Religious Traditions of Kamakhya

Unique Rituals and Traditions at Kamakhya

There are no written documents on the mantras, procedures, or techniques of the pujas and rituals. An initiated Shebait Priest must learn them orally from his seniors or Guru. Moreover, if a Shebait is not initiated by the Guru of the Kulachara Tantra Marga of Kamakhya, he will not be allowed to participate in the pujas and rituals.

Training and Secret Tradition

The assimilation and training of a newly initiated Shebait take place solely within the group of initiated Shebaits, ensuring that the religious, ceremonial, and ritualistic system, procedures, and traditions of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex remain a closely guarded secret

Ritualistic Connection Between Deities

All the deities in the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex are linked ritualistically. No puja or ritual for one deity is complete without making offerings to other deities. For instance, during daily and special worship, all the deities of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex are worshipped in specific ways, as mentioned in the Kalikapurana and Yogini Tantra.

The Kamakhya system exists as an isolated sphere within the broader society of Assam and India. Its intricate and unique elements, preserved by the Sebaits, have been closely guarded. The network of temples, its religious traditions, the Kulachara Tantra Marga, the Sebaits, ethnographic elements (such as devotional songs, hymns, etc.), and the rhythmic and lyrical socio-religious environment of Kamakhya form a complex web that has remained impenetrable to outsiders.

Types of Pujas and Rituals

The pujas and rituals performed at the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex can be categorized as follows:

• Nitya Puja (Daily Worship): Nitya Puja is the regular worship, puja, ritual of the temples, performed from the side of the temple management.
  
  A typical schedule of the Nitya Puja (*/Inforgraphic/*)
  
  
  • Temple door is opened early in the morning;
  • Cleaning is done in the inner space of the temple;
  • Shebait Priests perform the daily Puja / Ritual;
  • The temple is opened for the devotees for Darshan;
  • At 1:00 PM the temple door is closed for the devotees for offering Bhoga (cooked offerings);
  • At around 2:00 PM the temple door re-opened for the devotees for Darshan;
  • After the sunset, the temple door is closed for the devotees;
  • Shebait Priests perform Aarati;
  • The day’s event ends.
• Naimittika Pujas (Special Worship): Naimittika Puja is performed on special festival days like Sharadiya Durga Puja, Pohan Bia, Ratanti Kali Puja, Vasanti Puja, Ambubachi, Durgadeul, Madandeul from the side of the temple management.
• Kamya Puja (Purposeful Worship): Kamya Puja is not performed by the temple management; it is offered by the visiting devotees for their well-being.

The Kamakhya Temples’ Complex of Assam located on the Nilachala Hills is one of the world’s most important sites of goddess worship. As the yoni (vulva or womb) of the great Mother Goddess, Kamakhya is literally and figuratively the birthplace of modern Shaktism. As a pilgrimage center for Hindus, Buddhists, and practitioners of various streams of Tantrism for well over a thousand years, the Kamakhya temple has developed a uniquely syncretic religious culture influenced by indigenous, Dravidian, Aryan, Mongoloid, Austro-Asiatic, Buddhist, and Tantric beliefs and rituals. The rituals and festivals celebrated at the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex are unique, and the result of over two thousand years of socio-cultural and religious evolution, assimilation, and syncretism. The current tradition, with its unique systems of homa (oblations), pūjā (worship), kriyā (rituals), and bali (sacrifice), represents a complex negotiation between orthodox and heterodox systems and practices held in balance by the sevaits of the temple, the ancestral community that resides at and serves the Peethas of the Temples’ Complex. The essence of the system and tradition is its practical approach and rhythmic style of the Puja / Ritual dominated by the Kulacara Tantra Marga.

Rooted in its rich history of yoginis, siddhas, sadhakas, saints and kings, the religio-social system and traditions have been maintained within the familial and ritual lineages of the local Sebaits for many centuries. That process continues today through careful and consistent maintenance, constant research, and practical application of traditional systems and procedures, much of which are kept secret to maintain their sacrality and power.

Through their ancestral affiliation and continued service, the Sebaits of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex have successfully conserved and protected the integrity and unique character of these traditions with sincerity and dedication. These traditions, which traditionally foster and value greater equality regarding gender, caste and religion, have deeply influenced the growth and development of the unique religious system and culture at the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex.

Though it is an inseparable part of Guwahati (the metropolitan hub of Northeast India), the state of Assam, and broadly India, the tradition, culture and society of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex remains markedly different and distinct from that of Guwahati, Assam and from the pan-Indian religious and cultural perspective.

The socio-religious system and related traditions of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex are by nature very tolerant and secular. All devotees, irrespective of caste, creed, belief, nationality, ethnicity, gender, or religious affiliation, are allowed to enter all the sanctum sanctorums and touch the Peethas for darshan and worship of the presiding deities.