Skip to main content

Ambubachi Mela: Celebrating Divine Menstruation

Guwahati is the gateway to North-East India and also the gateway to divinity and spirituality, as it is home for Goddess Kamakhya who is one of the several incarnations of Goddess Durga or Goddess Shakti, hence, Kamakhya Temple is among the oldest of the 51 “Shakti Peethas”. The temple is situated high atop Nilachal Parbat or Kamagiri in the heart of Guwahati city. Kamakhya Temple is one of the several religious landmarks of Assam which speak volumes about the rich cultural, religious and historical heritage of the state. In addition to the main Devi temple, it also comprises of other major temples, namely, Devi Kali, Bagala, Tara, Chinnamasta, Bhuvaneshvari, Bhairavi and Dhumavati. 

There is an age old legend behind the Kamakhya Temple which dates back to the mythological era. According to this belief, Goddess Parvati (wife of Lord Shiva) took her life by jumping into the fire of a “Yajna” ceremony organized by her father Daksha as he did not invite Parvati and Lord Shiva to the ceremony and insulted him in front of all the guests. The news of his wife’s death outraged Lord Shiva and he went to the Yajna ceremony and picked up Parvatis’s corpse and performed the dance of destruction “Tandava”. The intensity of Lord Shiva’s fury and the Tandava was so prodigious that earth was on the verge of destruction. As a result, Lord Vishnu, on the appeal of all other Gods, used his chakra and cut Parvati’s body, the pieces of which fell in different parts of the country which are considered as Shakti Peethas. The reproductive part of Goddess Parvati fell in the Nilachal Parbat where Kamakhya Temple is situated.

There are four prayer chambers in the temple namely: Garbagriha, Calanta, Pancharatna and Natamandiramong. The first chamber is considered as the most important one, which is in the form of a cave and house a natural spring that resembles the womb of the goddess. 

Every year during the month of June, after the first monsoon rains, the Brahmaputra turns blood-red and it is believed that the Goddess bleeds which embarks the onset of the yearly menstruation cycle of Goddess Kamakhya. An annual fair called the “Ambubachi Mela” is held during this period and the temple doors remain closed for three days. It is said that because of this religious fair of celebrating a “Goddess who bleeds”, a girl attaining womanhood is celebrated in this region with a small function called “Tuloni Biya”.



It is one of the unique fairs hosted in India, where millions of Tantrics and Sadhus gather near the temple premises from all over the country and perform a series of rituals. Some Sadhus who do not make any public appearances throughout the year visit the temple during this period. Besides, this time is also considered auspicious for women praying for fertility and to celebrate the child bearing capabilities of women. All temples across the state remain closed during this period and even agricultural work like digging, plowing and sowing of crops is prohibited. 

The temple doors open on the fourth day and a huge number of devotees rush to get the holy “Prasad” which is small pieces of red coloured cloth assumed to be soaked in the menstrual blood of Goddess Kamakhya and is believed to bring good luck and charm.



Assam is thus called “Land of the Red River” and the Maa Kamakhya Temple with all its inexplicable splendor and picturesque backdrop is one of the most astounding structures, not only in Assam but also in the entire country.


Comments

Post a Comment

If you have any query, please comment

Popular posts from this blog

Zubeen's Abyss whispers melody

Those who dare to think deeply are rarely accompanied; they walk with shadows, not crowds. Nietzsche knew this and his words—“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you”—were less a caution than a confession. Century later, in a different corner of the world, that same abyss seemed to gaze into the life and art of Zubeen Garg. A singer adored by millions, yet forever unsettled, he spoke of nothingness and even quoted Nietzsche. It felt dissonant—how could an artist rooted in Assam’s cultural soil echo a German philosopher of despair? Perhaps it was not dissonance. Perhaps it was inevitability. To draw similarity between Nietzsche and Zubeen is not to impose Western philosophy upon Assamese music. It is, rather, to recognize that the human search for meaning transcends geography. The questions Nietzsche wrestled with—identity, despair, creation after collapse—were the same fires that forged Zubeen’s art. In his melodies, musings and silences, one hears the same urgenc...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Last Lecture- Book Review

If you only had a short time to live, what would you do?”, this thought-provoking thread led me to my third read in the biographical genre “The Last Lecture”. This is a 2008 New York times best-selling book co-authored by Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Jeffrey Zaslow. It is a non-fiction book written on the last lecture delivered by Professor Randy Pausch when he was diagnosed and fighting with pancreatic cancer, being married to the woman of his dream and having three little children. Randy wanted to leave a legacy for his children, a guide to achieve their dreams. The book is divided into five units, written succinctly, simple language and in a phenomenal way. It will compel the reader to be in the author’s shoes and feel the emotion of the umpteen life lessons that the writer has conveyed, some of which will hit right on the face. One of it was the striking excerpt from the chapter, An injured lion still wants to roar, “...
Post a Comment
Read more

Of Books and Beyond

She is an 84 years old happily unmarried woman, retired Maths teacher and principal by profession, igniting the young minds by her virtues and leading a life in her own terms with a charismatic aura. She starts her day with a hot cup of red tea and a round of Sudoku, she solves it like a pro. We are best of friends in spite of the age gap and talk over phone every other day about different topics starting from how our days went, sports, politics, family, food etc. to name a few, but yesterday was something special. I always insist people to cut-off their screen time and start reading books, I have no idea how she listened to my heart and without me uttering a word, she started discussing about the many books she has read by different Assamese, English and Bengali authors and the one she is currently reading.  I was taken aback and had a flashback of memories of 20 years ago. I picked up that yellow and withered copy of “The Famous Five” and “The Secret Seven” by Enid Blyton from th...
Post a Comment
Read more