— Dr Tapati Baruah Kashyap
Assam is considered to be the land of Shaktism and the temple of Goddess Kamakhya on the Nilachal hill is said to be the most important centre of Shaktism in the world. The temple of Kamakhya belongs to Mother Goddess. The worship of Shakti or Shaktism has been prevalent in Assam from time immemorial. “Ancient Assam was a very important seat of Shaktism. Traditionally Kamrupa has been recognised as the principal centre of the Shakti cult with its chief temple at Kamakhya,” Dr H K Barpujari, eminent historian and scholar in his Comprehensive History of Assam, said.“The concept of Shakti or primordial energy symbolised in a woman is an amalgam of many elements drawn from various sources, Pre-Aryan, Non-Aryan and aboriginal. The processes in fertility and motherhood and the active and energising forces involved therein apparently led to the emergenceof the concept of a supreme goddess who is considered to be the repository of all energy governing the universe. In this aspect, she is said to preside over creation, preservation and destruction,” Dr Barpujari had remarked.The Kalika Purana on the other hand is the most important and informative treatise on Kamrupa Kamakhya and was composed for the very purpose of glorifying the goddess Kamakhya and the glorification of the Shakta Tantric cult at the temple. According to the Kalika Purana, the genital organ of the Devi fell at this part of Nilachal, when her body has been carried hither and thither by Lord Siva. The Goddess is worshipped in various iconographic representations including in the form of a yoni symbolising the creative principle. “The temple is unique from other temples of the Devi in different parts of India in that it enshrines no image of the Goddess. Within the temple there is a cave, in a corner of which stands a block of stone on which the symbol of a yoni has been sculptured,” Dr Banikanta Kakati in his book The Mother Goddess of Kamakhya said.Kamakhya is one of the greatest centres of Tantric worship in India and the temple of Kamakhya is supposed to be the original progenitor of Tantrism. It has shrined of ten different aspects of the Devi, such as Kali, Tara, Surashi, Bhubaneswari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamala. The traditional four-day festival of the Ambubachi Mela is an annual festival and is the most important festival observed in the sacred temple town of Kamakhya.The Ambubachi Mela is the most important festival of the Kamakhya Temple of Guwahati. It is believed that the presiding goddess of the temple, Devi Kamakhya, the Mother Shakti, goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time. What is worshipped at Kamakhya during the Mela (fair) is not an image of the goddess, but rather a process - and a female process of menstruation. It is believed that during the monsoon rains the creative and nurturing power of Mother Earth becomes accessible to devotees and the Kamakhya temple is closed to worshippers during the Mela. And devotees, male and female, observe similar restrictions like not performing Puja or reading holy books, and so on. And both earth body and female body processes are represented as profoundly sacred.During the festival, thousands of devotees from different parts of Assam and outside the State gather in the temple town. The occasion signifies a cultural integration as pilgrims from not only the neighbouring States, but also from the neighbouring countries, like Nepal come into this temple town for the worship of Shakti symbolised by Mother Goddess. During the Ambubachi Mela, the doors of the Kamakhya temple remain closed for three days. It is believed that the Mother Earth becomes unclean for three days. During this time farmers across Assam do not indulge in any kind of agricultural activity. Daily worships and other religious performances come to a standstill not only in the Kamakhya temple but also even in every private household across the State during the period of Ambubachi. After the completion of three days, the doors of the Kamakhya temple are reopened. But the doors of the temple are reopened only after Devi Kamakhya is bathed and the other rituals are executed. It is then believed that the Mother Earth has retrieved her purity. This is purely a ritual of the tantrik cult.Dr Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi, in her highly acclaimed work Devi has drawn a wonderful picture of the importance of Mother Goddess among different ethnic groups of the northeastern region. “From prehistoric times, Yoni worship had been prevalent in Assam. And the worshippers believed that it would increase the fertility. Buri Gosani worshipped by the Jaintias, Goddess Kamaikha of the Khasis, Khammakha of the Bodos, Kechaikhati worshipped by the Chutiyas and Deoris, Goddess Tamai of the Rabhas, Goddess Haramdi of the Tiwas and the Mother Goddess Kalika of the Tiwas and the Mother Goddess Phajaw of the Garos – all these names bear testimony to the fertility cult as the Shakti cult of Assam,” she said.The primitive people identified the earth with women. Devi Durga symbolises universal motherhood and the earth and soil are always identified with the concept of mother. The traditional belief is that our sacred Mother Earth is also like a fertile woman and Ambubachi symbolises this phenomenon of ancient agricultural concept. The concept of motherhood also embodies the concept of creation and that is why earth is also venerated as mother. Mother Goddess is a Goddess often portrayed as the Earth Mother, who serves as a general fertility deity and the embodiment of Earth. During this period of menstruating, earth itself is separated from the environmental forces. It is belived that if human plough and dig the earth during this period, it violates her and makes her unhappy.Devi Durga is the epitome of supreme power or shakti and from time immemorial. Devi Durga has been worshipped as the mother of supreme power or energy of the universe. Since energy is considered feminine in Hindu religious philosophy, so this supreme energy, symbolised by Devi Durga is the symbol of universal motherhood and who is the source of immense energy. In Hinduism, Divine Mother is the first manifestation of Divine Energy. And with the name of Divine Mother comes the idea of energy, omnipotence, omnipresence, love, intelligence, and wisdom. But, Shakti, the life force is latent in every aspect of human life. That is why this annual prayer of Ambubachi for Devi Durga is undoubtedly a significant event. Source: assam tribune editorial 23.06.08
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