Kamakhya Temple as a Cultural Text: An Analysis of Kamrupia Shakti-Culture, its Origination,
Authenticity and Reproduction with reference to Indira Goswami’s The Man from Chinnamasta
Abstract
The most ancient
idea of Shakti across many cultures and traditions, often, is found to evolve
from the core idea of Nature or Mother Prakriti. Accordingly, in the belief
system, she is the one who bestows us with life and also it is again she with
whom we merge after death. Kamakhya is one such form of Mother Goddess,
worshipped and preached in Assam and Kamrup. The paper attempts to critically engage
with the concepts of Shakti and how these are realized in Assamese writing, in
this particular case, Indira Goswami’s The
Man from Chinnamasta.
Keywords:
Shakti, Kamkhya Temple, Indira Goswami.
In
and around 5th century CE, in India, there arose a new and revised Hindu
tradition of belief, meditation and ritual practices. It was termed as Tantra,
also called as Tantrism. The origin of this concept is controversial. The term
Tantra often simply means “Treatise” or “Exposition”. Literally it can be said
to mean “loom, warp, weave”, hence “principle, system, doctrine, theory”, from
the verbal root “tan” – “to stretch, expand or extend”, and the suffix tra”-instrument”.
In Tantra or Tantrism, we find two important poles of energy. One being “Shiva”
and the other “Shakti”. On one hand, pure consciousness is personified as male
deity - Shiva and on the other, the objective aspect is the creative power
which is personified as the female deity Shakti. “Shakti” is the Tantric title
for the Great Goddess. (Devi) Shakti is a Sanskrit word derived from the verb
root “Shak” which means “to be able”, “to do” and “to act”. The common idea
that we draw from the concept Shakti is that we regard her as personification
of divine feminine creative power. Sometimes she is also known as “The Great
Divine Mother” or Nature that is “Prakriti”.
The
most ancient idea of Shakti across every culture and tradition, often, is found
to evolve from the core idea of Nature or Mother Prakriti. She is the one who
bestows us with life and also it is again she with whom we merge after death.
Kamakhya is one such form of Mother Goddess, worshipped and preached in Assam
and Kamrup.
Kamakhya warade
devi nilaparvatawasini
twang devi jagatangmata
jurnirmudre namuhostute. (Kamakhya Tantra 20)
O Supreme Shakti
Kamakhya! you reside in your abode of Nilparvat (Blue-hills) and bestow us with
your blessings. We are thankful to you, and we salute you. (Kamakhya Tantra 20)
The shrine of
Goddess Kamakhya is located about five kilometers from the city of Guwahati on
the Nilachal hills overlooking the river Brahmaputra. Kamakhya temple, also
known as temple of menstruating Goddess, focuses on worship of symbolic Yoni.
Yoni literally translated to vagina or womb, is the symbol of Goddess Shakti,
the Hindu Divine Mother. The Yoni is also considered to be an abstract
representation of Shakti, the creative force that moves through the entire
Universe. The Yoni is not only where life begins, but also the source of wisdom
and values. Many believed that Kamakhya, also known as “Kameikha” by Khasi tribes,
is Goddess of crematorium – a place which indicates the end of an existence and
also birth of another.
Present Assam was
referred to as Kamrup in many of the ancient Indian literature. It was also
known as Pragjyotishpur due to astrological or “Jyotish Sashtra” practices that
prevailed in this part of the country during that time. However “Kamrup” became
a more predominant name in the later part of history. The reason behind the
naming of this place as “Kamrup” and the creation of Shaktipeeth are interlaced.
Creation of Kamakhya
Kalikapurana
(a shastra of the 10th century AD) gives
us a detailed narration of the story behind the formation and origin of this
peeth – Kamakhya. A legend connected to its origin is the famous love tryst
with Narakasura and how Goddess Kamakhya finally slays him. Mention is made of
this in two Shastras, the Kalika Purana and the Yogini Tantra (16th century
AD). Legends and myths have multiplied through the ages and they have
overlapped in such a manner that it is not possible to place them
chronologically, as characters have mingled and events mixed. According to
Kalika Purana, it was the beginning of creation or “Shristi”. Brahma and Vishnu
were all engaged into it, except Shiva, which actually made the entire process
of creation incomplete and hence impossible. At last, Brahma in a helpless
state, headed towards Raja Daksh and asked him to satisfy Jagatmatri Mahamaya
by a Puja, so that she takes birth in the form of his daughter and later
marries Shiva. After years and years of extreme meditation or “tapashya” of
Dakshya , Mother Nature or “Jagatmata” was satisfied and she said, “As you have
wished, I will take birth in the form of your daughter and later marry Shiva,
but whenever I will be disrespected, I will sacrifice that bodily form.”
