Monday 23 October 2017

Kamakhya, the bleeding goddes

On the lap of the Nilachal hill resides an ancient astrological temple of Kamakhya Devi, the Goddess of desires.The temple is primary amongst the 52 sui generis Shakti Peethas.
According to the Puranas, the story of the origin of Kamakhya temple goes like:
King Daksha and queen Prasuti desired a daughter, Daksha's father Lord Brahma advised them to perform austerity to please Goddess Adi-Parashakti (mother earth).So the king and the queen went to the jungle for the tapasya, after a long time of austerity the goddess appeared to them to full fill their wish.
As a boon of their austerity, the goddess took a birth as Daksha's daughter, they named her Sati.
Sati was destined to marry Lord Shiva, the god of the end, As the destruction and construction belong together so do they. By the time their destiny finds the way to get full filled and bound them together in a pure knot of marriage, but Daksha was the proud King. It was unacceptable from him, that his daughter got married to the man who lives in the crematory and has no possessions, no regalia, no edifices, no sumptuous; whereas he himself was the dexterous king of kings, suzerain of the earth. 
Later the proud king organized a Yagya ritual, he invited all the God, Goddess, Devas, kings and queens. But he didn't invite Shiva and Sati because he was unhappy with their unification. 
Sati learned about the Yagya and insisted Shiva to come along with her, Shiva refused the request because they were uninvited, but the daughter's love drove her to the unwelcomed premises. Upon reaching, Daksha got angry on seeing her, he howls at her telling she is not welcome here.She tried to comprehend her father, but she failed.
Daksha didn't stop at her, he blasphemed Shiva as well. Mother earth couldn't handle the humiliation for her spouse. The resentful Sati took the form of the goddess Adi-Parashakti. All sorts of catastrophe aroused as her human body couldn't bear her own radiance and vigor. She immolated her mortal body by sitting into the yajna kund.
When Shiva got to know about the contingency, the grief and anger struck him. He enacted Tandava, that brought more catastrophe in the universe.Out of distressed, he carried the inflamed body of the Sati and roamed around the cosmos. This created the chaos among all the celestial and living beings.Out of panic all the devas rushed to the Lord Vishnu and did a cry of mercy for resorting the balance of the universe.He acted upon the request and to calm the Shiva, he slashed Sati's mortal body into 52 pieces which fell on the planet earth, they are now renowned as the Shakti Peethas, it is believed that Sati's womb has fallen at the place, where the temple is now.
The Temple annually celebrates the fertility festival called Ambuwasi Puja in the month of June when sun transit to the zodiac of Mithuna. It is believed that the Devi Kamakhya goes through her annual cycle of mensuration during this festival.

Shakti

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