News Highlights
The four-day-long Ambubachi Mela has kickstarted today, June 23 at the famous Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Assam.
Ambubachi Mela
- The Ambubachi Mela, annual Hindu mela held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
- This is the most important religious event of the temple
- The doors of the temple remain closed for four days in association with the belief in a fertility cult.
- Maa Kamakhya goes through her annual cycle of menstruation on these days.
- The temple reopens on the fifth day when devotees throng the temple to seek blessings.
- There is no idol in the temple, the goddess is worshiped in the form of a yoni-like stone over which a natural spring flows
- “Ambubachi” means spoken with water and it also implies that the rains expected during this month make the earth fertile and ready for procreation
Tantric fertility festival
- This mela is also known as Ameti or Tantric fertility festival because it is closely associated with Tantric Shakti cult prevalent in eastern parts of India.
Significance of Ambubachi Mela
- Since it is the celebration of menstruation of goddess. It culturally rejects the taboo related to menstruation
- It is also known as the Mahakumbh of the East and experiences heavy footfall from people across the country, which will boost the tourism of the state
Kamakhya Temple
- The Kamakhya temple is at Nilachal Hills, Assam whose northern face slopes down to the Brahmaputra river.
- Dedicated to the mother goddess Kamakhya, it is one of the oldest and most revered centers of Tantric practices.
- Kamakhya is one of 51 shakti peethas or holy sites for the followers of the Shakti cult, each representing a body part of the Sati, Lord Shiva’s companion.
- Built by the demon king Narakasura but records are available only from 1565 when Koch king Naranarayana rebuilt the temple.
Pic Courtesy: India Today
Content Source – Hindustan Times