Assam

​Assam has a fascinating history and is the place where India actually meets Asia. The large and fertile Brahmaputra valley enabled large ancient civilisations - and invaders who wanted to take over those large rich civilisations! 
​But what we could see were the remnants of the Ahom kingdom at Sivasagar! 

Sivasagar, formerly known as Rangpur, was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom from 1699 to 1788. The Ahoms ruled Assam for six centuries until their kingdom fell to the Burmese in 1819 and their ruling class was all but wiped out.
​There is not much left of them, poor sods. For a kingdom that supposedly lasted 600 years, they surely didn’t do much building. They built a middling-size Shiva temple there - and excavated a big waterbody (a ‘sagar’) in front of it - and that gives rise to the name ’Siva-Sagar’. The original name of the capital - Rangpur - has been forgotten! 
​There are a few Ahom-era brick buildings  - A ‘Rang ghar’ where the king sat to enjoy watching the Netflix of his time - viz - animal fights and human fights…and probably dances and stuff
​There is a building which was famous for its underground chambers - ‘Talatal ghar’ …literally meaning ‘Underground house’ - but the Archeological survey has sealed off the underground parts! So it is now just a … ‘house’. 
​And there is  the old royal palace - the ‘Kareng ghar’ - but alas, nothing much is left of it either. Between the Burmese and the British - and Independent India - the place seems to have been stripped bare. 
​The most charming part for me was the lake, which was full of waterbirds. What a lovely sight. We chilled out by the lake side and watched the ducks and geese and storks and Jacanas  - and indeed the whole place was so green and relaxing that it was a pleasure just to hang out there. The monuments were low-key and inoffensive, and it was just a nice place to be. 
​Another thing that grabbed me were the posters of various fortune-telling charlatans! 
‘PDT. ROHIT SHASTRI PUSHKAR WALE!’ One poster screamed ‘Astrologer & Vastushastra! Visiting Hours - From 1pm to 6pm’ with a smug mug-shot of said seer. 
‘Pandit ji: Sri Nandlal Bhargav (7th Guru). Astrologer Numerologist Palmist Vastu Shastra’ said another one.  He even had a WhatsApp number and Facebook page, and his timing was 7am-11am 4pm - 8pm at the shree shree navagraha mandir

Fascinating! Why should there be fortune tellers from Rajasthan here? What’s the story? 
​Another very endearing thing was a plaque announcing that this ‘Rongghar park’ had been inaugurated by Ex Finance Minister and current Parliamentarian ‘MonMohan’ Singh in 2000. 

This was the mild-mannered but highly respected economist Dr Manmohan Singh, who went on to become the Prime Minister of India in 2009. The endearing part was the unique Assamese pronunciation which replaced the ‘aa’ sound with an ‘O’ sound wherever it can! 

Thus, ‘Rang’ became ‘Rong’; and ‘Manmohan’ became ‘Monmohan’. The sign-painter had clearly painted the words as he heard them in his mind! 

And no one has bothered to correct this for 20 years! 
​We left from there, and left to visit a place I had been very curious about - the island of Majuli, in the middle of the Brahmaputra river! 

And to get to the island, we needed to board a ferry from Jorhat! 

WOOHOO! Ferry! 
​We entered the boat, and everyone gave us a startled glance - the bulky riding gear gave us an air of menace and mystery. Men coughed nervously and looked away, while the women shied like scared horses and drew their skirts and sarees away. 
​It turned out to be a quiet and chill place - green and silent. It’s famous for its religious status - Majuli has been the cultural hub of Assamese civilization since the 16th century, largely due to the visit of Srimanta Sankardeva, a social reformer of that era. Sankardeva, a pioneer of the neo-Vaishnavite movement, preached Vaishnavism and established monasteries called satras on the island.
​It is also famous for the Majuli mask makers! These guys are renowned artisans who create traditional "Mukhas" (masks) used in Bhaona performances—an ancient form of Assamese theater introduced by  Sankardeva, whom I mentioned earlier - and I was keen to check them out. 
​We found a nice place to stay - a backpacker hotel in a house which was raised on stilts. It must be raining and flooding quite a bit out here to require the house to be built on such high stilts! 
​We had a great view too - beautiful waterlogged fields covered in wild flowers and frequented by a variety of birds! These guys have a nice life here - they grow paddy, rear fowl and cattle, catch fish and make a reasonable income through tourism. The place has a relaxed vibe - and while there is nothing spectacular to see or do, you can spend some peaceful time here. 
​The next day we checked out the ‘Satra’ monasteries - which are not much  to get excited about unless you are studying religion and want to stay here and experience the life here. 

And we checked out the mask makers. They seemed to be quite used to tourists and welcomed us in to see the mask makers at work. The masks are made from bamboo, clay, and cloth.A bamboo framework is covered with clay and cloth, then painted with natural colors. Some masks are made movable, with features like blinking eyes or opening mouths.
​Since these masks are used in religious dramas and enactments, they are all about Hindu mythological characters from the Ramayana and Mahabharata and sundry animal and demon faces. It was interesting to see the artisans at work - but in my opinion ( and Delzad’s too) the masks were  ugly and a bit smelly. 
​But just to encourage local artisans, we bought a few masks and the guy promised to send them over to Mumbai by courier. (And he faithfully did too! Unfortunately no one seemed to want them, so they went into a purgatory of some sort.) 
​Well, that was an easy and relaxed day in Majuli, and we caught the return ferry back to Jorhat. 

The ride was almost over now! 

Just the ride back to Guwahati!