With summer and the rainy season slowly bidding adieu, autumn is gradually making its presence felt. The autumn season, which Indian languages and tradition have glorified as the Sharat Ritu, typically covers October and November and is marked by a number of festivals. This pleasant period features cooler temperatures, clear skies, and a fresh atmosphere, making it an ideal time for travel, enjoying the various festivals, and the vibrant scenery. With the intense heat of summer subsiding, autumn leads to cool, pleasant weather with clear, crisp air. Looking around, one finds that the landscape remains lush and green from the monsoon, with clear skies providing excellent visibility of mountains and historical monuments. In Indian literature and traditions, the autumn – Sharat Ritu – is also a time of harvest, of spiritual renewal, and beauty, characterised by lush fields, blooming flowers like the Parijat – night-blooming jasmine – and the cool, pleasant weather that follows the monsoon. It symbolizes transition, the cycle of decay and growth, and a time for both reflection and festivities. Autumn is depicted as a golden gift to the Earth, with fields overflowing with ripe crops and trees laden with fruit. It marks a period of change and reflection, bridging the monsoon and the approaching winter, and is associated with a sense of both decay and divine splendour. The season is personified as a graceful and beautiful lady, characterised by the bloom of the Parijat and fragrant lotuses. In Assam, the kanhuwa blooms in the countryside and along riverbanks, and so does the sewali flower. Poets and artists too have always considered Sharat Ritu one of the most inspiring seasons. Be it Rabindranath Tagore or Bhupen Hazarika – every great poet and lyricist across India has sung the glory of this season in their own respective style. Bhupen Hazarika had, in one of his songs, described autumn as ‘Sharadi Rani’ – meaning queen of the seasons. In Assamese literature, Sharat is characterised by its association with the goddess Durga and the arrival of festive times and cultural renewal. Assamese poets and authors have also used rich, poetic language to describe the beauty of autumn, focusing on the harmonious interplay between nature and human emotions. This season is depicted with vivid natural imagery, such as white clouds and the blooming of several fragrant flowers, thus symbolising the purification of the land after the monsoon. It is a time of significant cultural and spiritual importance, marked by major festivals like Durga Puja, which represents a spiritual climax and a time for family and community gatherings.