Tamreswari Temple

Tamreswari Temple
Tamreswari Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Ethnic religion
District	Tinsukia district
Deity	Kechai-Khati/Pishasi (tribal goddess); (equivalent to Nang Hoo Toungh)
Location
Location	Sadiya
State	Assam
Country	India

Tamreswari temple (also Dikkaravasini) is a temple for the tribal goddess called Kecaikhati^[7] is situated about 18 km away from Sadiya in Tinsukia district, Assam, India. The temple was in the custody of non-Brahmin tribal priests called Deoris.^[8]^[9] Some remains suggest that a Chutiya king built a wall or the temple itself in the year 1442.^[10]^[11] There were four different kinds of Deori priest who looked after the temple. The Bar Bharali and the Saru Bharali collected dues of the temple and provides animals for sacrifice. The Bar Deori (Deori Dema) and the Saru Deori (Deori Surba) performs the sacrifice and sung hymns.^[12] The temple was dedicated to Kechaikhati/Pishasi (kechai means raw and khati means eat), a powerful tribal deity or a form of the Buddhist deity Tara,^[13] commonly found among different Bodo-Kachari groups.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19] The worship of the goddess even after coming under Hindu influence was performed according to her old tribal customs.^[20]

The temple was abandoned during the reign of Suhitpangphaa (1780 - 1795), when the Ahom kingdom was attacked by the Konbaung dynasty of Burma.^[21] Scholars assert that Kesaikhaiti is equivalent to the Tai-Khamti female deity Nang Hoo Toungh.^[22]

^ (Shin 2023:71)
^ "She is popularly known as Kechai-khati, the eater of raw flesh."(Gogoi 2011:235) "Perhaps, Kechai-khati was a tribal deity who was so influential at the time of the coming of the Ahoms that even they could not possibly ignore her and decided to continue her worship according to the old tradition."(Gogoi 2011:236)
^ "Towards the north of the Lohit River is the Nang Hoo Toungh territory. The third phi muang is, as the prefix "nang" (lady) indicates, a female divinity. The territory it is said to protect is more easily identifiable than that of the two-previous phi muangs. Nang Hoo Toungh is known in Assamese as Kesakhati ("person who eats raw meat")."(Laine 2019:17–18)
^ "639 Identifier Documentation: aho – ISO 639-3". SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics). SIL International. Retrieved 29 June 2019. Ahom [aho]
^ "Population by Religious Communities". Census India – 2001. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 1 July 2019. Census Data Finder/C Series/Population by Religious Communities
^ "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. 2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01 MDDS.XLS
^ "[I]n the eastern most boundary of Assam (near Sadiya) we find the pitha of a very interesting goddess. She is popularly known as Kechai-khati, the eater of raw flesh. The Kalika Purana, a 10th century work written in Kamarupa mentions her as Tamreswari, referred also as Dikkaravasini." (Gogoi 2011:235)
^ "In the case of Tamresvari Temple, the goddess was served by the Deoris, the representatives of the priestly class among the Chutiyas. They were permitted to continue their religious service to her including human sacrifice even after their subjugation by the Ahoms in 1523."(Shin 2023:70)
^ (Gogoi 2011:236)
^ " As mentioned earlier, Mukta-dharmanarayana, who constructed the wall of Tamresvari (alias Kecaikhati, Dikkaravasini) Temple or the temple itself in AD 1442"(Shin 2023:69)
^ "The Pãyã-Tãmresvari (Dikkaravãsiní) temple inscription announces that King Dharmanãrãyana raised in 1364 Šaka [1442 AD] a wall (prãkãra) around the temple of Dikkaravãsiní, popularly known as Tãmresvari."(Neog 1977:817)
^ "There were four different kinds of priests of whom each was attached to a particular division (khel), viz., the Bar Deori (Deori Dema) and the Saru Deori (Deori Surba); the Bar Bharali and the Saru Bharali. It was the duty of the two Bharalis to collect the dues of the temple and to provide animals for sacrifice. The two Deoris performed the sacrifice; they alone entered the temple and sung hymns, which were scarcely understood by the common people."(Shin 2023:70)
^ "In her fearsome self this deity bears so many resemblances to the fierce manifestation of Buddhist Tara that many scholars have suggested a Buddhist origin for her"(Gogoi 2011:235–236)
^ Kechai Khati worshipped by Bodo-kacharis
^ Rabhas worship Kechai-khati and celebrate the Kechai-khati festival once every year
^ Kechai-khati festival of Rabhas
^ The Tiwas, as well as the Koch, also worshipped Kechai Kati. The Koch general Gohain Kamal built temples dedicated to Kesai Khati in Khaspur for the Dehans who were Tiwa and Mech soldiers from Gobha, Nellie and Kabi.
^ "There is at Sadiya a shrine of Kechai Khati the tutelar deity of the Kacharis, which the Dimasa rulers continued to worship even after the establishment of their rule in Cachar." (Bhattacharjee 1992:393)
^ "The most famous temple of the Chutiyas was that of Kechaikhati, their primodial female deity.(Dutta 1985:49)
^ "(S)he [Kesai Khati] was incorporated into the Sanskritized cosmos of goddess tradition and as her tribal attributes were so strong to be denounced as non-Brahminical, her worship continued according to old customs."(Gogoi 2011:236)
^ Kakati (1989), pp. 62–63:"(D)uring the reign of king Gaurinath Singh (1780 - 1795), when the Chutiya priests harried by the Burmese invaders abandoned their ancient possessions in the vicinity of the temple. According to the Deori priests the downfall of the Ahoms was largely due to the neglect of this religious rite"
^ "Towards the north of the Lohit River is the Nang Hoo Toungh territory. The third phi muang is, as the prefix "nang" (lady) indicates, a female divinity. The territory it is said to protect is more easily identifiable than that of the two-previous phi muangs. Nang Hoo Toungh is known in Assamese as Kesakhati ("person who eats raw meat")."(Laine 2019:17–18)

