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Photos: Indian Tantric Fertility

Festival
ARTICLE
ASSAM

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FERTILITY FESTIVAL

IN PHOTOS

KAMAKHYA TEMPLE

TANTRIC

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By W S J S TA FF

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 Associated Press

About India Real Time

As the monsoon clouds roll into the northeastern part of India, devotees to a fierce Indian
goddess line up to celebrate the annual fertility festival, where hundreds of holy men
gather to perform tantric rituals at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati in the state of Assam.

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad
range of developments in business, markets, the economy,
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every single day in the worlds largest democracy. Regular
posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires

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posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires

reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main
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and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been
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Associated Press

The four-day festival which began on June 22 is called the Ambubachi or Ambubasi fair
where followers pray to a phallic-shaped stone and celebrate the menstrual cycle of the
Hindu goddess Kali.
In the picture above, a woman posed with two children dressed as Hindu gods Shiva and
the girl dressed like Shivas wife, Parvati, who is believed to be an avatar of the goddess
at whose alter worshipers gather. Legends associated with the fair include the husbandand-wife Hindu gods Shiva and Parvati.

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The temple where the statues of the goddess are housed remains closed during the
festival but believers gather in and around the 16th century temple to offer prayers.
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Show 5 More

Associated Press

In the picture above, a boy dressed like the Hindu god Shiva stood to attract alms as holy
men sitting behind him smoked marijuana. The fair attracts hundreds of recluses, mostly
holy men who come to meditate, smoke, sing, dance and pray in celebration.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, a Hindu holy woman sat in front of plates of uncooked rice as they waited for
the festival to begin on Sunday.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, Hindu holy women meditated outside the closed doors of the temple
amid statues covered in red vermilion dust.

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 Associated Press

Pictured above, an Indian man stood dressed like the female goddess Kali at the
Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati in the northeastern state of Assam.

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 Associated Press

The holy men who gather like to perform stunts, often standing on their heads or on one
leg for hours.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, an holy man used sandalwood paste on his forehead to draw out
the third eye. The mystical minds eye Hindus believe provide insight into a higher
consciousness.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, a young devotee dressed up as the Hindu god Shiva.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, a holy man smoked from a chillum or pipe on the grounds of the
Kamakhya temple in Gauhati.

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 Associated Press

In the picture above, a Hindu holy man, balanced a ball on his head as others watched
at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati.

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