Historical Geography of Ancient India c8.261

c8.261

Kāmākhyā.—It is a place of pilgrimage in Assam (Bṛhat-Dharma Purāṇa, I, 14; Kālikā Purāṇa, Ch. 62). The temple of Śakti, Śiva's wife, at Kāmākhyā near Gauhati was famous in ancient times. It was a great centre of the sensual form of worship inculcated in the Tantras. There was a deity named Mahāmāyā who was ever ready to fulfil human desires. The Kālikā Purāṇa and the Yoginītantra (Pūrva Khaṇḍa, Ch. 12) preserve the names of several kings whose titles betray their aboriginal descent, and who were followed by Naraka the founder of the ancient and famous city of Prāgjyotiṣapura. According to tradition Naraka ruled from the Karatoyā river to the extreme east of the Brahmaputra Valley. Bhagadatta, son of Naraka, was an ally of Duryodhana (Mahābhārata, Udyogaparva, Ch. 4). The temple of Kāmākhyā in Kāmarūpa is a special object of veneration to the devotees of this creed, as it is said to cover the place where the genitals of Śakti fell when her body was cut into pieces by Viṣṇu. But Śaktism is not popular with the inhabitants of Assam. The devotees of Śiva who is the male counterpart of Śakti are mostly found in the Surma Valley. Another small sect remarkable for the peculiarity of its tenets is the Sahajbhajan. Each worshipper endeavours to secure salvation by taking a woman as a spiritual guide. The temple of Kāmākhyā on the Nīlācala hill near Gauhati and the temple of Hayagrīva Mādhava at Hajo, about 15 miles by road north-west of Gauhati, are the important temples. For further details, vide Banikanta Kakati's The Mother Goddess Kāmākhyā, 1948.