27th March 2017
World’s smallest river island: Umananda
Myth has it that Lord Shiva created for her a place in the bosom of the mighty Brahmaputra to please his wife Goddess Parvati. The island came to be known as Umananda (Uma is another name of Parvati, and ananda in Sanskrit means ‘happiness’). Once, while meditating here, he was interrupted by Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love. This made Shiva angry and he reduced Kamadeva to a heap of ashes. And the little island got its second moniker, Bhasmachal (in Assamese, ‘hill of ashes’).
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