Amati (ritual)

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Amati, also known as Ambuvachi, is a ritual followed in Kamrup and Goalpara regions in Western Assam. It is an ancient fertility cult and also incorporated into the mother godness cult as Kamakhya as its centre. [1]

Kamrup region Region in India

Kamrup or Kamarupa is the modern region situated between two rivers, the Manas and the Barnady in Western Assam, congruent to ancient "Kamapitha", "Kamarupa Mandala" of Pragjyotisha Bhukti, medieval "Sarkar Kamrup" and modern "Undivided Kamrup district", though historian Dinesh Chandra Sircar suspects Kamapitha division as fabrications from late medieval times.

Goalpara region, largely congruous to the historical undivided Goalpara district, is a region that is associated with the people and culture of Goalpara. It is bounded on the north by Bhutan, on the east by the Kamrup region, in the south by Meghalaya and in the west by Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and Rangpur in Bangladesh. The natural landmarks are: Sankosh and Brahmaputra rivers on the west, the Manas river on the east in the north bank, and a corresponding region in the south bank; the Garo Hills in the south and Bhutan Hills in the north.

Kamakhya goddess of Tantra

Kamakhya, also known as Siddha Kubjika, is an important Hindu Tantric goddess of desire who evolved in the Himalayan hills. She is worshiped as Siddha Kubjika, and is also identified as Kali and Maha Tripura Sundari. According to the Tantric texts that are the basis for her worship at the Kamakhya temple, a 16th-century temple in the Kamrup district of Assam. The earlier manifest of the goddess sanctified at the Garo hills is destroyed, although the Vatsayana priests are said to have carried away the manifest of the goddess to the Hindu kingdom in Kashmir and later sanctified in a remote hill forest in Himachal. Her name means "renowned goddess of desire," and she resides at the presently rebuilt Kamakhya Temple in 1645 C. The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakti Peethas related to the sect that follows Sati, and remains one of the most important Shakta temples and Hindu pilgrimage sites in the world.

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Practices

By tradition, during ritual days mother earth is believed passing through menstrual period and thus to be in an unclean state. Hence on those days farmers would not till the soil or plant any seeds. Orthodox widows and Brahmins abstain from any food except fruits. All household article are believed to contact uncleanliness and go through a cleaning operation as Amati period is over.

Brahmin is a varna (class) in Hinduism specialising as priests, teachers (acharya) and protectors of sacred learning across generations.

Symbolism

The idea of earth's menstruation is symbolic of the belief in her productive capacity which naturally activated after the onset of the wet weather. [2]

Ambuvachi Mela

The end of Amati days is celebrated with a fair known as "Ambuvachi Mela" in Kamakhya Temple complex and opening of main doors of temple after brief closure during Amati days.

Kamakhya Temple

The Kamakhya Temple also known as Kamrup-Kamakhya temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the mother goddess Kamakhya. It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Pithas. 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 the ten Mahavidyas of Saktism : Kali, Tara, Sodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chhinnamasta, Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, Matangi and Kamalatmika. Among these, Tripurasundari, Matangi and Kamala reside inside the main temple whereas the other seven reside in individual temples. It is an important pilgrimage destination for Hindus and especially for Tantric worshipers. A scholarly study of the Kamakhya Temple was authored by Kali Prasad Goswami.

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Kali Puja Hindu festival dedicated to the goddess Kali

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Ambubachi Mela

The Ambubachi Mela is an annual Hindu mela held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam. This yearly mela is celebrated during the monsoon season that happens to fall during the Assamese month Ahaar, around the middle of June when sun transit to the zodiac of Mithuna, when the Brahmaputra river is in spate. It is the celebration of the yearly menstruation course of goddess Kamakhya. It is believed that the presiding goddess of the temple, Devi Kamakhya, the Mother Shakti, goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time stretch. It is also believed that during the monsoon rains the creative and nurturing power of the 'menses' of Mother Earth becomes accessible to devotees at this site during the mela. There is no idol of the presiding deity but she is worshipped in the form of a yoni-like stone instead over which a natural spring flows.

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Kamrupi Brahmins

Kamrupi Brahmins, also known as Kamarupi Brahmana and Kamrupi Bamon; are those brahmins who claimed their descent from the Kanauji immigrant brahmins whom settled in Kamarupa(present day Assam). They brought with them different Hindu epics and became the torch-bearers of Aryan culture in the region.

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Kamapitha is one of the four Kamarupa Pithas, the geographical divisions of ancient Kamarupa. Dineshchandra Sircar points out that these divisions are not found in the Kamarupa inscriptions and that they might be fabrications from late medieval sources, such as 16th-century work Yogini Tantra gives the boundaries of Kamapitha and other three pithas, the same work which gives boundaries of ancient Kamrup kingdom as well. The eastern border of Kamarupa was the temple of the goddess Tamreshvari near present-day Sadiya

Kharchi puja is a Hindu festival from Tripura, India. Performed in Agartala in July or August, the festival involves the worship of the fourteen gods forming the dynasty deity of the Tripuri people. Kharchi Puja is one of the most popular festivals in Tripura. It's a week-long royal Puja which falls in the month of July on the eighth day of the new moon and attracts thousands of people. This festival is celebrated at Agartala in the temple premises of fourteen gods. There are many legends associated with this Puja. The celebrations extend until a week and are held in the temple premises which are attended by thousands of people.

Domahi or Domasi and Damhi is popular harvesting festival of Kamrup and eastern Goalpara regions of Western Assam. Festivals marks the commencement and end of harvesting season, and start and end of Kamrupi and Goalpariya new years.

Corpse uncleanness is a state of ritual uncleanness described in Jewish Halachic law. It is the highest grade of uncleanness known to man of any of the several grades of uncleanness, or defilement, and is contracted by having either touched, carried or shifted a dead human body, whether directly or indirectly, or after having entered a roofed house or chamber where the corpse of an Israelite is lying.

References

  1. D. Sarma (1968), religious fairs and Festivals of Assam, Journal of Assam Research Society, vol. XVIII
  2. Datta, Birendranath (1995), Folk Culture of the Goalpara Region, p. 114