Kāmākhyā
Sign in to saveKamakhya (), a mother goddess, is a Shakta Tantric deity; considered to be the embodiment of Kama (desire), she is regarded as the goddess of desire. Her abodeKamakhya Temple is located in the Kamarupa region of Assam, India. Originally a Kirata goddess, Residing on Nilachal hills across the banks of the Brahmaputra River, west of Guwahati in the 10th/11th century Temple rebuilt in 1565 CE, she is worshiped in a non-iconic and un-anthropomorphic form of stone shaped like yoni fed by a perennial stream. The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakta pithas, and is one of the most important Shakta
Key facts
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.type
- Hindu
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.image
- Kamakshya Shakespeare Sarani Arnab Dutta 2011.jpg
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.caption
- Kamakhya worshipped in a Kali Puja pandal.
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.name
- Kamakhya
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.Sanskrit_transliteration
- Kāmākhyā
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.affiliation
- Mahadevi Parvati Tripura Sundari Bhavani Sati Mahavidya
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.god_of
- Goddess of Desire, Fertility, and Creative Power
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.abode
- Neelachal parvata
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.mantra
- kāmākhye varade devī nīla parvata vāsinī tvaṁ devī jagataṁ mātā yonimudre namostute
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.day
- Sunday
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.weapon
- sword, trishula, discus, shield, bow, arrows, club, lotus, bell, goad, kapala, conch
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.consort
- Shiva
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.mount
- Lion
- Deity<! Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology >.festivals
- Ambubachi Mela, Navaratri
via Wikipedia infobox
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Iconography
- Origins
- Historical
- Mythical
- Legend
- Identity
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Kamakhya (), a mother goddess, is a Shakta Tantric deity; considered to be the embodiment of Kama (desire), she is regarded as the goddess of desire. Her abodeKamakhya Temple is located in the Kamarupa region of Assam, India. Originally a Kirata goddess, Residing on Nilachal hills across the banks of the Brahmaputra River, west of Guwahati in the 10th/11th century Temple rebuilt in 1565 CE, she is worshiped in a non-iconic and un-anthropomorphic form of stone shaped like yoni fed by a perennial stream. The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakta pithas, and is one of the most important Shakta temples.
==Iconography== Kamakhya's iconography is mentioned in the Hindu scripture Kalika Purana. She has twelve arms and six heads of varying colours: white, red, yellow, green, black and colourful. Each head represents different ways to approach her in the path of Upasana. She is wearing opulent jewelry and red flowers such as hibiscus. She holds in each of ten hands a lotus, trident, sword, bell, discus, bow, arrows, club or scepter, goad, and shield. Her remaining two hands hold a bowl, which is made either of gold or a skull.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Kāmākhyā” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.