So
accordingly, Dakshya Raja’s wife Birina was pregnant with Devi Aadya Shakti
Mahamaya who came to be known as Sati after birth. Sati satisfied Mahadev Shiva
with her dedicated “Archana” and worship and later got married to him. Lord Shiva
married Parvati, the daughter of Dakshya, a very powerful king of that time.
The king however, did not like his son-in-law for some reason and therefore did
not invite him for the Yagna (The great sacrifice) ceremony which the King had
organized in a great fashion. It was a deliberate attempt on his part to shame
Shiva. Sati was made aware of it by Naarad. She begged permission from Shiva to
attend the Yagna, uninvited though. Shiva rejected the proposal and did not
allow her.Sati with her “Krodhadipta Nayan” that is eyes brightened with anger
looked at Shiva and her third eye opened up flashing fire and also took form of
Shyama, the four armed form of Shakti.
Shiva Then said:
Taang Dhabomanang girisang
Dristura dakhyayani sati
Ma bhoi mabhoiriti gira ma Polayotye wasana
Tatha pyenang polayantang
Hrinibratang bilukoho
Dosomutridhobou devi dosodikhyu sibekhyita (Kalikapurana ).
O Supreme Sati! Your
majestic form scares me, my heart cries as destruction follows now. And I will
run to save myself from “Mrityu” or death (Kalikapurana ).
At
last, the narrative goes, Shiva made way for Sati. Sati and Shiva were
disrespected and insulted by Daksha for their uninvited presence. She could not
resist her father’s attitude of irreverence towards Shiva and stepped in the sacred
fire of Yagna and sacrificed her life. To overcome the grief of Sati’s death,
Shiva began a grim penance and wandered about the world carrying her dead body
on his head. Shiva’s “Dance of Death” and penance alarmed all the Gods because
it threatened to destroy the world. In order to stop the frightful wanderings
of Shiva, the supreme God, Vishnu, cut the dead body of Sati, into 51 pieces
with his “Sudarshan Chakra” (Discus). The pieces fell onto the Earth in 51
different places and wherever they fell, the ground was held to be sacred.
One
of the important organs of Sati fell on the Nilachal Hill in Guwahati and the
place was henceforth held sacred and it is said that the famous Kamakhya temple
had originated from Sati’s organ only. The name of this hillock has been
derived from this legend. It is said to have gone blue when the severed part of
Sati’s body fell on it and hence the term “Nila” meaning blue, was affixed to
the term “Aanchal” which means “Parbat” or hill. Kamakhya is mentioned in the
Kalika Purana as the most important Goddess of tantric worship and is referred
to in the text as Mahamaya – “the great Goddess of illusion”, who takes on many
forms depending on her mood. She is identified with Kali in Kalika Purana,
Yoginitantra and Kamakhya Tantra. She is associated with “Dasa Mahavidyas.” Kamakhya
is pictured as a young Goddess, 16 years old, with 12 arms and 6 heads of
varying colors, representing a powerful goddess, who is omnipotent, omniscient
and omnipresent. She holds in each of her ten hands a lotus, a trident, a
sword, a bell, a discus, a bow, arrows, a club, a goat and a shield. Her
remaining two hands hold a bowl made either of gold or silver. She is seated
upon a lotus, which emerges from the navel of Lord Shiva, who in turn lies atop
a lion.
Hence,
exploring the narrative history and origin of the Shakti-peeth of North-East India named Kamakhya helped us
trace the origination of the very name of the state presently known as Assam,
earlier known as Kamrup. Similarly, a reading of the Kamakya Peeth and its
ritualistic practices will help us read through then Kamrupia now Axomiya
Shakti-Culture. To do so, I have focused on The
Man from Chinnamasta, which is one among many gem from Indira Goswami’s
oeuvre and it definitely pricks at our social conscience. The writing of the
novel The Man from Chinnamasta was
provoked by her encounter with the temple of Goddess Kamakhya. From the
fertility cult of distant past and tantric worship in the Middle Ages, to
Ambubachi and other ceremonies still prevalent today, the practices of worship
of mother goddess flourished with devotees thronging the place from all over
India.
Her
novel focuses on the ritual of animal sacrifice, which has been going on since
prehistoric days. Since her childhood, she has been horrified by the shocking
practice at the Kamakhya temple, in Nilachal hill, at Guwahati where she grew
up. She soon learnt that there were regular sacrifices at several other temples
in her native place. In fact, the mighty river Brahmaputra, was known as “Red
River”, as a result of all the blood that flows into it from various
temples. In her novel, she vehemently
condemned the rituals of animal sacrifice at Kamakhya, especially the buffalo
sacrifice that has been going on for two thousand years.
