Mata Kamakhya – a name that beholds fierce, yet gentle power. She is the Yoni Goddess who is said to undergo menstruation for three days when some of the most powerful Tantiks, Sadhaks, black magic practitioners and devotees dance in the light of Her presence. As She calmly rests and silently adjusts Herself to keep the cycle of the Universe going, the visitors eagerly wait for the temple doors to be opened so that they can cherish Rakht Vastra (blood cloth) in the form of Prasad. It is said that this cloth has the magical menstrual blood of Mata Kamakhya and holds the power to change the bearer’s destiny.
I was recently called by Mata for Her blessings at Kamakhya Temple, even though it was an indirect calling. As a healer, I happen to travel with a lot of my soul children (tarot clients) for their spiritual cleansing, meditative practices and spiritual rituals. This time, since my soul daughter was undergoing some hormonal difficulties and we knew that she would find her cleansing energy from the Bhoomi (ground) of Ma Kamakhya Temple, she requested me to accompany her and I said yes with a smile, as I knew Mata was calling me to receive Her blessings.
But why did I feel so?
I happened to come across Kamakhya Temple’s unique images when the entire world was going through a panicked lock-down due to the Corona crises in the year 2020. During that time, I was introduced to Her divinity and I thought maybe someday I would go.
Then, I got totally involved in my duties as a tarot reader and healer and I moved away from the thought of visiting Her, but Mata being the Mother She is, She kept coming in front of me more and more since October 2023. Finally, I accompanied my soul daughter in February 2024 to seek Her Divine blessings for her as well as for myself.
What Makes Kamakhya Temple so Precious?
Before I share my experience related to Her divine presence, I would like to share a small story of who Kamakhya Devi is and why is She so special… and also to debunk certain myths related to the stories that have been clarified by the locals there.
When Lord Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra touched the burning body of Mata Sati in the arms of Lord Mahadev, it was cut into 51 pieces and the part where the Yoni (vaginal area) of the Devi fell on the ground is known is Kamakhya Temple.
Finally, when Devi Parvati (reincarnation of Devi Sati and Mahadev’s second wife) took birth and went to convince Mahadev for their union, Lord Kamdev (the God of sex) released an arrow of love and lust to push Lord Shiv and to make Him fall in love with Mata Parvati. But when Lord Shiva’s third eye opened way before the arrow could even touch His forehead, everything around Him burnt, including Lord Kamdev.
After this, Parvati stayed in the snow covered cave for years, meditating to reach salvation to meet Lord Shiva and finally came the day when Mahadev realized that She was strong enough to be on His side in this birth of Hers. When they both reunited, they brought back Lord Kamdev from the ashes. However, his body was still burnt and he did not look appealing due to which his wife, Goddess Rati (the Goddess of intercourse) sought help from Mahadev and Mata Parvati. They were then sent to Goddess Sati’s Yoni Shakti Peeth to attain beauty.
Lord Kamdev went to Mata Sati’s Shakti Peeth and did a lot of penance. Convinced by his dedication, Mata blessed him with beauty and since then, this temple was named Kamakhya (Kaam means Lord Kamdev and Akhya means Communication) – where Lord Kamdev communicated with Mata Sati’s Shakti Peeth and was rewarded his beauty back.
Debunking the Myths of the Temple
I had seen many pictures of Mata’s Yoni on the internet, but let me debunk the first wrong myth of the temple – most of the pictures you see are not of Mata Kamakhya Shakti Peeth. The temple is dark and no one is allowed to click any picture of the Peeth. Therefore, let the pictures not over-excite you, even though you are going to be highly surprised by the energy of the temple.
It is also said that the water of Bramhaputra river turns red during Ambubachi Mela because of the menstrual cycle of the Yoni of the Goddess; however, this is also not true. I confirmed with many local people there and to my surprise, there are even videos made to debunk this theory. The pictures of the red river that you see on the internet are not of this temple.
Finally The Story of My Experience Begins
I had started chanting Kamakhya Ma’s Mantras right from the time we started our journey for the temple in the rented car. These Mantras were being chanted for my soul daughter – to heal her health issues – and they continued for about 30-40 minutes, until we reached the temple. We met a Pandit we had spoken with, who gave us two VIP tickets. We were then taken to a closed, but well organized hall, where all the VIP ticket holders were sitting, waiting for the temple gates to open. I was excited, but at the same time there was a lot of nervousness in my heart.
