Krishna devotion surge in Majuli as people throng island

JORHAT: Thousands of people, from almost all parts of the state and tourists from across the country and abroad, have converged on Majuli to enjoy the Raas festival at the ancient hub of the Vaishnavite culture. The three-day festival that began on Thursday evening is scheduled to conclude on Sunday morning. Besides people from the upper and northern Assam districts of Jorhat, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Golaghat, Lakhimpur and Dhemaji, hundreds of people from Kolkata, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are visiting the island.Swapan Dutta, a tourist from Kolkata, who visited the island for the first time, said, "I have heard about the traditional Raas festival in Majuli since my childhood. However, I never had an opportunity of coming here earlier. This year, I decided to visit the island and arrived here on Wednesday. On arriving, I got a taste of the extraordinary beauty of nature and customs of the island. Me and my family are extremely happy to see such rich customs and traditions."He also added, "Raas in Majuli has an unique character and this keeps the identity Vaishnavism in Majuli intact." Another Raas festival participant, Haren Gogoi, who came from Dibrugarh said, "I came to Majuli to see Raas for the fifth consecutive year this time. I noticed that the gatherings at Raas pandals here is larger this time. The preparations at the satras (vaishnavite monasteries) on Raas attract the audiences to huge extents." "I will go to see the Raas at Rajiv Gandhi sports complex, where Assamese cine artists Arun Hazarika and Jupitara Bhuyan, will perform," said Paresh Bora, who came to the island from Lakhimpur.He also added, "Majuli turned into a sea of humanity, mixed with various caste, communities and religions during the last three days as thousands of people gathered here to enjoy the traditional Raas festival."Majuli SDO Krishna Boruah said, "The Raas festival in Majuli gets under way with traditional gaiety. Although, thousands of people gathered here for the festival, no untoward incident have been reported so far.""The tourist information centre, set up at Kamalabari, has played a key role for smooth operations during the festival," she added.