After breakfast, drive to Sualkuchi , the Silk Village of Assam, famous for its weaving industry. The Assam weaving industry produces three unique varieties of silks, Muga (Golden Silk) , the warm Eri (Endi) and Pat (White Silk). Muga – the golden silk of Assam, is not produced anywhere else in the world.
The exquisite motifs in the ‘mekhela-chadors’ depict the Assamese culture & tradition and the flora & fauna of the State which are woven in a variety of colours. As one enters the village, the rhythm of the shuttles of the looms, the ‘Taat-xaal’ can be heard from each home! It is one of the world’s largest weaving villages, with about 74 % of the households, Nearly 5,000 families of the town engaged in commercial weaving exquisite silk fabrics.
The weaving saga cannot be complete without the Silk Story, that is the rearing of the silk worms. The story begins with the female silk moth laying hundreds of eggs. These eggs are stored by the silk worm farmers under the required temperature and humidity. As the eggs hatch, the larvae or the caterpillars are born. The caterpillars are fed the mulberry tree leaves in the breeding units. As caterpillars grow and mature, they are kept in secluded bamboo trays where they spin the cocoons. Once ready cocoons develops, the silk moth is ready to fly out. A unique practice comes in here, which makes the process known as ahimsa silk breeding. Unlike many sericulture breeding process, here the silkworms are not killed in the cocoon stage. Infact, they are safely allowed to transform into a silk moth and only then the cocoons are further exposed to the sun or boiled to segregate the silk fibre. The fibres are reeled in special machines to bring out the silk thread! One can witness this entire process in Sualkuchi.
Proceed further to Dadara (14 Kms / 30 mts), a village which offers a safe home for the endangered species of the greater adjutant stork, Hargila as called in Assamese. There are about only 1500 greater adjutant storks left in the world and the largest nestling colony, about 500 adjutant storks are found in Dadara. Meet the Hargila Army, led by Green Oscar Awardee, Smt Purnima Devi Barman, who have brought in a paradigm shift and this women army has adopted the greater adjutant storks and work for their conservation. The hargilas are depicted by the village women in various activities like motifs in their woven designs.
Later drive to Guwahati. Overnight in Guwahati