This was the first time when I felt so scared and the reason was all that I read on the internet about the animal sacrifices at the temple. Even though I completely respect people’s beliefs and culture, I knew I was not prepared to see one happening right in front of my eyes and that was the first thing that I asked the Panditjee, who helped us with the tickets.
My Request to Ma Kamakhya
A day before visiting the temple, I had requested Ma to refrain me from seeing anything that would disturb my mind and soul, as I was just not prepared for the same… and alas, She heard!
I had read that the whole temple is always full of blood pouring from animal and dove sacrifices and one should be prepared to see headless animal bodies on plates when they are visiting this temple. By Ma’s grace, I was not shown even ONE SUCH scene, even though I did see many people paying money for animal sacrifices there, which is a very common and openly done culture of the temple and in fact, it is considered to be a very auspicious thing to see it happening.
Thankfully, our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modiji was being welcomed by Assam the same day when we went for the temple darshan and thus, the whole place was thoroughly cleaned and we enjoyed the beauty of the temple, even though the floor and carvings were still red with Sindhoor (vermilion).
Entering Into the Temple with Tickets
Once the doors of the temple were open, the VIP ticket holders were welcomed inside of the gates, but not to the main door as there was a wait for another one and a half hour. The gate where we were waiting was a pretty suffocating one and all throughout the time I was worried about public stampede, as there were too many people and one could not get out, once inside. Towards our left was the wall touching the temple and it was very cold and had mesmerizing carvings. Even though I did not understand anything about the carvings, I touched them to feel the energy.
This is the time when I felt my lower chakras (Mooldhara – the Root Chakra, Svadhishthana – The Sacral Chakra and Manipura – the Solar Plexus) vibrating. At first, there was just minor pulsation, which I generally feel even when I meditate. Slowly, as I kept moving closer to the Garbh Griha (the place where Mata’s Yoni is), I felt something moving in circular motions right in the lower chakras.
I closed my eyes during the waiting period and allowed the energy to sink into my Chakras, but all of a sudden, I felt something rising towards my head and hitting the Sahastraar – the Crown Chakra. I knew what could happen to me if I allowed the energy to move in Her serpent walk, so I asked Ma not to let this happen amidst the crowd.
All of a sudden, I smelt dead-animal odor and there was an animal sacrifice taking place somewhere in the temple – the loud music from the instruments brought me back to my senses. I did hear the animal screaming, but I felt like that pulled me back to myself. In less than 30 seconds, the Panditjee came with another man and asked us to write down our full names and Gotra at the back of the ticket. I requested him to bless my Rudraksh Mala and he took it with him.
The Inside of the Temple
We were then taken to the inside of the temple, where I could see a small idol of Mata (which I think is a brass one). The temple reminded me a little of Kedarnath, where I have trekked twice in two years. The whole idol was covered with flowers and we could barely the body of Ma, as only Her beautiful face was visible. I thought this was it and we have been blessed, but soon I found out that this was not the Shakti Peeth of Ma and we were being guided to go inside a small cave-like structure.
Inside the Garbh Griha
There were a few large steps that had to be descended to visit the actual Shakti Peeth. The temperature of this structure was a straight down to at least 2 to 3 degrees and as I descended, the energy in my Chakras ascended slowly and gradually. By now, I could feel a strong sensation in my Svadhisthana (Sacral), Anahat (Heart) and Adnya (Third Eye) Chakras, while the others were pulsating on and off. It was not something that I was bothered about, at the moment, as I was more focused on getting the blessings from Ma’s Divine Presence.
The chamber has only two to three Diyas and zero electricity inside of it. It is dark and one has to literally mind the step while descending, as I did see a couple of people about to slip, but saved by the crowd.
Disappointment in Me and Ma’s Response to My Wish
As I finally reached the Shakti Peeth, I felt strongly disappointed because I could barely see anything at all. The Peeth has been covered with a brass or metal like object and there were thousands of flowers on it and all I could see and hear was the flow of water.
