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Kamakhya Temple - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kamakhya Temple

Coordinates: 26.166426N 91.705509E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peeth temple

situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati
city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of
individual temples dedicated to different forms of the
mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including
Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta, Tripura
Sundari and Tara.[1] It is an important pilgrimage
destination for general Hindu and Tantric worshipers.

Kamakhya Temple

Contents
1 Description
2 Worship
3 Legends
4 Kamakhya during Ahom era
5 Festivals
6 Notes
7 References
8 External links
Kamakhaya Temple, Guwahati

Description
The temple was built in first millennium during the time of
Kamarupa. Allahabad rock inscriptions of Samudragupta
mentioned about it. Temple was destroyed during the
middle of second millennium and revised temple structure
was constructed in 1565 by Chilarai of the Koch dynasty
in the style of medieval temples.[2] The current structure
has a beehive-like shikhara with delightful sculptured
panels and images of Ganesha and other Hindu gods and
goddesses on the outside .[3] The temple consists of three
major chambers. The western chamber is large and
rectangular and is not used by the general pilgrims for
worship. The middle chamber is a square, with a small
idol of the Goddess, a later addition. The walls of this
chamber contain sculpted images of Naranarayana,
related inscriptions and other gods.[4] The middle
chamber leads to the sanctum sanctorum of the temple
in the form of a cave, which consists of no image but a
natural underground spring that flows through a yonishaped cleft in the bedrock. During the Ambuvaci festival
each summer,the menstruation of the Goddess Kamakhya
is celebrated. During this time, the water in the main shrine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakhya_Temple

Kamakhya
Temple

Location in Assam

Coordinates: 26.166426N 91.705509E

Name
Other names: Shakti Peeth
Proper name: Kamakhya Temple
Bengali: Maa Tara
Location
Country: India
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runs red with iron oxide resembling menstrual fluid.

It is likely that this is an ancient Khasi sacrificial site, and
worshiping here still includes sacrifices. Devotees come
every morning with goats to offer to Shakti.[5]
The Kalika Purana, an ancient work in Sanskrit describes
Kamakhya as the yielder of all desires, the young bride of
Shiva, and the giver of salvation.Shakti is known as
Kamakhya.
Kamakhya Temple in Himachal Pradesh.
The Kamakhya temple in the forest region of Polian
Purohitan in Una District of Himachal State is situated at
about 600 mt above sea level. The Pindi,was brought
over by the Rajpurohits of Brahaminical - Aryan descent
of the sage Vatsayan some 800 years ago after the
invasion of the Shans in 1200C, with the destruction of
the first tantric ritual site. The worshippers escaped in
mass migration from the Garo-Khasi hill region of Assam,
via the Tibet Himalaya silk route to Kashmir .While some
left for the north west frontiers, a few families of the
Brahamin Vatsayan Rajpurohits sanctified the tantric
Kamakhyakuldevi in the wilderness of an isolated forest
hill in Polian Purohitan.

Worship

State: Assam
District: Guwahati
Location: Nilachal HillTilla, near
Guwahati
Architecture and culture
Primary deity: Kamakhya
Important festivals: Durga Pooja & Maha
Shivratri
Architectural Unknown
styles:
Number of temples: 6
Number of 6
monuments:
History
Date built: 1564-63
(Current structure)

Creator: Kamarupa, Chilarai

(maintenance)
Adi S hakti Peethas

The first tantric

Kamakhya Temple
was destroyed
during the Mongol
invasion in the
Nilachal hills in the
12 BC, so was the
fate of the second
tantric temple
destroyed in the
Sculptures carved on the temple
Muslim attacks,
probably by the
Hindu convert Muslim warrior 'Kala Pahad'. The Brahaminical
Kalighat Taratarini
legend of the 'Shakti' in the later period led to the worship of
Kamakhya Bimala
the tantric goddess as Hindu 'Shakti' goddess. The worship of
all female deity in Assam symbolizes the "fusion of faiths and
practices" of Aryan and non-Aryan elements in Assam.[6] The different names associated with the goddess are
names of local Aryan and non-Aryan goddesses (Kakati 1989, p38).[7] The Yogini Tantra mentions that the
religion of the Yogini Pitha is of Kirata origin.[8] According to Banikanta Kakati, there existed a tradition
among the priests established by Naranarayana that the Garos, a matrilineal people, offered worship at the
earlier Kamakhya site by sacrificing pigs (Kakati 1989, p37).
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The goddess is worshiped according to both the Vamachara (Left-Hand Path) as well as the Dakshinachara
(Right-Hand Path) modes of worship (Kakati, 1989 p45). Offerings to the goddess are usually flowers, but
might include animal sacrifices. In general female animals are exempt from sacrifice, a rule that is relaxed during
mass sacrifices (Kakati 1989, p65).[9]

Legends
Vatsayana,a Vedic Sage in Varanasi during the later first Century was approached by the King in the Himalayan
region (now Nepal) to find a solution to convert the tribals and their rituals of human sacrifice to a more socially
accepted worship. The Sage suggested the worship of a tantric goddess Tara that spread towards the eastern
Himalayan belt till the Garo Hills where the tribals worshipped a fertility 'yoni' goddess 'Kameke'. It was much
later in the later Brahaminical period Kalika Purana that most tantric goddess were related to the legend of
'Shakti' and began to be erroneously worshipped as a 'devi' by the Hindus.
According to the Kalika Purana, Kamakhya Temple denotes the spot where Sati used to retire in secret to
satisfy her amour with Shiva, and it was also the place where her yoni fell after Shiva danced with the corpse of
Sati.[10] This is not corroborated in the Devi Bhagavata, which lists 108 places associated with Sati's body,
though Kamakhya finds a mention in a supplementary list.[11] The Yogini Tantra, a latter work, ignores the
origin of Kamakhya given in Kalika Purana and associates Kamakhya with the goddess Kali and emphasizes
the creative symbolism of the yoni.[12]

