Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati – Festivals
Being the centre for Tantra
worship this temple attracts thousands of tantra devotees in an annual festival
known as the Ambubachi Mela. Other famous festivals are
Manasha Puja
and Durga Puja.
Durga Puja:
Durga Puja is held during
October-November every year at Kamakhya Temple. This is a Five-Day Festival
which attracts several thousands of visitors. Durga Puja at Kamakhya temple is
celebrated without an idol of goddess Durga in Durga Pandal. Since Durga is
believed to be an incarnation of goddess Kamakhya, it is not required to
install separate Durga idol here. An image of Durga is drawn on a layer of clay
and is immersed in the Brahmaputra on Dashami. People of Kamakhya believe that
Durga Puja at Kamakhya is the oldest in Assam has was celebrated from time
immemorial when worshipping of the goddess began.
Ambubachi Mela:
Ambubachi Mela is one of the
biggest congregations of eastern India. It is the most important festival of
the Kamakhya temple and is celebrated in the month of June every year. It
is more of a ritual of austerities, a festival celebrated with Shakti rites.
The belief is that Kamakhya embodies the mother cult, the Shakti. During the
period of Ambubachi from the seventh to the tenth day of the Hindu month of
"Ashadha", the doors of the shrine are closed to all as it is
believed that Goddess Kamakhya goes through the annual cycle of menstruation.
On the twelfth day, the doors are opened ceremonially, and a big fair held at
the temple premises on that day.
Ambubachi means spoken with
water and it also implies that the rains expected during this month make the
earth fertile and ready for procreation. Daily worship is suspended during this
period. All agricultural work like digging, ploughing, sowing, and
transplanting of crops are forbidden. Widows, Brahma Charis and Brahmins avoid
cooked food during these days. On the fourth day, Ambubachi being over,
household items, utensils and clothes are washed, cleaned and purified by
sprinkling sacred waters, worship of Goddess Kamakhya begins after cleansing
and other rituals are performed. Entry to the Shrine is considered to be
auspicious after this.
The concept of Ambubachi thus
has in its origin, formative influences and elements of agricultural, social
and religious ideas that have contributed to the emergence of the phenomenon.
It is thus symbolic supported by religious sanction. During the annual
Ambubachi Mela, the Temple precincts are closed to the worshippers as it is
believed that the Goddess, along with the Earth, goes through her menstrual
cycle. During this festival held in the month of June (the seventh day of Ahar
according to the Hindu lunar calendar), during the height of the rainy season,
the red hematite present in the soil mixes with the water of the natural spring
that moistens the yoni, leading credence to the commonly held belief of a
menstruating Goddess.
This is a 4-Day Festival, when
visitors from all corner of country arrive here to have a glimpse of the
Goddess at the end of 4 Days. These include Sannyasins, black clad Aghoras, the
Khade-babas, the Baul or singing minstrels of West Bengal, intellectual and
folk Tantriks, Sadhus and Sadhvis with long matted hair etc. Even foreigners from
abroad come to seek blessings of mother Kamakhya.
Pohan Biya:
Pohan Biya is a
symbolic marriage between Lord Kameshwar and Goddess Kameshwari during month of
puh (January).
Durgadeul:
During the month of Phalguna,
Durgadeul is observed in Kamakhya.
Vasanti Puja:
This puja is held at Kamakhya
temple in the month of Chaitra.
Madandeul:
This Deul is observed during the
month of Chaitra when Lord Kamadeva and Kamesvara is offered special puja.
Manasa Puja:
Manasa Puja is observed with
Sankranti or Sravana and continues up to the second day of Bhadra.
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