Goddess Kamakhya ...

"It is certainly well known that Kamakhya is truly none other than that mother goddess
Kali, who is in all things the form of wisdom."
‒ Kamakya Tantra

Kamakhya is an important Tantric goddess that evolved in the Himalayan hills. She is closely
identified with Kali and Maha Tripura Sundari. According to the Tantric texts (Kalikapurana
Stotra, Yoginitantram) that are the basis for her worship at the Kamakhya temple, a 16th
century temple in Assam. The temple remains one of the most important Shakta temples and
Hindu pilgrimage sites in the world.

Kamakhya is a powerful and unique Divine Mother. Kamakhya, the Great Mother, Goddess
whose origins go back to the ancient matrifocal tribes of Northeast India. She is associated
strongly with the Dasha Mahavidyas, the Ten Great Wisdom Goddesses. These fierce and
beautiful devis (goddesses) are both complete unto themselves, as well as emanations of
Mahadevi herself. Kamakhya is uniquely identified with two Mahavidyas, both Kali and
Shodashi/Maha Tripurasundari. She is both ferocious and benign, light and dark, she
transcends and defies duality. She is Mahamaya, and takes on all forms of the Divine – thus
any deity may be worshipped as a form of Her. She is the source of all creation, the sustainer
of all living things, and the destructive, transformative force to which all things return.

The Kamakhya Temple is a Shakti Peetha (Sanskrit: शककक पपीठ) temple situated on the Nilachal Hill in
western part of Guwahati city in Assam, India. It is the main temple in a complex of individual
temples dedicated to different forms of the mother goddess as the Dasa Mahavidya, including
Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta, Tripura Sundari and Tara. It is an important
pilgrimage destination for general Hindu and Tantric worshipers.

One of the most persistent mythologies concerning the origin of worship at the site is
associated with the legend of Sati, who was the wife of the ascetic god Shiva and daughter of
the Daksha Prajapati. Daksha was unhappy with his daughter's choice of husband, and when
he performed a grand Yagna for all the deities, he did not invite Shiva or Sati. In a rage, Sati
performed self immolation of herself and left her body in that moment to be reborn as the
goddess Parvati. Meanwhile, Shiva was striken with grief and rage at the loss of his wife. He
put Sati's body over his shoulder and began his tandava (dance of cosmic destruction)
throughout the heavens, and vowed not to stop until the body was completely rotted away. The
other Gods, afraid of their annihilation, implored Vishnu to pacify Shiva. Thus, wherever Shiva
wandered while dancing, Vishnu followed. He sent his discus Sudarshana to destroy the corpse
of Sati. Pieces of her body fell until Shiva was left without a body to carry. Seeing this, Shiva sat
down to do Mahatapasya (great penance) to Adi Parashakti . There are 51 pieces of Sati's body
scattered across the Indian subcontinent. These places are called shakti peethas and are
dedicated to various powerful goddesses. Kamarupa ("form of desire") is the region in which
the yoni ("vulva," "womb," or "source") of Goddess Sati is said to have fallen to earth, and the
Kamakhya temple was said to have been constructed on this spot.

THE LEGEND OF KAMA DEVA AND KAMAKHYA TEMPLE:

Another tradition has it that the Kamakhya Temple was built by Kamadeva, the God of Love.
According to this tradition, when Lord Shiva went into deep meditation upon Sati’s death at the
yagna performed by her father Daksha, the Gods grew very worried and anxious about the
uncertain future of the world. They came to the conclusion that further creation would only be
possible if the divine UNION between the Holy Mother and Shiva is made possible once again.
In order to bring about this UNION, they sent Kama to shake Lord Shiva out of his Yogic State of
trance and thus make him fall for Parvathi, the daughter of Himavan who was the very
reincarnation of Sati. Kama let his arrows fly from his bow. They struck Shiva and woke him up
from his trance. Furious with the disturbance, Shiva burnt Kamadeva alive with a single glance.
Later at the instance of all the Gods, Lord Shiva brought Kama back to life. Unfortunately,
Kama lost all his charm and good looks. Lord Shiva however comforted him with these words:
“Don’t worry Manmadha. It was all a part of my divine act. You will regain your good looks once
you build a temple for all powerful Goddess Kamakhya at the spot where her yoni fell at the
Kamarupa , with her worship she will fulfill all your desires . "

The entire Kamakhya Temple Complex also contains other major temples—Temples for Devi,
for Kali, for Tara, for Bagala, for Chinnamasta, for Bhuvanesvari, for Bhairavi and for
Dhumavati, for Sitala, for Lalita Kanta, for Jaya Durga, for Vana Durga, for Rajarajesvari, for
Smasanakali and for Sankhesvari.

Likewise there are five temples of Lord Shiva in the Kamakhya complex depicting different
forms of Lord Shiva---- Kamesvara (Umananda), Siddhesvara, Amratokesvara (Heruka), Aghpra,
and Kotilinga (Tatpurusa).