Kamakhya Temple in The Man from Chinnamasta :
The temple doors were shut. The Mother
Goddess was menstruating. Her loins were covered with a red cloth. Every year,
on the seventh day of the month of Ashaad, the temple closed for three days. It
reopened on the fourth day. (79)
In the month of
Ashara (Sanskrit: Ashadha, Hindi: Ashadh), when Sun is in the house of Mithuna
Rasi and steps in the first prada of constellation Adra, after Mrigasari, the
period of Ambubachi commences and continues until fourth day. Mother Earth is
said to enter the period of menstruation in this time. It is interesting to
note that this occurrence of the Sun’s entry into the first Prada of Adra
constellation invariably takes place on the 6th and 7th day of Ashara in Indian
calendar. Generally, it starts on the 7th day of Ashara.
The
traditional belief is that our sacred Mother Earth is also like a fertile
woman. The Earth cultivates and germinates seeds and grows crops – becoming
pregnant as if in coition. This is why woman’s womb is compared to “Kshetra”
for “Krishi” (cultivation land). Ambubachi symbolizes this phenomenon of an
ancient agricultural concept. According to tradition, we are the children of
Mother Earth. Thus, the concept of Ambubachi possesses agricultural, social and
religious ideas that contributed to the emergence of this phenomenon.
The Man from Chinnamasta, as the title suggests, addresses conditions
of local knowledge in context of contemporary realities, and in this respect
Ambubachi being one of the site for examination and analysis.
Tomorrow,
the doors would be thrown open…the rush of pilgrims was indescribable
[…]
some had painted their bodies with ash […]
Ma…Ma.
(84-85)
The representation
of conflicting cultural identities provides an interesting setting for the
novel’s narrative, which also encompasses Ambubachi. This helps Goswami in
organizing the story within a chosen cultural matrix. The difference in
perceptions, attitudes and perspectives also gets clear, which helps us to
determine the relation between the characters and also in the same way makes it
difficult for the readers to analyze and understand. The condition often goes
beyond the personal plane to reflect the preoccupations that situate people in
the society.
The Ambubachi was over. Devotees were
streaming back to their homes. Those who stayed […] A Couple of British
Officers who had turned up for shooting practice happened to see the tantriks’
boobing heads. They thought they would have fun. They fired into the air to
scare them out of their trance. But the tantriks did not budge. So deeply were
they meditating that it seemed as though even a bullet through the heart could
not disturb them. (116)
One of the many
places of pilgrimage in India, what makes Kamakhya Devi – the menstruating
Goddess – different is that, it has no deification in the form of sculpture to
worship. It is only Kamakhya’s Yoni
or vagina. Ambubachi is regarded as the temple’s annual fertility festival, in
which the Goddess is said to be going through her yearly menstrual cycle that
is.the regular natural change that occurs in the uterus and ovaries that make
pregnancy possible. As we all know, Shakti is behind every “creation” or
“Shristi”. She is also therefore similar to Nature or “Vasundhara”. Hence, like
any female being, it is very essential for her to undergo this cycle to get
pregnant with new existence or for creation. What is most ironic about the
temple is that bleeding women are not allowed to enter the temple when they are
menstruating. It is also ironic that people visit the temple and some even
claim that it is the most auspicious place in the country, but the
conversations turn into whispers when we talk about menstruation. When a girl
menstruates, those are her three days of impurity, according to Shakta cult. Menstruation
is often regarded as a word synonymous to (in)auspicious.
Another
most important Tantric tradition found to be discussed and highlighted almost
throughout the novel was “Bali prathaa” or “Animal sacrifice”, definitely in an
extensive and elaborate way. This man from Chinnamasta was used as an
interesting site to re-read this cemented stereotypical Hindu traditional
belief. Goswami definitely used Jatadhaari, as a means to interrogate the logic
of ritualized spirituality in the novel. Jatadhaari, according to Goswami, is a
medium to interrogate the logic of ritualized spirituality in the novel The Man
from Chinnamasta, is a courageous novel, for at its heart, is an impassioned
protest against the horror of animal sacrifice: “As the third round of worship
ended […] a dog ran to join them”(92-93). Chinnamasta Jatadhhari was a hermit
who leads the effort for a change, in the cruel ritual of animal sacrifice. “Jatadhaari
raised his hands ,Ma…Ma…Ma! Cast off your blood stained robes” (53).
