Kamakhya
Ma Kamakhya’s temple, one of the ancient shakti peethas, is located on the Nilachala Hill in the Kamrup District of Gauhati. This is where the womb and yoni of Ma Sati are worshipped. Ma Kamakhya is also known as Siddha Kubjika. She is worshipped as Kali and Tripur Sundari as well.

What many people don’t know is that apart from the main shrine there are temples of the Dashamahavidyas on the Nilachal Hill – Ma Kali and Tara temples are adjacent to the main Kamakhya temple. The Bhuvaneshwari temple is a little ahead, a km uphill from Kamakhya. The others being Ma Tripura Sundari, Matangi Kamala, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta Bhairavi & Dhumavati. There are five temples of Lord Shiva namely Kameswara, Siddheswara, Kedareswara, Amratokeswara and Kautilinga around the temple.

The Ambubachi annual festival, known as the Mahakumbh of the East, is held at Kamakhya Temple to celebrate the menstruation course of the Goddess. This festival is celebrated in the month of Ashadha, around the solar ingress or sankranti, when the Sun traverses into the sign of Gemini. In Orissa too, a festival called Raj Parba is celebrated with the Sun moving into Mithuna or Gemini. This festival marks the worship of Bhudevi, the wife of Lord Jagannath. All agricultural work, digging, ploughing and sowing of crops are suspended in this period. Mother Earth is resting at this time.

The Bhairav for Kamakhya is at the Bhasmachal hill in the middle of the Brahmaputra, on a small island. It is here that Shiva burnt Kamadeva with the krodhagni from his third eye – hence the name Bhasmachal/ Bhasmakuta. It is s Shiva temple named Umanand, the temple pujaris refer to Ganesha here as Umanand (Parvati or Uma’s son). It would have been Unmat/ Unmaad , going by the name of the Bhairava but it seems to have gotten distorted over the years.

The district of Kamrup, is named after the ancient Kingdom of Kamrup which took its name from the presence of Goddess Kamakhya. The Great Nath Yogi Matsyendranath is said to have been at Kamarup and was initiated into the Tantra vidyas by the Yoginis. Eventually his disciple, the revered yogi, GorakhNath came to Kamrup to take his Guru – ‘Jaag Macchendra Gorakh aaya’.