PILGRIMAGE
IN INDIA
Kamakhya Temple:- The
Kamakhya Temple in Assam is
one of the most venerated Shakti shrines in
India, and is
regarded as one of the Shakti Peetha associated
with the
legend of Shiva and Daksha Yagna. Kamakhya is located on
a hill known as Neelachala Parvat or Kamagiri near the city
of Guwahati in Assam. Shakti, residing on the Kamagiri hill is
known as Kamakhya, the granter
of desires. Assam
traditionally has been known as the Kamarupa Desa and has
been associated with Tantric practices and Shakti worship.
This temple was destroyed in early 16th century, and
then
rebuilt in the 17th century by King Nara Narayana, of Cooch
Bihar. Images of the builder and related inscriptions are seen
in the temple. The Kalika Purana, an ancient work in Sanskrit describes Kamakhya
as the yielder of all desires, the young bride of Shiva, and the giver
of salvation.
Legends:- Most
Popular legend - Once when Parvati's
father King Daksha organised a yagna, he did not invite his
daughter and son-in-law to participate in it. Parvati, who was angry
at this treatment of her father, went to
her father's place to ask the reason for it. Daksha insulted Parvati again by
calling Shiva poor and wild. Being the ideal consort of Shiva, Parvati
could not bear the fact that her husband was being insulted in front
of the guests. She immediately jumped into the yagna fire out of shame and anger
and killed herself. Knowing this, Lord Shiva, became very angry and came
to Daksha's palace. On seeing the dead body of his wife, he was
so enraged that, he lifted the body on his shoulder and started dancing the
tandav (the dance of destruction). The dance continued for
several days and the earth was on the brink of being destroyed. Then, on
the appeal of all the other gods and goddesses, Lord Vishnu with
the help of his chakra, started cutting Goddess Parvati's body. It is said that
the parts of Parvati's body fell at different parts of the country, which are
all considered centers of power or Shakti peeth. The reproductive organ
of Goddess Parvati is said to have fallen atop the Neelachal hill in Guwahati
and that is where the Kamakhya temple stands now. Another
legend -The demon Narakasura fell in love with Goddess Kamakhya
once and he wanted to marry her. But as a goddess cannot marry a demon or
asura, Goddess Kamakhya played a trick to save herself. She laid a condition
that she would marry him only if he builds a temple for her within
one night. Narakasura agreed to it and almost
finished building the temple overnight. This scared
Goddess Kamakhya and before the final steps of the temple
were completed, a cock was sent to cry cock-a-doodle-do to
announce the arrival of the morning, before it was actually
dawn. This made Narakasura very angry and he killed the cock on that spot. But
according to the condition Narakasura couldn't marry
Goddess Kamakhya after that. It is said
that the present Kamakhya temple is
the same that Narakasura had made for the Goddess.One
More legend - The supreme creative power
of Bhrahma was challenged by Shakti, the mother Goddess, and that Bhrahma
could thereafter create, only with the blessings of
the Yoni, as the sole creative principle.
After much penance, Bhrahma brought down a luminous body
of light from heaven and placed it within the Yoni circle, which was
created by the Goddess and placed at
Kamarupa Kamakhya in Guwahati
Places of Interest
Shiva Temple - The
Shiva temple of Umananda, reached by motor boats and public ferries
from Umananda Ghat, stands on an island in the middle of the Brahmaputra.
Navagraha Temple - Atop
a hill in east Guwahati is the Navagraha temple - the "temple of nine
planets," - an ancient seat of astrology and astronomy. Housed
in a red beehive-shaped dome, the central lingam is encircled
by further nine representing the
planets (graha) - Sun (Surya, Ravi), Moon (Chandra,
Soma), Mercury (Buddh), Venus (Shukra), Mars (Mangal), Jupiter
(Brihaspati) and Saturn (Shani). Two more were
added, Rahu and Ketu, the dragon's head and the dragon's tail, or the ascending
and descending nodes of the moon.
Vashistha Ashram - At
a distance of 12 km from the railway station is the Vashistha Ashram
(the abode of sage Vashistha), an interesting old shrine,
with plenty of greenness and three beautiful streams, Lalita, Kanta and Sandhya.
Several other temples like the Ugratara temple, famous for its golden idol
and buffalo sacrifices, are also spread across the
city.
Bhubaneshwari Temple - Above
Kamakhya is another small temple, Bhubaneshwari,
from where one can have a bird's eye view of the Guwahati.
Getting there and Around
By Air: The nearest
airport is Guwahati.
By Rail: The nearest
railhead is situated at Guwahati.
By Road: Guwahati
is well connected with regular bus
services from all the major cities in and around the state.
Accommodation:- Accommodation
facilities are available at reasonable prices
in Guwahati with options varying from luxury to budget
hotels.