[1] (Shin 2023:71)

[2] "She is popularly known as Kechai-khati, the eater of raw flesh."(Gogoi 2011:235) "Perhaps, Kechai-khati was a tribal deity who was so influential at the time of the coming of the Ahoms that even they could not possibly ignore her and decided to continue her worship according to the old tradition."(Gogoi 2011:236)

[3] "Towards the north of the Lohit River is the Nang Hoo Toungh territory. The third phi muang is, as the prefix "nang" (lady) indicates, a female divinity. The territory it is said to protect is more easily identifiable than that of the two-previous phi muangs. Nang Hoo Toungh is known in Assamese as Kesakhati ("person who eats raw meat")."(Laine 2019:17–18)

[4] "639 Identifier Documentation: aho – ISO 639-3". SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics). SIL International. Retrieved 29 June 2019. Ahom [aho]

[5] "Population by Religious Communities". Census India – 2001. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 1 July 2019. Census Data Finder/C Series/Population by Religious Communities

[census2011-6] "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. 2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01 MDDS.XLS

[7] "[I]n the eastern most boundary of Assam (near Sadiya) we find the pitha of a very interesting goddess. She is popularly known as Kechai-khati, the eater of raw flesh. The Kalika Purana, a 10th century work written in Kamarupa mentions her as Tamreswari, referred also as Dikkaravasini." (Gogoi 2011:235)

[8] "In the case of Tamresvari Temple, the goddess was served by the Deoris, the representatives of the priestly class among the Chutiyas. They were permitted to continue their religious service to her including human sacrifice even after their subjugation by the Ahoms in 1523."(Shin 2023:70)

[9] (Gogoi 2011:236)

[10] " As mentioned earlier, Mukta-dharmanarayana, who constructed the wall of Tamresvari (alias Kecaikhati, Dikkaravasini) Temple or the temple itself in AD 1442"(Shin 2023:69)

[11] "The Pãyã-Tãmresvari (Dikkaravãsiní) temple inscription announces that King Dharmanãrãyana raised in 1364 Šaka [1442 AD] a wall (prãkãra) around the temple of Dikkaravãsiní, popularly known as Tãmresvari."(Neog 1977:817)

[12] "There were four different kinds of priests of whom each was attached to a particular division (khel), viz., the Bar Deori (Deori Dema) and the Saru Deori (Deori Surba); the Bar Bharali and the Saru Bharali. It was the duty of the two Bharalis to collect the dues of the temple and to provide animals for sacrifice. The two Deoris performed the sacrifice; they alone entered the temple and sung hymns, which were scarcely understood by the common people."(Shin 2023:70)

[13] "In her fearsome self this deity bears so many resemblances to the fierce manifestation of Buddhist Tara that many scholars have suggested a Buddhist origin for her"(Gogoi 2011:235–236)

[14] Kechai Khati worshipped by Bodo-kacharis

[15] Rabhas worship Kechai-khati and celebrate the Kechai-khati festival once every year

[16] Kechai-khati festival of Rabhas

[17] The Tiwas, as well as the Koch, also worshipped Kechai Kati. The Koch general Gohain Kamal built temples dedicated to Kesai Khati in Khaspur for the Dehans who were Tiwa and Mech soldiers from Gobha, Nellie and Kabi.

[18] "There is at Sadiya a shrine of Kechai Khati the tutelar deity of the Kacharis, which the Dimasa rulers continued to worship even after the establishment of their rule in Cachar." (Bhattacharjee 1992:393)

[19] "The most famous temple of the Chutiyas was that of Kechaikhati, their primodial female deity.(Dutta 1985:49)

[20] "(S)he [Kesai Khati] was incorporated into the Sanskritized cosmos of goddess tradition and as her tribal attributes were so strong to be denounced as non-Brahminical, her worship continued according to old customs."(Gogoi 2011:236)

[21] Kakati (1989), pp. 62–63:"(D)uring the reign of king Gaurinath Singh (1780 - 1795), when the Chutiya priests harried by the Burmese invaders abandoned their ancient possessions in the vicinity of the temple. According to the Deori priests the downfall of the Ahoms was largely due to the neglect of this religious rite"

[22] "Towards the north of the Lohit River is the Nang Hoo Toungh territory. The third phi muang is, as the prefix "nang" (lady) indicates, a female divinity. The territory it is said to protect is more easily identifiable than that of the two-previous phi muangs. Nang Hoo Toungh is known in Assamese as Kesakhati ("person who eats raw meat")."(Laine 2019:17–18)

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