Sakta (Amman) · Guwahati, Assam
Kamakhya Devi Temple, Nilachal
Kamakhya, worshipped as the yoni-shaped rock in the cave, the first Shakti Peetha
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The temple in short
- Deity
- Kamakhya, worshipped as the yoni-shaped rock in the cave, the first Shakti Peetha
- Where
- Guwahati, Assam · 26.17N 91.71E
- Usual hours
- 5.30 am – 1 pm, 2.30 pm – 5.30 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Rahu Chandran
- Visited for
- The greatest of the Shakti Peethas, where the Devi is the earth’s own womb. Ambubachi Mela in Ashadha, when the temple closes for three days, is its season.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana of the Shakti Peethas has it that Sati’s body was carried by Sivan across the world in his grief, and that Vishnu cut it away piece by piece so that he would stop. Each place a piece fell became a Peetha.
Kamakhya is where the yoni is said to have fallen, and it is for that reason counted the first among them. There is no image in the sanctum: what is worshipped is a cleft in the rock, kept wet by a spring that runs under it all year.
What is recorded
Documented history
Kamakhya is one of the principal Shakti Peethas and the main centre of Tantric worship in eastern India. The temple was rebuilt in the sixteenth century under the Koch king Nara Narayan after an earlier destruction, and the beehive-shaped shikhara is of that period.
Animal sacrifice is performed here and is part of the regular worship, which is worth knowing before a visit.
For three days at the Ambubachi in Ashadha the temple is closed altogether. The closing is understood as the Devi’s menstruation, and the reopening draws one of the largest gatherings in the north-east.
What there is to see
Description
The shikhara is rounded rather than pointed, in the Nilachal style, and sits low over a long hall.
The sanctum is a cave below floor level, reached by narrow steps, and is dark and wet. The queue moves slowly and closely through it.
Other shrines of the Mahavidyas stand around the hill, and the Saubhagya Kunda is in the compound. The Brahmaputra is below, and the view from the hill road is wide.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
The Ambubachi Mela in Ashadha is the season: three days closed, then the reopening, with sadhus and pilgrims arriving from all over the country.
Durga Puja, Manasa Puja and Navaratri are the other festivals, and Tuesdays are the weekly day.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Kamrup Kamakhya, Nilachal Temple
- Period
- Rebuilt in the sixteenth century under the Koch kings, over a much older site
- Reaching it
- Kamakhya is on Nilachal hill in Guwahati, about 8 km from Guwahati railway station. A road climbs the hill and shared vehicles run up it.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
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Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.