stonehame lodge The great muddy-brown Brahmaputra River s ever-shifting puzzle of sandbanks includes Majuli, which a

Bus & Sumo Distance buses leave from the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) 8km east of Guwahati. Private bus operators run shuttle stonehame lodge services from their offices to the ISBT. With extensive networks are Network Travels (%2522007; GS Rd), Deep (%2152937; Heramba Prasad Borua (HPB) Rd) and Blue Hill (%2601490; HPB Rd). All companies charge the same regulated fares.

The great muddy-brown stonehame lodge Brahmaputra River s ever-shifting puzzle of sandbanks includes Majuli, which at around 421 sq km (2001 figures) is India s largest stonehame lodge river island (many locals will tell you that Majuli is the world s largest river island, but in fact this honour belongs to Brazil s Bananal Island). Size aside, what there is no doubting is Majuli s sheer beauty. The island is a relaxed, shimmering mat of glowing rice fields and water meadows bursting with flowers. Aside from relishing the laidback vibe that permeates island life, highlights of a visit include birdwatching and learning about neo- Vaishnavite stonehame lodge philosophy at one of Majuli s 22 ancient satras (Hindu Vaishnavite monasteries and centres for art). If all this makes Majuli stonehame lodge sounds like your kind of place then don t waste time getting there surveys indicate that at current levels of erosion the island will cease to exist within stonehame lodge 20 years.

1 Sights Kamakhya Mandir HINDU TEMPLE (admission for no queue/short queue/queue 500/100/free; stonehame lodge h8am-1pm stonehame lodge & 3pm-dusk) While Sati s disintegrated body parts rained toes on Kolkata (see p443), her yoni fell on Kamakhya Hill. This makes Kamakhya Mandir important for shakti (sensual tantric worship of female spiritual stonehame lodge power). Goats, pigeons and the occasional buffalo are ritually beheaded in a gory pavilion and the hot, dark inner womblike sanctum is painted red to signify sacrificial blood. The huge June/ July Ambubachi Mela celebrates the end of the mother goddess menstrual cycle with even more blood.

Dramatic if largely unadorned, this 1752 brick palace (Indian/foreigner 5/100; hdawn-dusk) is the last remnant of the Ahom s pre-Sivasagar capital. The unique stonehame lodge four-storey structure rises like a sharpened, stepped pyramid above an attractive stonehame lodge forest-and-paddy stonehame lodge setting spoilt by nearby electricity substations. It s 900m north of the Sivasagar stonehame lodge Sonari road: turn just before Gargaon (14km) from Sonari.