Jatadhaari
also tried to influence many other characters, notably Ratnadhar, a sensitive
youth, who falls to the ground and sobs when he sees a buffalo being dragged to
slaughter. He therefore, at first raged this protest silently, by releasing
sacrificial buffalo. Zealous followers of the Mother Goddess exclaimed, “One by
One, more than twenty animals intended for sacrifice have disappeared […] We know
exactly who the culprit is” (119). He was later found to be an integral part of
the march against animal sacrifice, which was headed by Jatadhaari. “Plans were
underway for protest march […] Jatadhaari would announce the date and time”
(54). Ratnadhar was found taking part actively in motivating the people and
collecting signatures, of those who were against animal sacrifice.
We
find another, named Bidhibala, who strongly stood against animal sacrifice and
even encouraged Ratnadhar, in his act of releasing the sacrificial buffaloes
and other animals. “Listen carefully. People say, you […] can show you now”
(104). She says she would rather offer her songs to the Goddess, songs created
from her tearful unspoken words. She shall smash the stones weighing down her
heart and offer their dust to the Goddess along with flowers. But she was very
reluctant to indulge herself in anything that has to do with spilling the
blood. Dorothy Brown, an apparent outsider is presented as an example of
movements across distinctive cultures. This presence of “Western” perspective,
as it were, invites us to think about the possibilities and possible modernity
that may contest and challenge traditions. Dorothy’s shock at witnessing a
sacrifice stands at one extreme of such a possible perception of “traditional”
practice, while the satire about outmaled ritual offers another possibility.
“What will he do? Firmly holding onto the student’s hand […] A cry of distress”
(173).
Clifford
Geertz pioneered or popularized the metaphor of “Culture as Text”. He wrote in
‘Deep Play’, his description of the Balinese cock-fight, that,
The culture of a people is an ensemble of
texts, themselves ensembles, which the anthropologist strains to read over the
shoulders of those to whom they properly belong. (Geertz 1973a, p.452)
Moreover, in his
article, “Thick Description” he commented on these ‘texts’:
[W]hat we call our data are really our own
constructions of people’s constructions of what they are and their compariots
are up to… (Geertz 1973b, p.9)
According to Yuri
Lotman, Culture and Cultural elements are Semiospheres or ‘semiotic spaces’.
They are self-referential systems insofar as they tend to define themselves and
evince isomorphic semiotic spaces at mutual inclusive levels and metalevels.
Based
on these theories and ideologies when we analyse and read Kamakhya temple as a
Cultural Text to trace the Shakta Culture of Kamrupa, we will often find it
claiming its inception to a text which is known as Kalika Purana. The Kalika
Purana (Sanskrit: Kālikā Purāṇa), also called the Kali Purana, Sati Purana or
Kalika Tantra, is one of the eighteen minor Puranas (Upapurana) in the Shaktism
tradition of Hinduism. The text was composed in or near medieval Kamarupa
(modern Assam). It exists in many versions, variously organized in 90 to 93
chapters.
The word
“Ambubachi” if broken down is- “Ambu” meaning Water and “Bachi” meaning Baahi in Assamese and “Stale”, hence
impure or inappropriate to accept. The water here probably means fluid,
indicating menstrual blood which thereby makes it “bachi” or impure. Hence,
this most celebrated festival of Kamakhya is “Celebration of a Bachi or impure
state of feminine power”. Yet, the novel clearly states inability of Bidhibala
to enter the temple during her menstrual cycle. When we question the
authenticity of these rules we are bombarded with established traditions, often
claimed to be quoted from Puranas.
The
58th Chapter of Kalikapurana ,
entitled “Devi-Tantra” states about the concept of Purity. According to it,
within our body we contain five “Pranans”. “Prana” can mean breath, energy,
life, air, respiration or vitality. These are five “Pranas” that takes things
in, “Apana” takes things out, “Samana” assimilates, “Vyana” circulates and
distributes and “Udana” expresses, especially speech. Any obstruction to the
free flow of any of these causes imbalance and disease.“Apana” in the body is
predominant as there is the outward flow of various forms of physical element
(uterine tissues) as well as repressed emotions (mood swings). But this
constructed traditional practice titles these outward, flows as “Impure”, hence
prohibiting entry to a “pure” abode of Shakti. This impurity construct also
suggests that when we make any offering, whether as prasadam or homa, we are
offering to the supreme spirit, menstruation creates certain smell, which
according to the ideological belief gets attached to the offerings, and hence
making it unfit to be offered.
