Once, Majuli was the largest river island in the world, covering 1,200 sq km and home to over 200 villages. But every year, the Brahmaputra takes a bigger bite out of the island, eroding its shoreline further and further. It’s now just 880 sq km in area, and if current projections are to be believed, it’ll be gone altogether in the next 20 years.

Despite its precariousness, life on Majuli is in many ways idyllic. This is one of the cleanest and friendliest pockets of the country, worlds apart from the chaos India is known for. Local people – most of them from the Mising tribe, who migrated here from the Himalayas centuries ago – live in bamboo-and-thatch stilt houses, live off the land and get around by bicycle. Cycling along country tracks will take you past women weaving at handlooms, men working in the fields, fishermen heading out in their boats, and herds of cows and goats ambling across wide-open grasslands.

Stop in at one of the island’s ‘satras’ – which combine elements of temple, monastery, school and arts center – and you might meet local monks chanting prayers, making ceremonial masks, or putting on festivals with music and dance performances. Powercuts are commonplace, and evenings are often lit by candlelight and fireflies.

What might yet save Majuli is its importance as a pilgrimage center for the Vaishnavite sect of Hinduism, which has earnt the island a place on UNESCO’s tentative list for World Heritage status. Of a former 60-plus satras, only 22 are now left, and inscription on the list would mean international funds for their protection.