Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam India

The most important temple which attracts pilgrims from all over India is the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati which is dedicated to the goddess Kamakshya or Sati, the consort of Lord Shiva. This temple stands on the Nilachala Hill, 8 kms. away from Guwahati. This temple is believed to be an ancient Khasi sacrificial site and has been a well known centre for Tantric Hinduism. The deity was installed where the limb of Sati fell when, according to a legend, Vishnu cut asunder her body so that Shiva did not see her dead and start his dance of destruction. The temple, according to another legend was built by Narkasur, a king mentioned in the Mahabharata. With its beehive-pattern top, the nymph motifs and the long turtle black hall, the temple is an excellent specimen of old Assamese architecture. This temple was rebuilt in 1665 after the original 10th century temple was destroyed by a Brahmin who had become a Muslim convert in the 16th century.

Legends

Vatsayana,a Vedic Sage in Varanasi during the later first Century was approached by the King in the Himalayan region (now Nepal) to find a solution to convert the tribals and their rituals of human sacrifice to a more socially accepted worship. The Sage suggested the worship of a tantric goddess Tara that spread towards the eastern Himalayan belt till the Garo Hills where the tribals worshipped a fertility 'yoni' goddess 'Kameke'. It was much later in the later Brahaminical period Kalika Purana that most tantric goddess were related to the legend of 'Shakti' and began to be erroneously worshipped as a 'devi' by the Hindus.

According to the Kalika Purana, Kamakhya Temple denotes the spot where Sati used to retire in secret to satisfy her amour with Shiva, and it was also the place where her yoni fell after Shiva danced with the corpse of Sati. This is not corroborated in the Devi Bhagavata, which lists 108 places associated with Sati's body, though Kamakhya finds a mention in a supplementary list. The Yogini Tantra, a latter work, ignores the origin of Kamakhya given in Kalika Purana and associates Kamakhya with the goddess Kali and emphasizes the creative symbolism of the yoni.