News:The Annual Ambubachi Mela in Assam will not be organised this year due to Coronavirus pandemic.
Facts:
- Ambubachi Mela is held at the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam.
- The festival is celebrated to mark the annual menstruation of the presiding Goddess Kamakhya.
- Significance:The ritualistic fair celebrating the goddess period is one of the reasons why the taboo associated with menstruation is less in Assam compared to other parts of India.
- Further,the attainment of womanhood of girls in Assam is also celebrated with a ritual called Tuloni Biya meaning small wedding.
Additional Facts:
Kamakhya Temple:
- Kamakhya is one of 51 shakti peethas or holy sites for the followers of the Shakti cult each representing a body part of the Sati, Lord Shiva’s companion.
- The temple is situated on the Nilachal Hills whose northern face slopes down to the Brahmaputra river.
- There is no idol in the temple, the goddess is worshipped in the form of a yoni-like stone over which a natural spring flows.
