Majuli

Majuli is a river island in the Brahmaputra that is smaller every year, and going there is partly about seeing something that is going. Erosion has taken more than half the island since the middle of the last century. You reach it by ferry from Nimati Ghat near Jorhat, which takes about an hour and runs to its own schedule rather than yours. What is there is the satras — Vaishnavite monasteries founded from the sixteenth century, where monks still perform the masked dance-dramas the tradition was built on. Kamalabari and Auniati are the ones to see; Samaguri is the satra where the masks themselves are made, and the mask-makers will show you the work if you ask. Rent a bicycle. The island is flat, the distances between satras are short, and the roads are quiet enough that this is genuinely the best way to move. November to March is dry and mild. Come during the monsoon and you will find the ferry unreliable and parts of the island under water — which is, in fairness, the honest version of the place.