Kamakhya Temples and Landscape

The Sacred Landscape of Kamakhya

The sacred land of the Devi Kamakhya is characterized by its beautiful landscape of hills, abundant flowing water sources, natural sacred ponds, and lush vegetation with rich flora & fauna. The mighty sacred river Brahmaputra flows by the northern slope of the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex. On this Kamakhya Hill, the temple of great Devi Kamakhya is surrounded by the temples of seven of the Dasa Mahavidyas, other Devis, Pancha Shivas, Mahakal Ganesha, Dwarpal Ganeshas, Vishnu, other deities, sacred ponds, and numerous sacred sites, scattered all over the hill. This makes the Kamakhya hill a sacred complex of several temples and thus can be phrased as the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex. Devi Kamakhya, in the form of one of the Dasa Mahavidyas, is worshipped as Tripura Sundari or Sodasi, along with the other two Devis of the Dasa Mahavidyas inside the Kamakhya Temple.

Though the sacred site is popularly known as Kamakhya, geologically it is a hill system comprising of three segments called Brahma hill, Shiva hill, and Varaha (Vishnu) hill mentioned in the scriptures as Nilachala and also as Kamagiri, Mahagiri, Kamakhya Yonimandala, and Kamakuta. According to an estimate by the Archaeological Survey of India, there probably existed more than a hundred temples, peethas, and sacred sites & ponds on the Kamakhya hill sometime in the past.

The peethas, temples, kundas (ponds), and other sacred sites that constitute the Kamakhya Temples’ Complex that still exist today are:

Kamakhya Temple (Peetha of the Three Mahavidyas of the Dasa Mahavidyas)

Adjacent to the Peetha of Devi Kamakhya the Peethas of two other Dasa Mahavidyas, Devi Matangi (Saraswati) and Devi Kamala (Lakshmi) are also located. Devi Kamakhya is worshipped in the form of Devi Tripurasundari or Devi Sodasi, the third Mahavidya of the Dasa Mahavidyas.

Temple of the Seven other Dasa Mahavidya

• Kali Temple (also known as the Peetha of Navam Kalika)
• Tara Temple (also known as the Peetha of Asta Tara)
• Bhuvaneswari Temple (Devi Bhuvaneswari is also worshipped as Devi Mahagauri, Devi Raja-Rajeswari, Devi Annapurna)
• Bhiravi Temple (also worshipped as Devi Tripura Bhairavi)
• Chinnamasta Temple (also worshipped as Guptakamakhya)
• Dhumavati Temple (also worshipped as Devi Koteswari)
• Bagalamukhi Temple (also worshipped as Srikamakhya)

Temples/Peethas of Other Devis

• Banadurga Temple (also worshipped as Devi Vanavasini)
• Joyadurga Temple (also worshipped as Devi Vindhyavasini)
• Lalitakanta Temple

Temples of Pancha (Five) Shivas

• Amratokeshwara Shiva Temple
• Kameshwara Shiva Temple
• Herukeswar Shiva Peetha
• Muktinath Shiva Peetha (also known as Muktimandapa)
• Kautilinga Shiva Temple

Other Shiva Temples

• Siddheshwara Shiva Temple
• Kedareshwara Shiva Temple

Temples of Ganesha

• Brihad Ganesha or Mahakala Ganesha Temple
• Temples of Four (04) Dwarapala Ganesha

Temples of Vishnu

• Kamvaleshwara Temple
• Gdadhar Vishnu Temple
• Pandunatha Temple

Temples of other Deities

• Ghantakarna Temple
• Sankheshwari Temple
• Tal Betala Bhairava Peetha
• Hanuman Temple
• Idols of Trivikrama
• Betal Bhairava Peetha

Kundas (Sacred Ponds) of Kamakhya

• Saubhagya Kunda
• Amrita Kunda
• Wrinmochana Kunda
• Varaha Kunda
• Durga Kunda
• Gaya Kunda
• Brahma Kunda

Other Sacred Places at Kamakhya

11 Snana Ghata of Devi (the bathing place of the Devis on the banks of the River Brahmaputra)

• Brahmayoni Kshetra
• Kedara Kshetra
• Pretashila Kshetra
• Kamadhenu Kshetra