Kamakhya

Kamakhya
Kamakhya
Goddess of Creative Power, Desire and Fertility
	Kamakhya worshipped in a Kali Puja pandal.
Sanskrit transliteration	Kāmākhyā
Affiliation	Mahadevi; Parvati; Tripura Sundari; Bhavani; Sati; Mahavidya;
Abode	Neelachal parvata
Mantra	kāmākhye varade devī nīla parvata vāsinī tvaṁ devī jagataṁ mātā yonimudre namostute
Weapon	sword, trishula, discus, shield, bow, arrows, club, lotus, bell, goad, kapala, conch
Day	Sunday
Mount	Lion
Festivals	Ambubachi Mela, Navaratri
Consort	Shiva

Kamakhya (Sanskrit: कामाख्या, romanized: Kāmākhyā), a mother goddess,^[1] is a Shakta Tantric deity; considered to be the embodiment of Kama (desire), she is regarded as the goddess of desire.^[2] Her abode–Kamakhya Temple is located in the Kamarupa region of Assam, India.^[3]^[4] Originally a Kirata goddess, Residing on Nilachal hills across the banks of the Brahmaputra River, west of Guwahati in the 10th/11th century Temple rebuilt in 1565 CE,^[5] she is worshiped in a non-iconic and un-anthropomorphic form of stone shaped like yoni fed by a perennial stream.^[6] The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakti Pithas, and is one of the most important Shakta temples.^[3]

^ "Kamakhya was a new goddess unknown to the Devi herself" (Kakati 1989:38)
^ Urban, Hugh B. (December 2008). "Matrix of Power: Tantra, Kingship, and Sacrifice In the Worship of Mother Goddess Kamakhya". Journal of South Asian studies. 31 (3): 501. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b "Seated on top of Nīlacala hill on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in the state of Assam, Northeast India, Kamakhya temple is one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantric practice in South Asia. Since at least the eighth century, the region of Kamarupa (the ‘place’ or ‘form of desire’, or Assam) has been recognised as one of the most important of the sakta pīthas (‘seats of power’) or centres of goddess worship that dot the sacred landscape of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh." (Urban 2019:256)
^ "The Nilacala (blue hill) in Assam, the sacred abode of the well-known goddess Kamakhya has been one of the most significant Sakta-Tantric centres from the early medieval period and attracts millions of devotees from the neighboring states even today." Shin (2010, p. 3)
^ "(T)he Nilacala Hill, the sacred abode of the goddess Kamakhya as well as the ten Mahavidyas in Guwahati, Assam." (Shin 2018:87)
^ Shin (2010, pp. 4–7)

[1] "Kamakhya was a new goddess unknown to the Devi herself" (Kakati 1989:38)

[Urban_H.B-2] Urban, Hugh B. (December 2008). "Matrix of Power: Tantra, Kingship, and Sacrifice In the Worship of Mother Goddess Kamakhya". Journal of South Asian studies. 31 (3): 501. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.

[urban256-3] "Seated on top of Nīlacala hill on the banks of the Brahmaputra river in the state of Assam, Northeast India, Kamakhya temple is one of the oldest and most revered centres of Tantric practice in South Asia. Since at least the eighth century, the region of Kamarupa (the ‘place’ or ‘form of desire’, or Assam) has been recognised as one of the most important of the sakta pīthas (‘seats of power’) or centres of goddess worship that dot the sacred landscape of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh." (Urban 2019:256)

[4] "The Nilacala (blue hill) in Assam, the sacred abode of the well-known goddess Kamakhya has been one of the most significant Sakta-Tantric centres from the early medieval period and attracts millions of devotees from the neighboring states even today." Shin (2010, p. 3)

[5] "(T)he Nilacala Hill, the sacred abode of the goddess Kamakhya as well as the ten Mahavidyas in Guwahati, Assam." (Shin 2018:87)

[6] Shin (2010, pp. 4–7)

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