Rudreswar Temple, Guwahati – History

Rudreswar Temple, Guwahati – History

Ahom King Swargadeo Rudra Singha, in the latter part of his reign announced his desire to expand Assam westward as far as the river Karatoya in present-day West Bengal and Bangladesh, which was considered the frontier of the ancient Kamarupa kingdom. Some sources also indicate that his ambition was to include a portion of the sacred Ganga river within his domain. Since Bengal was under the rule of the Mughals, he began to prepare for a massive military expedition against the Mughal Empire.

An army of approximately 4,00,000 soldiers gathered in Guwahati, in which various tribes from the hills and plains came together, including the king of Cachar and the king of Jaintia from present day Meghalaya. His efforts were in vain. Before his preparations were completed, he was seized with a mortal illness and died in August 1714 in his camp at Guwahati. His body was taken to Charaideo, in present-day Sivasagar District, for burial as per ancient Tai-Ahom custom.

According to some sources, Rudra Singha was cremated according to Hindu customs in North Guwahati, while some denote only one of his small fingers was burnt in this way. His second son, Pramatta Singha, after ascending to the throne, decided to construct in Guwahati a temple to Lord Shiva in memory of his father. The site of his father's death was selected for the construction of the temple.

The temple was completed in 1749. After the completion of the temple, Pramatta Singha established a Shiva Linga in the temple and named it Rudreswar Shiva Linga, after his father Swargadeo Rudra Singha. The temple was named Rudreswar Devalaya and hence the village on which the temple was constructed is also known as Rudreswar. The king made arrangements for priests and people to maintain the temple and a donated large area of land in the name of the temple.

After the fall of Ahom Kingdom and establishment of British rule in Assam, the temple lost much of its lands and other privileges. It suffered greatly in the 1897 Assam and 1950 Assam – Tibet earthquakes. The temple's upper structure suffered tremendous damages. The local people, in a bid to preserve the temple, constructed the Manikut or the chamber where main religious function is held, roughly by woods and tins, to continue their religious functions. Later the temple came under the preservation of Archaeological Society of India (ASI).