are three sects in Assam. Firstly, the Mahapurushias,
who follow more or less faithfully the doctrines of Sankar and
Madhab. They admit Sudras as religious teachers and abbots, and lay
little stress on caste while not entirely rejecting it. They abstain
almost entirely from the use of images in worship, the only exception
being that a small figure of Krishna in the form of Vaikuntha
Natha is found in their temples. It is not the principal object of
veneration but stands to the left of a throne on which lies a copy of
the Namghosha.[646] This, together with the foot-prints of Sankar and
Madhab, receives the homage of the faithful. The chief centre of the
Mahapurushias is Barpeta, but they have also monasteries on the Majuli
Island and elsewhere. Secondly, the Bamunia monasteries, with a large
lay following, represent a brahmanized form of the Mahapurushia faith.
This movement began in the life-time of Madhab. Many of his Brahman
disciples seceded from him and founded separate communities which
insisted on the observance of caste (especially on the necessity of
religious teachers being Brahmans) but tolerated image-worship and the
use of some kinds of flesh as food. Though this sect was persecuted by
the Ahom kings,[647] they were strong enough to maintain themselves. A
compromise was effected in the reign of Rudra Singh (1696-1714), by
which their abbots were shown all honour but were assigned the Majuli
Island in the upper Brahmaputra as their chief, if not only,
residence. This island is still studded with numerous _Sattras_ or
monasteries, the largest of which contain three or four hundred monks,
known as Bhakats (Bhaktas). They take no vows and wear no special
costume but are obliged to be celibate while they remain in the
sattra. The Mahapurushia and Bamunia monasteries are of similar
appearance, and in externals (though not in doctrine) seem to have
been influenced by the Lamaism of the neighbouring regions of Sikhim
and Tibet. The temples are long, low, wooden buildings, covered by
roofs of corrugated iron or thatched, and containing inside a nave
with two rows of wooden pillars which leads to a sanctuary divided
from it by a screen. The third sect are the Moamarias, of political
rather than religious importance. They represent a democratic element,
recruited from non-Hindu tribes, which seceded even in the life-time
of Sankar Deb. They appear to reject nearly all Hindu observances and
to worship aboriginal deitie