The Kamakhya Temple Complex also contains three temples of Lord Visnu. They are the Kedara
(Kamalesvara) Temple, situated near the northern side of the main temple; the Gadadhara
Temple, situated in the north-western direction of the Kamakhya Temple; and Pandunath
Temple, situated in the eastern foothills of Nilachal also known as Pandu.

ANOTHER LEGEND:

The Demon Narakasura once a Vishnu Devotee and as per Lord Vishnu's order he was given
the kingdom of Kamarupa to rule and to become forever her devotee . Lord Vishnu also said
that you will die if you stopped worshiping Goddess Kamakhya .Narkasura ruled from treta to
dwapar yuga and befriended another demon Banasura and within this time he slowly left
worshiping the presiding deity Kamakhya . One day Rishi Vasistha came to Kamarupa to
worship the Goddess but Narakasura stopped him and did not allowed him to go to the
temple , this enraged Vasistha and he cursed him that until he is alive Goddess Kamakhya will
never bless anyone who visits Kamarupa .
Goddess Kamakhya became very angry on Narakasura and decided to kill the demon in her
own way . Kamakhya appeared before him and the demon was attracted to her beauty and he
fell in love with Goddess Kamakhya once and he wanted to marry her. She laid a condition that
she would marry him only if he builds a temple for her within one night. Narakasura agreed to
it and but couldn't finished building the temple and as per Devi's maya Lord Krishna killed
Narakasura .

I am presenting below the full Sanskrit text of the Shakti Peeta Stotram of Adi Shankara with
the beautiful English translation.

SANSKRIT:

लङ्ककायकाय शकाङ्कररीददे वपी ककामकाकपी ककाकञञ्चिककापरप दे ।

प्रद्यपम्नदे शङ्
श खलकाददे वपी ञ्चिकामपण्डपी कक्रौञञ्चिपट्टणदे ॥१॥

अलम्पपरदे जजोगपलकाम्बका शपीशशैलदे भ्रमरकाकम्बकका ।

कजोल्हकापपरदे महकालक्ष्मपी मपहपयर एकवपीरका ॥२॥

उज्जययन्यकाय महकाककालरी पपीठठककायकाय परु

प हहयककका ।
ओढ्यकायकाय गगररजकाददे वपी मकाणणकयका दकवकाठटिकदे ॥३॥

हररकदेतदे ककामरूपपी प्रयकागदे मकाधवदेश्वररी ।

ज्वकालकायकाय वशैष्णवपीददे वपी गयका मकाङ्गल्यगक्रौररकका ॥४॥

वकारणकाश्यकाय ववशकालकाकपी ककाश्मपीरदे कप सरस्वकपी ।

अष्टिकादश सपपपीठकायन यजोगगनकामवप दल
प भ
र्ल म म ॥५॥
सकायङ्ककालदे पठदे कन्नत्यय सवर्लशतवप वनकाशनम म ।
सवर्लरजोगहरय ठदव्यय सवर्लसम्पत्करय शपभम म ॥६॥

TRANSLITERATION:

laṅkāyāṃ śāṅkarīdevī kāmākṣī kāñcikāpure |

pradyumne śṛṅkhaḷādevī cāmuṇḍī krauñcapaṭṭaṇe ||1||

alampure joguḷāmbā śrīśaile bhramarāmbikā |

kolhāpure mahālakṣmī muhurye ekavīrā ||2||

ujjayinyāṃ mahākāḷī pīṭhikāyāṃ puruhūtikā |

oḍhyāyāṃ girijādevī māṇikyā dakṣavāṭike ||3||

harikṣetre kāmarūpī prayāge mādhaveśvarī |

jvālāyāṃ vaiṣṇavīdevī gayā māṅgaḷyagaurikā ||4||

vāraṇāśyāṃ viśālākṣī kāśmīretu sarasvatī |

aṣṭādaśa supīṭhāni yogināmapi durlabham ||5||

sāyaṅkāle paṭhennityaṃ sarvaśatruvināśanam |

sarvarogaharaṃ divyaṃ sarvasampatkaraṃ śubham ||6||

ENGLISH:

Goddess Shankari-devi in Sri lanka, Kamakshi in Kanchipuram,

Goddess Shrinkhala in Pradyumna and Chamunda in Mysore

Goddess Jogulamba in Alampur, Goddess Brhamarabika in Sri Shailam,

Goddess Maha Lakshmi in Kolhapur and Goddess Eka veera in Mahur

Goddess Maha Kali in Ujjain, Purhuthika in Peethika,

Goddess Girija in Odhyana and goddess Manikya in the house of Daksha,

Goddess Kama rupi in the temple of Vishnu, Goddess Madhevaswari in Allahabad,

The flame giving Goddess in Jwala muki and Mangala Gouri in Gaya.

Goddess Visalakshi in Varanasi, Goddess Saraswathi in Kashmir,

Are the 18 houses of Shakthi, which are rare even to devas.

If read in the evening daily, it leads to killing of all enemies,

And also curing of all diseases and getting of all types of wealth.

Jai Ma Kamakhya !