But
a detailed reading of Sridurgasptashakti
(Devi Mahatyam), Lalita Sahasranama, Vedoktam Ralri Suktam (Rig Veda
X.127.1-8) and Tantroktam Ratrisuktam
will help us know that:
God is beautiful, God is repulsive. Love
protects as love can be frightening. God is in purity. God is in impurity. And
God is also none of these things. (Rig Veda X.127.1-8)
Again Pancapretamancadhisayini
states, “She rests on a couch made of five corpses”, this clearly says that the
embodiment of auspiciousness can itself reside even in the most “impure”
places, be it a corpse or a woman menstruating. Ya devi sarvabhute ut narupe a sa sthita (X.127.1-8) meaning, “To
the Goddess who abides in all being in the form of attachment”. Here, the
Goddess is referred to not as desire that creates, but also as desire that
attaches us to this world and to material things. So, the flow of desires, during
menstrual cycle, which makes a woman “impure” can clearly be stated as an
ideological construct.
Even,
Ya devi sarvabute u lajjarupe asa sthita
( X.127.1-8), “To the Goddess who abides in all beings in the form of shame”.
Even if people try to shame her by isolating her and calling her impure, Shakti
will be present with her even then in form of her shame. This counters the idea
of menstruating women as impure hence becoming untouchable and restricted, and
also in a way questions the origination and authenticity of the term
“Ambubachi” in particular and the cultural tradition or festival in general. Bali
or sacrifice plays an important role in Hinduism, although the ritual has
evolved over Hinduism’s several thousand years of existence. The Vedic
scriptures dictate the rule of sacrifice and priests follow highly structures
methods of incorporating sacrifice into worship. We find prevalence of this
practice, especially in Assam, to satisfy various ferocious forms of Devi
Shakti. Kalikapurana and Yoginitantra
provide us with elaborate description of the same.
The
55th Chapter of Kalikapurana states that a preacher/worshipper should
satisfy their Lords with the following offerings: Ganesh with “Modak” (Sweet),
Vishnu with “Ghrita” (Ghee), Shankar with “Sangeet” (Music) and Chandika with
“Balidaan” (Sacrifice).Kalikapurana divides Balidaan or sacrifice into eight basic
divisions: 1) Birds; 2) Pig, goat, buffalo, ox, lion etc.; 3) Tortoise; 4)
Crocodile; 5) Meat; 6)Rabbit; 7) Horse; 8) Elephant. Amongst these, sacrifice
of goat, elephant and human are regarded as supreme form or “Aatibaali”. Female
counterparts are often not regarded as a part of this practice. But
Yoginitantra states: Mithune diyamate tu
na dusu jayate priye (Kalikapurana ), which means sacrificing a pair (male
and female) together was acceptable.
In
Hinduism, sacrifice or “Yajna”, to use the Sanskrit word, turns the profane
into the holy. According to Anna Smorag in the article “The significance of
sacrifice in Hinduism”, Hindus use it to get moksha, which is liberation of the
soul from the cycle of rebirth and knowledge of the true self through a state
of unity with Brahman, the Supreme Being. Smorag states that sacrifice has a
special place in Hindu tradition because the ritual provides a separation
between everyday activity and worship. Kalipkapurana
also states about Devi’s thirst for blood, and her satisfaction with preacher’s
blood: Naaren bolina devi sahasrang pariwatsabaan widhi dandena chapunnati tripting lakhyanay trivirnobhe (69/19)
Sacrifice of an existence satisfies devi and quences her thirst for years to
come. It also suggests that the sacrifice should always be done in a
crematorium. Kalikapurana mentions about Heruk (north of Kamakhya)
according to it, is a form of Shiva. After sacrificing a being or an existence,
we must also light lamps in it to satisfy the Goddess.
Now
if we critically examine this idea of animal sacrifice, we will find several
analysis provided. This ideologically constructed cult often tries to justify
their act by saying, “Maa (Goddess) is thirsty, and blood to quench her
thirst”. Animals are sacrificed often in front of ferocious forms of Goddess,
be it Durga or Kali. According to me, iconography and image of these Goddesses
play a vital role in shaping a worshipper’s belief and ideology of one who
worships and preach them. To talk about Goddess Kali, the image that comes to
our mind is that a fierce woman with blood dripping tongue. But why does
Goddess Kali drink blood? Why the image is portrayed so? Are Durga, Kali
Kamkhya and many other ferocious forms of Shakti really blood thirsty?
If
we get to mythological stories, we will find that Demons or Asuras through
severe austerities tried to obtain boons from Brahma. Brahma often denied as they
wanted and tried to obtain boons of immorality. Instead, the demons are
bestowed with boons, where they died only in specific and certain conditions.
The Asura Raktabheeja obtained a boon from Brahma that every drop of blood that
falls on Earth from his body will produce more demons. It was hard for the
devatas now to fight with Raktabheeja and were sure about their defeat.
