasted so delicious. Not too tangy or strong, just the right amount of lemony lemon. On the other hand, elephant apple is a small shrub that is kind of a thick flower. Elephants are fond of this shrub, and that’s how they get the name. It is a wild shrub and not meant for commercial consumption, but luckily I got to taste this very local cuisine. Torkari is nothing but a simple assortment of wet vegetables (This word, “Torkari“, sounds eerily similar to Kannada word “Tarkari” which also means vegetables…hmm, what’s the connection? ).
After eating up to the I-can-barely-walk level, I went crawling back to the car (hired cab). Did you know that Majuli is the cultural capital of Assam? That’s because saint Sankara introduced people of Majuli to a monotheistic form of Hinduism called Neo Vaishnavism. Sri Sankaradeva encouraged his disciples to reach God through art and so established 22 satras (similar to temples), with each satra having its own art form. We visited the Kamlbari satra where the mask-making art is world-renowned. We saw the famous artist Mr. Chandr himself at work.
Made with Bamboo, cow dung and clay, these masks depict some of the most unique interpretations of mythological character, Ravana being my favorite.
Mr.Chandr went ahead, with enthusiasm, to explain all the various masks he has made. These masks are used during the yearly raas festival with great pomp and rigor. We will have a dedicated post to discuss just this.
Mr.Chandr talked about raas and let us try on some of the masks.
Handloom is one of the major occupation among localities and their tribal handloom is world-famous. Handloom being our next stop, we saw the entire handloom run by an army of women. It helped them live a financially independent life. Looking at the quality and hard work done by these women, we purchased some traditional shawls and coats. Though expensive, they were worth it. The women here also trained and taught future generations the art of hand-looming.
Apart from handloom and art, most people here are engaged in paddy farming. Majuli has a rich and diverse agriculture tradition with more than 100 varieties of rice being grown here. We were all awestruck when we heard about the Komal Saul a unique type of rice that can be eaten after immersing the grains in warm water for 15 minutes! We also couldn’t believe that bao dhan rice grows underwater! Thanks to abundance of sweet Brahmaputra water around, these rice were remarkably unusual. We couldn’t help but buy them off the shelf immediately. After experimenting with both of them, we regretted not buying more. Both had their own novel flavor and fragrance. It could be eaten with just nimbu tenga and salt.
By the end of the day, we were feeling ethereal. We didn’t want to leave this mystical place but we had to for the last ferry was calling. Taking home many new experiences was transcendental. Lost in the depth of the beautiful Brahmaputra and this river island, we had to go back with a heavy heart.
These people, culture and art forms, the innocence untouched by any kind of modernism need to be protected and nurtured. I definitely wish to visit this place once again. In fact, I encourage everyone to experience and visit this place and help the world recognize and remember Majuli and it’s people. I was surprised by how little we have explored the world and how unique some traditions and cultures are just within India. From rice to raas, from Raavan to Raghav, from small river island Majuli to large majestic Brahmaputra, Majuli was a world within itself that transformed itself into gods abode for art and spirituality.