Brahamaputra Basin

Brahamaputra Basin
9. Water tourism sites
The Brahmaputra basin is famous for its scenic beauty, its colourful legends and rituals, traditions
and ethos. The basin is enriched with large variety of water tourism places including pilgrimage
places, sanctuaries, national parks, lakes, and many more. Best season to visit this region is from
October to April.
The major Pilgrimage sites of the basin are the Buddhist monastery at Tawang, Famous Rumtek
Monastery of Gangtok, and the Parasuram Kunda on Lohit river in Arunachal Pradesh, the Siva doul
(temple) and other monuments of the Ahom rule in upper Assam, Biswanath temple, Nagsankar
temple, Da-Parbatia and Mahabhairav temple near Tezpur, Barpeta Satra and Kirtan Ghar,
Batadrawa Satra, Haigrib-Madhab temple and Poa-Mecca at Hajo, Kamakhya temple in Guwahati,
Gurudwara and Rangamati mosque in Dhubri district are some of the ancient monuments of great
repute and reverence on the banks of the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries. Other temples of
significance include Umananda temple perched on a rocky island in the Brahmaputra, Ugratara
temple, Chatrakar temple, Viswakarma temple, Basistha Ashram temple in and around the Guwahati
city. Majuli Island in the middle of the Brahmaputra River, off Jorhat town in Upper Assam, is the
most venerated and thriving nerve centre of the Neo-Vaishnavite religio-cultural heritage of Assam.
The Biodiversity of the Brahmaputra basin makes it one of the popular tourist spots for wildlife
enthusiasts since it houses a wide variety of exotic flora and fauna. The Wildlife Sanctuaries and
National Park like Kaziranga National Park in the basin are home to number of endangered species of
wildlife. The Manas and Kaziranga have been listed as two World Heritage Sites. The Manas is a tiger
sanctuary and at the same time, Kaziranga houses the endangered Indian Rhinoceros.
Tsomgo Lake, a glacial lake in the East Sikkim, Chandubi Lake a natural lake located in Kamrup
district of Lower Assam, Umiam lake of Meghalaya, Sibsagar Lake of Assam, Dheer Beel of Dhubri,
Koya Kujiya Lake of Assam, the Ramsar site ‘Deepor Beel’of Guwahati are important lakes/ wetland
of immense tourist importance because of their scenic beauty.
The different tourism sites of the basin are categorically summarised in the Table 14. Spatial
Distribution of Water Tourism Sites/Important District Centre/Industrial Centre in the basin are
shown in the Map 20. Detail inventory of tourism sites of this basin are listed in Annexure VII: A & B.
www.india-wris.nrsc.gov.in
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