As a braided river — one that divides into a labyrinth of tributaries and channels — the Brahmaputra was essentially tossed off its tracks after a major earthquake in 1950. The quake raised the river’s floor, increased its load of sediment from the Himalayas and shifted some of the deeper channels so that currents began pounding Majuli.

Arupjyoti Saikia, a historian and expert on the Brahmaputra who teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, said that Majuli became an island in the 1760s, after a previous earthquake led to new river channels that severed the area from the mainland and, in doing so, isolated a major hub of Assamese culture and religion. Since the 15th century, Majuli has been a center of Vaishnavism, a monotheistic branch of Hinduism centered on the god Vishnu and his avatar Krishna.

Today, there are 36 monasteries, known as satras, yet erosion has forced several of them to relocate within the island. Another 28 monasteries have been moved off the island altogether.

“We believe that if we worship the Brahmaputra and make all the prayer offerings, then the river will not disturb us,” said one Vaishnavite priest, Ajit Sharma, as he sat cross-legged in a satra.

In recent years, government officials nominated Majuli as a candidate for World Heritage status under Unesco, though the initial application was returned because of various problems. Laya Madduri, the island’s highest ranking civil servant, said local leaders were now trying to organize preservation plans for the remaining satras and also draft a comprehensive conservation plan for the entire island.

Estimating exactly how much erosion has occurred is a matter of debate. Data collected in 1901 suggested that the island was more than 463 square miles; but this figure may have included other surrounding islands and riverbeds. A 2004 academic study concluded that Majuli had eroded to 163 square miles in 2001 from 290 square miles in 1917. And where the island once had 49 named streams in 1917, the number had dropped to 7 by 1972.

“There are other braided rivers in the world,” Professor Saikia said. “But because of the earthquake, the river continues to suffer, and to fluctuate. The river is still very, very unstable.”