Finally, mother Durga came up to their rescue in form of the terrifying Goddess
Kali, who sucked up every blood that fell from Raktabheeja. This is the reason
why images of Goddess Kali are shown with blood red protruding tongue, which
might not essentially indicate her thirst. Goddess Kamakhya, who is often
regarded as a form of Goddess Kali, is also regarded as blood thirsty. But again,
this thirst for blood, might be a wrong interpretation of Sati’s quest for
revenge from King Daksha. Another mythological story suggests that after Sati
immortalized herself sacrificing her body in the “Agni or the Yagna”, Shiva was
enraged, and he destroyed Daksha’s sacrifice. He further cut off Daksha’s head
and, later to restore him with life, he replaced it with that of a goat.
Probably, sacrificing goats to satisfy Goddess Kamakhya, might be an attempt to
console Sati, by sacrificing goats in place of King Daksha, who insulted Shiva.
Also, buffalo sacrifice was practiced as a consolation to Devi Durga, as they
are regarded as a form or incarnation of Mahisasura.
But,
if we analyze and get into deeper levels, we find that this entire idea of the Goddess
being blood thirsty is a constructed ideology, to satisfy their own needs and
requirements. There is necessity to argue for a more nuanced understanding of
this constructed Tantra tradition in Assam by exploring the intimate relations
among power, ritual and kingship as they have been played out in Assamese
history. “Shakti” here operates in all domains of experience – as “power” in
every sense of term – spiritual, social and political. Assamese tantric
constructed tradition, essentially depict – Kali, Durga, Kamakhya and many
other forms as blood thirsty, whose thirst gets quenched with the sacrificial
blood of other existence, finally putting them in a negative light. Whereas
Foucault argues that the power of Shakti is never simply a repressive, negative
force or centralized authority imposed from the top to bottom in a social
formation, on the contrary, power is a far more diffused and decentralized
phenomenon, which emanates not from a single source, but from thousand
scattered points in a social fabric. “Power is everywhere […] because it comes
from everywhere” (Foucault 1980a:93).Thus, Shakti is positive rather than a
negative force. Therefore, this means that Shakti or power is never only a
force exercised by the strong at the top of social formation on the weak at the
bottom, in order to dominate them. This makes it very clear that dragging a
creature, unwilling to sacrifice its life, in the name of Shakti worship, is
illegitimate in every possible way. Rather it is an improper and incorrect
exercise of power. Foucault says, “Power comes from below”, emanating from the
rules as well as ruling classes.
To
problematise these constructed ideologies, we can also look into the concept of
Kingship, very well associated by the idea of Shakti. Probably the single most
important text in the history of early Assam – and a key document in this
complex negotiation between Hindu and indigenous tradition is Kalika Purana, a
large Sanskrit treatise in some ninety chapters devoted to the mythology and
worship of the Goddess. By offering
sacrifices one achieves liberation; by offering sacrifices one reaches heaven;
by offering sacrifices a king defeats enemy kings (Kalikapurana 67.5-6). The king must be purified judging
lawsuits, performing sacrifice and invading the enemy kingdom.(Kalikapurana 87.75-76) In Tantric traditions of Assam,
power is not a purely a spiritual or transcendent affair. Shakti that is very
much related to kingship, military strength and governance. As Orzech notes,
the Tantras “were among the most important vehicles for the spread of Indian
political and religious ideas throughout East, Central and Southeast Asia”
(25-30). Arthasastra provides a detailed direction for economic affairs to be
carried by a king, such as agriculture, forts, commerce, farms, and taxes
(84.56-81). Above all it suggest that king should be a good patron of the
Brahmans, funding their ritual performances. “You should first serve your
elders, the Brahmans, who are seniors in knowledge, wisdom and austerity, who
are well paid and free from jealousy. The king should always hear the Vedas and
the Sastras narrated by them, and whatever wisdom they speak he should follow
by action” (Kp:84.16-17). Here, it is clear that the text which is central to
in this Tantric tradition is itself a product of negotiation between
Sanskrit-trained Brahmans who created the text and kings in power.
The
final text is probably a product of the late eleventh and twelfth century and
was composed during the Pala dynasty. The last important ruler of the dynasty
was Dharmapala, who was probably the most important for the development of
religious life in early Assam. He also encouraged commerce and arts. Known as a
generous patron of the Brahmans, rituals and sacred texts, he rebuilt the great
temple of Kamakhya and revitalized the worship of the Goddess in Assam. “Being
peaceful at home and war like abroad, Dharmapala not only established a reign
of virtue with the kingdom but extended the bounds of Kamrupa by conquering the
lost possessions in North Bengal…to the South West” (Choudhury: 241). Well, so
the reason behind Kings like Palas supporting the composition of such a text,
becomes very clear. It is a text unites the traditional Brahmanical rites drawn
from the Vedas and indigenous rites drawn from the hill people of Assam. The
brand of tantra found in Kalikapurana is
therefore is a complex negotiation between Sanskrit educated Brahmans and royal
patrons. Through these newly constructed ideas which they claimed as a
“revitalizing attempt”, they actually tried to legitimize Assam’s Kings by
providing them with Brahmanical ritual authority and subsume Assam’s indigenous
tradition under a more encompassing royal system of power, and present it as
something that center around Goddess, thus blurring the reality of power
politics and expanded kingship.