As my soul daughter got on her knees to take the blessings of Ma, my heart cried inside of my chest as I told Ma that I would like to witness Her presence here. After a couple of seconds, when it was my turn to take Her blessings, I got on my knees and touched the water. To my surprise, the moment I put my fingers in Her elixir-like water, the pile of flowers fell down to the backwards and the metal like object moved an few inches, giving me a clear glimpse of the Shakti Peeth. I was startled as I felt like the whole world stopped. The Pandits hurriedly covered the Peeth and in tears, I drank the water from Her presence.
I was carrying two large Jai Mata Kamakhya Chunris that I had bought from outside of the temple. I dipped both of them into the Yoni Kund to get the blessings of my Goddess for my family members (one of these Chunris is tied around the pole that stands in the verandah of my house and the other one is tied to my altar table where I do perform tarot reading and healings)
Undoubtedly, I, along with my soul daughter, was inside of the chamber for at least three to four minutes and nobody stopped us or told us to leave, even though others were being told to leave in a few seconds. Later, I was told that even this was a blessing of Ma, as no one is allowed to wait back for more than a minute inside of the chamber.
Finally, a Pandit politely informed us about the long waiting queue and after taking the blessings of Mata Saraswati and Mata Mahalakshmi idols placed next to the Yoni Kund, we followed a lovely elderly man (another visitor of the temple) who led us outside of the chamber. He was himself in some other bliss after taking blessings of Mata.
Lord Bhairav, the Protector of the Shakti Peeth
My heart was in utter joy and my mind was still processing the encounter I had with the Goddess inside of the chamber, but before I could understand anything, another Panditjee gently took my head and made me rub it at the foot of my Lord Bhairav, the one who takes care of the Shakti Peeth. He is a manifestation of Lord Mahadev and is known as the Divine Counterpart of Goddess Bhairavi.
When I came out, I noticed that both I and my soul daughter were wearing marigold garlands, which we never realized were around our necks until we came out in the sunlight. We then stood there, witnessing the beauty of the temple for several minutes. Finally, the Panditjee who gave us the VIP tickets came with his assistant and gave us the prasad bags which consisted of Rakht Vastra, Rakht Sindhoor, my Rudraksh Mala, flowers from the temple and other such blessed things. We gave them their Dakshina, took their blessings and moved around the temple.
The Goddess with Vermilion on Her Yoni
To appreciate the carvings, I took a walk alone around the temple and finally saw the carving that is a viral-picture on the internet – the one in which the Goddess is sitting in Malasana pose and Her Yoni is covered with the red Kamakhya Sindhoor. It is now covered with a veil, but I was lucky enough to not get stopped by the Pandits even when I had put my hand under the veil, touched the carving and prayed, looking deep into the eyes of the Goddess.
The Fall of Ego and Maya
It is my habit to turn back and bid farewell to the God/Goddess I visit inside the temple before I finally leave the place, but as I was so mesmerized by the beauty of the temple, Mata’s Maya made me forget to do this and BAM – before I knew, I fell down gently on the stairs of Ma Kamakhya and as my concerned soul daughter lifted me up, I laughed, realizing my mistake. I turned back and took Her blessings one more time and told Her to call me again, if She wanted to see me again. As we drove off from the temple, I could still smell myself dipped in Her Divine Grace all throughout the day.
Special Notes from the Author:
When you visit Mata Kamakhya at the temple, don’t forget to:
- Visit the other temples surrounding this one (Baghlamukhi, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Kedareshwar, etc.)
- Take blessings of the Goddess that proudly sits in Malasana (She has been carved at the back of the Garbh Griha)
- Ask for Rakht Vastra (a red colored cloth that has been dipped in the Yoni Kund and energized either during the menstrual cycle of the Goddess – Ambubachi Mela – or in the usual Kund water)
- Ask for Rakht Sindhoor (special Kamakhya Sindhoor)
- Carry the flowers that have been given to you from the temple
- Take small Jai Kamakhya Devi chunris from shops for your loved ones
- Take large Kamakhya Devi chunris for your house for protection
Please don’t fall prey to:
- The peda or Prasad that you are asked to buy from outside of the temple. We bought the pedas and couldn’t eat even one as the taste was very weird and not good at all (with all due respect to the Devi, I need to burst the bubble of the shop-keepers around)
- Those who ask for a huge amount of money for Rakht Vastra (Blood Cloth from Ma’s temple) – you already get this as a Prasad from the Pandit, if you request him to give one to you
Jai Mahamaai
Jai Ma Kamakhya
Jai Ma Sati Har Har Mahadev
