The smallest Inhabited River Island | Fusion - WeRIndia

Sitting a bit far from Guwahati city, perched on the huge Brahmaputra River, there is an island called Umananda. The specialty of the island is that it is the smallest inhabited river island in the world. The island has back stories for including how it got its name too.

Another one of the reasons as of to what makes the island special is that it is home to one of the most endangered species of primates – the golden langurs. The golden langurs are found only in parts of Western Assam and the neighbouring foothills of the Black mountains of Bhutan. They are considered sacred by the Himalayan people.

Most people come to the island to visit its famous Shiva temple, which is considered one of the five principal pilgrim centres (mukhya panchatirtha) of Kamrup. It is one of the major attractions of Guwahati city. There are five more temples on the island – the Ganesha, Hara Gauri, Chalantika, Chandrashekhar and Vaidyanath temples.

The Shiva temple was built by Ahom king Gadadhar Singha in 1694 A.D. However, it faced massive destruction due to the 1897 earthquake.

The number of trees has reduced here however. Earlier there was only one pathway which led to the temple. Now, most of the island was made reachable.

Foto di My pictures are CC0. When doing composings: da Pixabay (Free for Commercial Use)

Image Reference: https://pixabay.com/it/photos/acque-natura-lago-river-acqua-3095682/