Sexuality,
is perhaps another most effective instrument in the strategic exercise of
power. It is a cultural construction, rather than biological. “The sexual body
is…not only primary target of the techniques of disciplinary power, but also is
the point where the techniques are resisted and thwarted” (McNay: 102).
Assamese society is a patriarchal society. By celebrating the Goddess, they are
actually creating an illusion of surrendering themselves in front of female-spirited
deity. Rather, using it as a scope, to construct ideologies and treat the
females in their society according to their need and requirement, ensuring that
their power and position remains intact. This might also be an act to show
their higher position in the power equation by patronizing women and thus
celebrating and worshipping them. This worship of women can be occasional,
ensuring their desire fulfillment. What can be better example to site, than the
involvement of prostitutes in the tantric tradition only in specific days and using the maati
or soil of the brothel to make the idol of Shakti calling it “Punya Bhumi”. They
are holy for few days of the year and unholy and ‘prostitutes’ for the rest.
This clearly states their hypocritical attitude and how they mold traditions
accordingly.
In
this tradition, we find that the head of the victim is not only discussed but
in fact, it becomes the very center and pivot of the entire paradigm. The
crucial act of the ritual is the beheading of the victim with a sword, which is
first worshipped in the most explicit terms as the terrible, thirsty drinker of
blood. The crucial act of the ritual is the presentation of the severed head. The
burning lamp is placed on its crown and it is offered, together with the fresh
blood of the victim, to the Goddess, for whom it is transformed into the
sweetest nectar, according to the prevalent ideology. The head has a central
place in the complex web of symbolic meanings and cultural significance. As
Brenda Beck observes, the head is often associated with sexual power and
creative but has a dangerous potency of sexual fluids. In Indian Yogic
tradition, the primary aim is to sublimate and redirect the flow of semen up to
the top of head, the head is also associated with the ambivalent power of both
menstruation and sexual intercourse.
Having
accepted that Shakti tradition of worship is a female deity worshipping
tradition, the ideological construct of animal sacrifice can be argued and
subverted. Sacrifice, is a symbolic representation of sacrificing one’s own
pride and lower animal nature to Goddess i.e. female beings. It might also be a
symbolic hint at the end of domination and oppression on women in the
patriarchal social setup. This end is depicted by beheading. As we all know,
the head is something to which men are related to in Gender and Literature
studies and women are often related to body and desires. This, therefore, might
be an indication for the urgency in establishing equality in a social structure
of existence. Hence, the sacrifice of animals and all other traditional
ritualistic practices that we find in almost all Shaktipeeths, including
Kamakhya, might be a result of incorrect interpretation or deliberate attempt
to secure the power, position and economic zones of various dominating
structures existing in the society. As we all know, local knowledge is often
fed by various forms of discourses available. But these discourses can be corrupted
enough to blur the contemporary realities of certain situations, traditions,
rituals and culture. As the Deconstruction (critical) theory, suggested by
Michael Foucault, the centrality of discourses is found in the history of a
civilization and its culture. This history gives us knowledge and it is
presented as truth, undeniable as are often supported by power structures. In
this aspect, temples in Shakta cult, originally altruistic in nature, loses its
spirit in the discursive web, of which it is both producer and the product or
victim. It’s high time that we analyse these ideological believes and pay heed
to the possible scopes available that claim these practices surrounding the
idea of Shakti as mere constructions.
Works Cited
Aurobindo. Isha Upanishad. August 1914. Print.
Baruah, K. L. Early history of Kamarupa. K. L. Barua,
1993. Print.
Baruah, Prafulla
Narayan. Manu Samhita. Koustubh
Printers, 2003. Print.
Bardoloi,
Nirmalprabha. Shiva.Sahitya-Prakash. Tribune
Building, 2007. Print.
---. Devi.Sahitya-Prakash, Tribune Building,
2000. Print.
Bataille, Georges.
Eroticism: Death and Sensuality.City Lights, 1986. Print.
Beane, Wendell C. Myth, Cult and Symbols in Sakta Hinduism: A
Study of the Indian Mother
Goddess. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977. Print.
Beck, Brenda E.F.
“The Goddess and the Demon: A Local South Indian Festivals and Its Wider
Context”.
Purusartha 5:83-136, 1981. Print.
