On the sixth day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought blessings at the Sri Sri Auniati Satra, a more than 350-year-old Vaishnavite monastery in Assam’s Majuli district, on Friday.
Dressed in a white ‘dhoti’ with a traditional Assamese ‘gamosa’ (scarf) around the neck, Mr. Gandhi interacted with the head of the monastery, Satradikar Pitambar Dev Goswami, and invited him to Delhi.
The Satradhikar shared a story about a meeting between former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the then-Satradhikar of Auniati Satra, the late Hem Chandra Goswami.
Mr. Gandhi briefly watched a “Bhaona,” a traditional art form, took photos of artists wearing famed Majuli masks and tried out a mask of Lord Hanuman, complete with a ‘gada’ (mace) in hand.
Established in 1663
“The Sri Sri Auniati Satra was established in 1663 in Majuli. It is a very important part of our country’s wonderfully diverse cultural and religious history. Lord Krishna is worshipped as Govinda with the original idol having brought from the Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri. Similar places of worship of this sampradaya exist at Nathdwara, Dwarka and Manipur,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
The largest inhabited river island in the world, Majuli is renowned as a site of Vaishnavite learning.
“Rahul ji explained that he is on a ‘yatra’ [journey] seeking peace, harmony, and justice. Upon hearing this, the revered Satradhikar blessed him,” Lok Sabha member Gaurav Gogoi, who accompanied Mr. Gandhi, told reporters.
At a public gathering in the district, Mr. Gandhi alleged that the BJP wanted to confine tribal people to forests and deprive them of education and other opportunities.
