Kamakhya Temple

Kamakhya Temple is a Hindu shrine on Nilachal Hill in Kamrup that includes several smaller sanctuaries for different female deities. The complex rises above the Brahmaputra River and is enclosed by a tall wall, inside which a central temple with a beehive-shaped roof and several subsidiary shrines stand.

The shrine was founded in the 8th century, but Muslim forces destroyed the original building in the 16th century. King Naranarayana had the complex rebuilt in 1564 and gave it the current form with the beehive roof in the Assamese style.

During the Ambubachi festival in mid-June, the shrine closes for three days because worshippers believe the goddess is menstruating. Pilgrims from all over the country come to receive cloth placed over the stone on the fourth day, and they bring offerings of red fabric and flowers.

Public buses from Guwahati run regularly to the hill, and visitors must climb a staircase of several hundred steps to reach the entrance. The shrine opens in the morning and afternoon, with a midday break, and menstruating women are allowed inside, which is often not permitted in other Hindu temples.

Instead of a statue, the interior contains only a wet stone cleft over which a natural spring flows and which represents the physical form of the goddess. The water is considered sacred, and priests collect it in vessels to give to pilgrims who carry it home.