The language may sound strange and food habits alien; physical traits may differ from those of the mainlanders. Still North East is an integral part of India. With varied culture and religious practices, Assam holds the mirror of North Eastern life style. Citing the illustrious Kamakhya Temple and the rituals pertaining to it, Shubhashree sheds light on certain religious rituals prevalent in the region.
I belong to the Northeast region of India. And in my last six years of being away from home, I have come across people with the most absurd and outrageous notions about my part of the country. From one wondering which “country” would Assam be a part of, to another who claimed to have heard of a jungle-king still ruling the inhabitants of our “tribe”, I have met my fair share of idiots.
Maybe not as much, but even for the educated citizens of the rest of India, knowledge about the northeast is still under the shadows. Their general idea is defined by few cultural stereotypes – different-sounding language, different-tasting food and different-looking girls who are always assumed to be “easy”.
However, what very few know about Assam is that it has a rich ancient history, and a continuously growing legacy of cultural intersections and growth.
Kamrupa (ancient name of Assam), during the 2nd – 5th century CE, was the hotbed of Tantricism. It is here that pre-Vedic religious practices merged with Vedic, Shakta and Tantric philosophies to give rise to one of the strongest and most revered branch of worship today – that of the Devi (Cosmic Mother). What stands as the greatest testimony of this assimilation is the Kamakhya Temple Complex in Guwahati, Assam.
Situated atop the Nilachal Parvat, to the west of Guwahati, the complex is at present the oldest and most important Shakti-pitha in the country (the total number of Shakti-pithas being fifty-one spread all over India). Apart from the main building dedicated to Kamakhya Devi, the complex abounds in many other temples housing other goddesses (the Dashamahavidyas), and gods. The present day temple was constructed by King Naranarayana of the Koch dynasty in 1565, from the ruins of the previous temple which was destroyed by a Mongoloid invasion. The Ahom rulers kept adding to its upliftment and repair in due course of time.
Multiple myths surround the construction of this temple, from the stories about a certain king Naraka falling in love with the goddess Kamakhya, to those in the Kalika Purana and Yogini Tantra. Interesting to note is the process of assimilation and integration that the interpretation of these myths throw up. As it happens with all mythologies, the steps actually follow the other direction – the worship being prevalent in some form first, followed by the construction of a place of worship, and finally to the conjuring up of a myth to validate that particular deity in the mainstream.
Similarly, the worship of Kamakhya can be traced back to an ancient pre-Vedic form of fertility-cult and Mother-Goddess worshipped by the non-Sanskrit-ized natives here (called Kiratas in the ancient Sanskrit literature).When Puranic Hinduism reached this region, the cult of Shakti adopted the practice into their folds, a temple was constructed and the same non-Hindu, aboriginal rituals now became part of mainstream Hinduism. To justify this development, a story was spun out – one that would place the deity in its right place in the Hindu pantheon.
So Maa Kamakhya became a form of the “Devi”, the story of Shiva-Sati was told, of how after killing herself in her father’s ritual fire, a dead Sati was carried all over the world by a furious Shiva, the Universe on the verge of destruction by his anger. How then, the gods had to intervene, chop up Sati’s body into pieces so Shiva would stop his Tandava, and in each spot where the pieces fell, there emerged a Shakti-pitha.
What is worshipped in Kamakhya is not an image, but a natural rock formation inside a cave– triangular in shape furrowed by a long slit from where water flows naturally and continuously, keeping the area forever moist. One look at this rock, it isn’t too hard to guess which part of Sati fell here – the vagina.
As such it is the strongest centre of Shakti worship in the country – the vagina symbolising the “be-all, end-all”, the source of all creation, the Cosmic Mother. The word “Kamakhya” also means ‘the one who grants all desires’ – something that links the goddess again to the earthly Tantric beliefs.
The rituals and the festivals at the complex also follow from this particular characteristic of worship. There is an interesting festival called the Ambubachi Mela, the biggest festival of the complex, when it witnesses the largest number of tourists, devotees and pilgrims from all over the country.
During this time, it is believed that the Cosmic Mother menstruates, the temple is closed off to public for three days, and strips of cloth soiled by the “sacred blood” is distributed as prasada to devotees at the opening. What actually happens is due to some natural cycle, the water from the underground spring flows with high Iron content and turns reddish for three days, after which it goes back to its natural colourless form.
This festival is not just a ritual in the temple. Every household in Assam follows certain rules during these days. I remember my mother asking me not to pluck flowers, because it was Ambubachi. I couldn’t fathom the connection. Still cannot. It is probable that Mother-worship of the Kiratas was a derivative of Nature-worship, the Earth-mother.
Architecturally, the main temple follows the style prevalent in Medieval India. The temple is divided into four parts (Vimana) – Garbha-Griha, Calanta, Pancharatna and Natamadira. The Garbha-griha is vertically divided into Shikhara and Bada. The central section of the Bada (Jagha) is fully sculpted with images from the Hindu pantheon, while the lowest section (Varanda) is run by three horizontal decorative bands. The Shikhara is a six sided spire akin to an erstwhile Rekhadeul, made of bricks. It is topped by three Kalasha motifs on Padma-koshas, ending with a Trishula.
Sculpturally, the walls are adorned with shallow reliefs and sculptures, but are ill-maintained and hence in a degrading condition today. Some interesting images are those of a mother breast feeding a baby, two Chamunda sculptures, and that of an unknown female figure squatting in the “birth-giving” position. Very little research has been done about these images and their significance.
Kamakhya isn’t just a place of worship anymore. It is, rather, an entire lifestyle. The socio-economic aspect of this complex cannot be ignored – it is a source of sustenance for multiple villages that surround the Nilachala hill. Posts of employment, from the highest priests to the lowest attendants are traditionally fixed and passed on through lineage lines.
This complex has gradually come to become the culture-symbol of Assam, along with many others. It is proof that the region of Assam housed an organised religion based on nature-worship, developed an entire culture around it and exhibited an attitude of respect towards other faiths, since time immemorial.
These traits still define the people of Assam and of the Northeast of India. Acceptance, open-mindedness and consciousness towards the environment are still strongly entrenched character-traits in our people. Tradition and modernity go hand-in-hand in our lifestyles, each playing its part in shaping our identity.
So yes, I belong to the Northeast of India, and proud of it.
