Umananda the amusing tourist spot of Assam

Umananda the amusing tourist spot of Assam

 The city of Guwahati   has numerous temples and tomb .  As It is boost of heritage temples and other ancient  religious  guildings. It  makes the city an irresistible attraction for the tourist  from all over the world. Out of  many numerous ancient temples in the Guwahati city . Umananda temple  is worth mentioning  into. It is  one of the excellent pilgrimage centre as well as an ideal  tourist spot which is situated  in the midst of the river  Brahmaputra at guwahati. Umananda  is the world’s smallest inhabited riverine Island . It is built on a small hillock . The mountain on which the temple is built is known as Bhasmacala. This mountain is also called Bhasmakuta.

 According to the history,  the temple of Umananda was built in the year 1694 A.D  by Bar Phukan  Garhganya  Handique  by the order of the  famous Ahom  king  Gadadhar Singha . He was a shaiviate . And he ordered to build  this temple to show his gratitude to the lord Shiva.  As it resembles  the shape of a peacock the Umananda Island  is also known as’peacock island’. One can easily reached to the temple  from Guwahati and North Guwahati by ferries or privately- hired motor boat .These boat service is available From the  kachahari ghat  . It almost takes 10-minute to reach the island . And it cost RS 10  per person for ride to temple . The ferries are arranged by the State Tourism Department for the tourists from all the parts of India and world. The motor boats are available everyday from 7am to 5 pm.

“lord shiva has created the Umananda island for his wife Parvati( another name Uma) to give  happiness and pleasure (in assamese Ananda) to her. So, this island is called umananda. There is also another temples on the island like  the Ganesha, Hara Gauri , Chalantika, Chandrashekhar and Vaidyanath temples.

Umananda temple is  a home to the species golden langur.  They are found  only in parts of  western Assam and the neighbouring  foothills of the Black mountains of  Bhutan. Like the one- horned rhino they are also the pride of Assam. The golden monkey is a great treasure to be preserved carefully.

 Everyday many pilgrims come to visit Umananda temple to worship the lord Shiva and the presiding deity. It is considered as one of the five principle pilgrims centres of Kamrup district. People from all over the world  come to visit  this island. The whole sorroundings of Umananda  grant beauty to it. The golden langur  looks majestic in their natural sorroundings. In, fact the golden langur  is one of the major attraction of  Umananda temple.

A Ferry rider remarks,” more than 500 people visit to Umananda temple everyday . out of which more than 5 people are foreign tourists. And the other visitors are from  out of Assam like Delhi, Calcutta, Haryana and the like and the rest people are from the Assam itself  and the local people of the city. Maximum the local people comes to visit here.”

However , some rock- cut figures  which represent  Ganesha, Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu , surya and other hindu deities were also seen on the temple.

Thus, the  Umananda temple which is  surrounded by the mighty Brahmaputra on all the sides attracts a number of devotees every year. It is famous for its angelic beauty. A10- minute ferry ride  from the river banks is very lovely and sedative .The place has a historical significance.  It is an  exotic  place  where you can enjoy both  spiritual & scenic beauty .And  the atmosphere  here  is a pure delight for activities like picnic, chilling and hanging out with friends or family members,  short trip, leisure day outing and much more. People can enjoy the  unique beauty of  island Umananda from the river banks.