A History of Assam c10.49

c10.49

At this time Sāktism was the predominant form of Hinduism in this part of India, where in fact it is believed by many to have had its origin. Its adherents base their observances on the Tantras, a series of religious works in which the various ceremonies, prayers and incantations are prescribed in a dialogue between Siva and his wife Pārbati. The fundamental idea is the worship of the female principle, the procreative power of nature as manifested by personified desire. It is a religion of bloody sacrifices from which even human beings were not exempt. In the Kālika Purān it is stated that a man without blemish is the most acceptable sacrifice that can be offered, and the manner in which the victim is to be dealt with is laid down in great detail. When the new temple of Kāmākhya was opened, the occasion was celebrated by the immolation of no less than a hundred and forty men, whose heads were offered to the Goddess on salvers made of copper. Similar sacrifices were offered to various aboriginal deities. According to the Haft Iqlim there was in Kāmarupa a class of persons called Bhoqis, who were voluntary victims of a Goddess named Ai who dwelt in a cave; from the time when they announced that the Goddess had called them, they were treated as privileged persons; they were allowed to do whatever they liked, and every woman was at their command; but when the annual festival came round they were killed. Magic also held an important place in the estimation of the people, and in the Ain-i-Akbari they were accused, among other practices, of divination by the examination of a child cut out of the body of "a pregnant woman who has gone her full term of months."