Dreams Come True: Crown of The Brahmaputra

To properly set the mood for futuristic utopia, combine the elements of winter season and coldness in Guwahati, we planned to visit Peacock Island, the crown of The Brahmaputra.

We started our journey to the Island at dawn through different transits. First we reached Basistha Chariyali( Junction) by cycle rickshaw, and from there we travelled in private bus to Paltan bazar, from there we walked to reach Brahmaputra river jetty where we had to take a boat to reach the Island.

We managed to get a separate boat for 7 of us. Boatmen agreed to take us in his big motor boat by charging 100 INR per head; they also told us that it would take around half an hour to reach the Island from the river jetty.

Adding to the fear of flood in The Brahmaputra, water level was high enough and there were many high current whirlpools. After a fun filled journey of half an hour, we reached the Island. We could see the peacock shaped island after we were half way through.

After reaching the destination, we dated with nature for some time and enjoyed the beauty of Brahmaputra. After that we made a visit to god Umananda temple, a Shiva Temple which is located at the Peacock Island in middle of river Brahmaputra, built by the Ahom King Gadadhar Singha.

Shiva is said to have resided here in the form of Bhayananda. According to the Kalika Purana, in the beginning of the creation Shiva sprinkled ashes (bhasma) at this place and imparted knowledge to Parvathi (his consort). It is said that, when Shiva was in meditation on this hillock, Kamadeva interrupted his yoga and was therefore burnt to ashes by the fire of Shiva’s anger and hence the hillock got the name Bhasmacala. This mountain is also called Bhasmakuta. The Kalika Purana states that Urvasikunda is situated here and here resides the goddess Urvasi who brings Amrit (nectar) for the enjoyment of Kamakhya and hence the island got the name Urvasi Island.

The priest in the temple asked us to chant some mantra but we were not able to understand their language and as usual like other priest, they demanded us to put some dakshina (Donation) and we witnessed one among the rarest species of monkeys, The Golden Langur.

After visiting the temples, we started taking pictures in different corners to capture the beauty of sunset in The Brahmaputra. Wish we had a high resolution camera with us, no offense; we managed to take good enough display pictures.

After spending 2 to 3 hours in peacock island finally we said goodbye to Peacock Island. We all set our journey back to main city in same old luxury boat with same boatmen enjoying sunset.