Kamakhya during Ahom era

According to a legend the Koch Bihar royal family was banned by Devi herself from offering puja at the temple.
In fear of this curse, to this day no descendants of that family dares to even look upward towards the
Kamakhya hill while passing by.
Without the support of the Koch royal family the temple faced lot of hardship. By the end of 1658, the Ahoms
under king Jayadhvaj Singha had conquered the Western Assam and their interests in the temple grew. In the
decades that followed the Ahom kings, all who were either devout Shaivite or Shakta continued to support the
temple by rebuilding and renovating it.
Rudra Singha (reign 1696 to 1714) was a devout Hindu and as he grew older he decided to formally embrace
the religion and become an orthodox Hindu by being initiated or taking sharan of a Guru, who would teach him
the mantras and become his spiritual guide. But, he could not bear the thought of humbling himself in front a
Brahmin who is his subject. He therefore sent envoys to Bengal and summoned Krishnaram Bhattacharyya, a
famous mahant of Shakta sect who lived in Malipota, near Santipur in Nadia district. The mahant was unwilling
to come, but consented on being promised to be given the care of the Kamakhya temple to him. Though the
king did not take sharan, he satisfied the mahant by ordering his sons and the Brahmins in his entourage to
accept him as their spiritual guru.
When Rudra Singha died, his eldest son Siba Singha (reign 1714 to 1744), who became the king, gave the
management of the Kamakhya temple and along with it large areas of land (Debottar land) to Mahant
Krishnaram Bhattacharyya. The Mahant and his successors came to be known as Parbatiya Gosains, as they
resided on top of the Nilachal hill. Many Kamakhya priests and modern Saktas of Assam are either disciples or
descendants of the Parbatiya Gosains, or of the Nati and Na Gosains.[13]

Festivals
Being the centre for Tantra worship this temple attracts thousands of tantra devotees in an annual festival known
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as the Ambubachi Mela. Another annual celebration is the Manasha Puja. Durga Puja is also celebrated
annually at Kamakhya during Navaratri in the autumn. This five day festival attracts several thousand visitors.[14]

Notes
1. ^ "About Kamakhya Temple" (http://www.kamakhyatemple.org/About.aspx) .
http://www.kamakhyatemple.org/About.aspx.
2. ^ Sarkar 1992 p16. It is said that Viswa Simha revived worship at Kamakhya. According to an inscription in
the temple, his son Chilarai built the temple during the reign of Naranarayana, the king of Koch Bihar and the
son of Viswa Simha, in the year 1565.
3. ^ "Kamakhya temple"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20060318120241/http://www.indianngos.com/issue/culture&heritage/monuments/
kamakhyatemple.htm) . Archived from the original
(http://www.indianngos.com/issue/culture&heritage/monuments/kamakhyatemple.htm) on 2006-03-18.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060318120241/http://www.indianngos.com/issue/culture&heritage/monuments/k
amakhyatemple.htm. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
4. ^ "Kamakhya" (http://www.templenet.com/Assam/kamakhya.html) .
http://www.templenet.com/Assam/kamakhya.html. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
5. ^ "Kamakhya temple" (http://www.durga-puja.org/kamakhya-temple.html) . http://www.durgapuja.org/kamakhya-temple.html. Retrieved 2006-09-12.
6. ^ Satish Bhattacharyya in the Publishers' Note, Kakati 1989.
7. ^ Kakati suspects that Kama of Kamakhya is of extra-Aryan origin, and cites correspondence with Austric
formations: Kamoi, Kamoit, Komin, Kamet etc.
8. ^ Kakati 1989, p9: Yogini Tantra (2/9/13) siddhesi yogini pithe dharmah kairatajah matah.
9. ^ Kakati mentions that the list of animals that are fit for sacrifice as given in the Kalika Purana and the Yogini
Tantra are made up of animals that are sacrificed by different tribal groups in the region.
10. ^ Kakati 1989, p34
11. ^ Kakati, 1989, p42
12. ^ Kakati, 1989 p35
13. ^ Gait,Edward A History of Assam, 1905, pp172-173
14. ^ "Kamakhya Temple" (http://www.durga-puja.org/kamakhya-temple.html) . http://www.durgapuja.org/kamakhya-temple.html. Retrieved 2006-09-12.

References
Kakati, Banikanta (1989) The Mother Goddess Kamakhya, Publication Board, Guwahati
Sarkar, J. N. (1992) Chapter I: The Sources in The Comprehensive History of Assam, (ed H K
Barpujari) Publication Board, Assam.
Gait, Edward (1905) A History of Assam

External links
Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir (http://www.kamakhyamandir.org/)
Sri Sri Kamakhya Temple: A Socio-Religious Perspective (http://kamakhyamandir.org/culture-andhistory/sri-sri-kamakhya-temple-a-socio-religious-perspective/)
Kamakhya - in Assam (http://www.templenet.com/Assam/kamakhya.html)
Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam (http://www.durga-puja.org/kamakhya-temple.html)
Tantra Temples (http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/extra/bl-tantratemples1.htm)
Story of Kamakhya (http://www.shaktipeethas.org/kamakhya-devi-t61.html)
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