For millions of Hindus in Assam, the rapid erosion of Majuli island is heartbreaking, as it is home to a string of ancient monasteries which have shaped the state's culture.

Many of Assam's music and dance traditions originated on the island, as did its predominant form of Hindu worship, which concentrates on Vishnu, the god of preservation.

"Civilisations have been created on the banks of every major river," said Bharat Saikia, a former member of the federal government's Brahmaputra Board. "The Brahmaputra had its own civilisation and Majuli became its focal point."

The island has been disintegrating rapidly since a major earthquake in 1950 changed the river's course and raised its bed. During the annual monsoon rains, the Brahmaputra reaches a width of three kms.

"The Brahmaputra is a dynamic force of nature and it creates and destroys anything that comes in its path," Saikia said. "Like we change clothes, the river changes Majuli."

At stake are 22 monasteries -- surrounded by ponds and bright yellow mustard fields -- set up in the 16th and 17th centuries by Sankardeva, a leading Hindu religious reformer who fought against the ancient caste system.

Officials are seeking world heritage status for the island.

For the more than 150,000 people living on Majuli, the steady demolition of their home has practical consequences as the river washes away houses and fields. Those who can afford to leave have done so but the majority are too poor to flee.

Surveys show the river has pruned the island's size to 875 sq km (340 sq miles) from 1,246 sq km in 1950.

The central government says it will implement an 850-million-rupee plan to save the island by diverting the flow of the river, and forcing it to deposit silt around Majuli.

It will also raise the height and width of mud embankments where island residents move to during floods.

But several monasteries close to the island's edge have already been swallowed by the river in the past few decades, and time is running out.