Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati – The Temple

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 8^th -17^th 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.