About Ambubachi Mela:
- The Ambubachi festival is held during the monsoon, generally in June at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
- It is a shrine to the Goddess Kamakhya and one of the most important centres of Tantrik Shaktism.
- The period of Ambubachi is believed to be the period of the goddess’s annual menstruation, and the shrine is closed for this.
- At the end of the period, the shrine’s doors are opened ceremonially and devotees flock for darshan of the deity.
- The festival is associated with fertility, with the onset of monsoon, and the common historical association across cultures of the Earth as a fertile woman. The name ‘Ambubachi’ itself translates to water flowing.
Key facts about the Kamakhya Temple
- It is situated on Nilachal Hill and adjoining the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River.
- It is one of the most revered centres of Tantric practices. It is regarded as one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India.
- Temple Architecture of Kamakhya Temple:
- It had been modelled out of a combination of two different styles namely, the traditional nagara and Saracenic or Mughal style of architecture.
- This unusual combination has been named the Nilachala Style of Architecture.
- This is the only temple of Assam having a fully developed ground plan.
- It consists of five chambers, garbhagriha, antarala, Jagan Mohan, bhogmandir and natmandir or opera hall for performing traditional dance and music associated with sukti temples.
- It is interesting to note that the superstructure of each of the above chambers exhibits different architectural features.
- The main temple contains a modified Saracenic dome, the antarala carries a two-roofed design, the bhogmandir with five domes similar in appearance to the main temple and the natmandir having a shell-roof with apsidal end similar to some of the impermanent namghars or prayer halls found in Assam.
