Gogoi pushes for World Heritage tag for Assam river island

"Majuli is the lifeline of Assamese culture and a pride of the state. Its distinct Sankari (Vaishnavite) religion and culture together with its unique geographical location has given Majuli a pride of place not only in the state but also outside," Gogoi said.

"Every effort must be made to bring the unique riverine island and the seat of Vaishnavite culture to the centre stage by ensuring that it gets Unesco's World Heritage Site tag this time," said Gogoi while speaking at a seminar on "Majuli's Cultural Landscape - Heritage Value - Future" held here.

Assam has been vying for enlisting the river island as a heritage site since 2004 but losing out either due to lack of technical details in the dossier or non-compliance of Unesco's set rules.

The seminar was organised by the Majuli Cultural Landscape Management Authority (MCLMA) to discuss with various stakeholders the preparation of a fresh dossier to be submitted to the World Heritage Committee of the Unesco for the much coveted tag.