Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati – The
Temple
The current structure has been
built during the Ahom times, with remnants of the earlier Koch temple carefully
preserved. The Temple was destroyed during the middle of second millennium and
temple structure was renovated in 1565 by Chilarai of the Koch dynasty in the
style of medieval temples. The current structural temple, built and renovated
many times from 8th -17th Century, gave rise to a hybrid
indigenous style that is sometimes called the Nilachal
type: a temple with a hemispherical dome on a cruciform base. The
Kamakhya Temple is a living shrine and even today hordes of pilgrims pay homage
to the Goddess on the Nilachal. The temple consists of four
chambers: garbhagriha and three mandapas locally called Calanta, Pancharatna and Natamandira aligned
from east to west.
Garbhagriha:
The garbhagriha has
a Pancharatha plan
that rests on plinth moldings that are similar to the Surya Temple at Tezpur.
On top of the plinths are dados from a later period which are of the Khajuraho
or the Central Indian type, consisting of sunken panels alternating with
pilasters. The panels have delightful sculptured Ganesha and
other Hindu gods
& goddesses. Though the lower portion is of stone, the shikhara in
the shape of a polygonal beehive like dome is made of brick, which is
characteristic of temples in Kamrup. The
shikhara is circled by a number of minaret inspired angashikharas of
Bengal type charchala. The Shikhara, angashikharas and
other chambers were built in the 16th century and after.
The uniqueness of the Temple,
amidst all the other Hindu places of worship in India, is that it enshrines no
image or idol of the Goddess Kamakhya. The inner sanctum, the garbhagriha,
is below ground level and consists of no image but a rock fissure in the shape
of a yoni (female
genital). The garbhagriha is small, dark and reached by narrow steep
stone steps. Inside the cave there is a sheet of stone that slopes downwards
from both sides meeting in a yoni-like depression some 10 inches deep.
This hollow is constantly filled
with water from an underground perennial spring. It is the vulva-shaped
depression that is worshiped as the goddess Kamakhya herself and considered as
most important pitha (abode) of the Devi. The garbhagrihas of
the other temples in the Kamakhya complex follow the same
structure—a yoni-shaped stone, filled with water and below ground level.
Calanta:
The temple consists of three additional
chambers. The first to the west is the Calanta, a square chamber of
type Achala (similar
to the 1659 Radha-Vinod Temple of Bishnupur). The entrance to the temple is
generally via its northern door, that is of Ahom type dochala. It houses a
small movable idol of the Goddess, a later addition, which explains the
name. The walls of this chamber contain sculpted images of Naranarayana,
related inscriptions and other gods. It leads into
the garbhagriha via descending steps.
Pancharatna:
The Pancharatna is situated to
the west of Calanta. It is large and rectangular with a flat roof and five
smaller shikharas of the same style as the main Shikara. The
middle shikhara is slightly bigger than the other four.
Natamandira:
The Natamandira extends
to the west of the Pancharatna with an apsidal end and ridged roof of
the Ranghar type
Ahom style. Its inside walls bear inscriptions from Rajeswar Singha (1759) and
Gaurinath Singha (1782), which indicate the period this structure was built.
Sculptures:
There are lot of sculptured
panels in the Temple premises. There are images of Ganesha, Chamundeshwari,
dancing figures etc. Within the temple premises, one can
also find two full size representational statues of Malladeva and Sukladhvaj,
Koch Bihar Royals.
Dasamahavidya:
The Nilachal is also the abode
of the Dasamahavidya or ten forms of the Goddess Uma. According to the
Brihaddharma Purana, when Uma (Sati) wanted to attend her father Daksha's yajna
(sacrifice) and Siva forbade her, the ten different forms, the Dasamahavidya,
came out of the third eye of Sati to frighten Siva into granting consent. These
different forms of the Mother Goddess, namely Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneswari,
Bhairavi,
Matangi,
Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi and Kamalatmika
are enshrined in different temples dedicated to her on the Nilachal.
They contain no image and are
known as Sakti Peethas. The object of worship consists of a stone each
moistened by a natural spring. Among these, Tripurasundari, Matangi and Kamala
reside inside the main temple whereas the other seven reside in individual
temples. According to the Pithanirnaya, the names of the Bhairavas associated
with the Goddess Kamakhya are Umananda, Sivananda, Ramananda and Ravananda.
Kamakhya's consort Lord Shiva:
The Nilachal Hill also has a
number of temples dedicated to the different forms of Kamakhya's consort Siva.
They are the Ghantakarna, Kedar Kshetra, Amratakesava, Kamesvara, Siddhesvara,
and Kamalesvara. In the middle of the Brahmaputra river that flows beside the
Nilachal, on the island of Bhasmachala (Ash Hill), are the shrine of Umananda,
Haragauri and Chandrasekhara. All of them enshrine the aniconic form of the
God, i.e. the Linga. The adjacent islands of Urvasi and Karmanasa also bear the
remains of Saivite shrines, the latter being the abode of Kalpesvara Siva.
Na-Math Kali Mandir:
During the reign of the Ahom
king Rudra Simha Krisnaram Nyayavagis, a Sakta Brahman from Nabadwip in Bengal
was installed on the Nilachal as the chief priest of the Kamakhya Temple. He
came to be called the Parbatiya Gosain. One of his descendants, known as the
Nati-Gosain, was instrumental in the construction of the temple of the Na-Math
Kali Mandir, adjacent to the Kamakhya Temple. This temple was embellished by
terracotta tiles and decorative blocks and strongly resembles the temples of
Bengal. An inscription of Gaurinath Simha, fixed to the inner wall of the
temple premises, bears testimony to the sacrifice of one lakh animals by the
Bhitarual Phukan.
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