Bhattacharya,
Debendra Nath.Kalkapurana.1st Edition, Bani Mandir Prakashan, Print.
Borgohain, Jatindra
Kumar. Asomar Utsav aru Puja. Manoj
Ladia Publishers, 2004. Print.
Bradford, Michel.
Prana and Kundalini: Aspects of Shakti.n.pub.n.p. Print.
Brooks, Douglas
R. The
Secret of the Three Cities: An
Introduction to Hindu Sakta Tantra.
Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1990. Print.
Brooks, Douglas R. Auspicious Wisdom: The Texts and Traditions
of Srividya Sakta Tantrisim
in South India. New York: State University of New York
Press, 1992. Print.
Chattopadhyay, S.
“Social Life.” The Comprehensive History
of Assam,Volume I: Ancient
Period, 201-210. Publication Boards,1990. Print.
Chamberlaine,
Neville. “1940: The Finest Hour”. n.pub. n.pg.
Choudhury, P. C. The History of the People of Assam to the
Twelfth Century A.D. Department of
History in Assam, 1996. Print.
Debroy, Bibek, and
Dipavali Debroy. The Holy Vedas: Rig
Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda and
Atharva Veda. Penguin Group, 1981. Print.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts
of Pollution and Taboo.
Routledge,
1966. Print.
Dumont, Louis. Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its
Implication. University of
Chicago
Press, 1970. Print.
Eliade, Mircea.
Yoga: Immorality and Freedom. Princeton University Press, 1971. Print.
Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality.Vintage, 1980.
Print.
---. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and
Other Writings. Pantheon, 1980. Print.
---. “A Preface to
Transgression.”In Religion and Culture, 57-71.Routledge, 1999. Print.
Frazer, Sir
James.“Spirits of the corn and of the world”, 37 ff. Print.
Gait, Edward
Albert. “Human Sacrifice in Ancient Assam.” The
Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Bengal 67/3:56-65, 1898. Print.
Gait, Edward
Albert. A History of Assam. Thacker,
Spink and Co., 1963. Print.
Goswami, Indira. The Man from Chinnamasta. Trans.
Prashanta Goswami, Katha, 2012. Print.
Goswami, Kali
Prasad. Kamakhya Temple: Past and Present.
A.P.H. Publishing Corporation.
1998.
Print.
Geertz, C. “Deep
Play; Notes on Balinese cockfight”, The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic
Books,
New York, 1973a, pp. 412-453.
Geertz, C. “Thick
Description: toward an Interpretative Culture”, The Interpretation of Cultures,
Basic
Book, 1973b, pp 3-30.
Gupta, Sanjukta,
Sanjuhta Gupta, Dirk Jan Hoens and Teun Goudriaan. Hindu Tantrism. E. J.
Brill,1979.
Print.
Habermas, Jurgen. The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity.
Polity Press, 1987. Print.
Hazra, R. C. “The
Kalika Purana.” Annals of the Bhandarkar
Oriental Research Institute 22:1-
23.
1941. Print.
---. Studies in the Upapuranas. Calcutta: University
of Culcutta Press, 1958-63. Print.
Heesterman, J.C. The Inner Conflict of Traditions: Essays in
Indian Ritual, Kingship and
Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Print.
---. The Broken World of Sacrifice: An Essay in
Ancient Indian Ritual. University
of
Chicago Press, 1993. Print.
Hiltebeital, Alf. The Ritual of Battle: Krishna in the
Mahabharata. Cornell University Press,
1976.
Print.
---. The Cult of
Draupadi:On Hindu Ritual and the Goddess.University of Chicago Press.2.7.1991.
Print.
Jung,Curl. “A Study
Guide of Psychologists and Their Theories for Students”.n.pub. Print.
Kakati, Banikanta. The mother goddess Kāmākhyā: or, Studies
in the fusion of Aryan and
primitive beliefs of Assam. Lawyer’s Book Stall, 1967. Print.
Kakati, Banikanta.
Kamakhya Tantra. Lawyer’s Book Stall. 1967. Print.
Kundalini. Boston & London, 1993. Print.
McNay, Lois. Foucault: A Critical Introduction. Continuum,
1994. Print.
Nagar, Shantilal. Devi Mahabhagavata Purana. Eastern Book
Linkers, 2014. Print.
Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom: The
Scriptures for Humane Kings in the
Creation of Chinese Buddhism. Pennsylvania State University Press,1998.
Print.
Pandey, Kriti
Chandra, R. C. Dwivedi. An Outline of
History of Saiva Philosophy.Motilal
Banarsidass
Pub, 1999. Print.
Sashtri
Viswanarayan.ed. Yogini Tanta.Bharatiya
Vidya Prakasana, 1982. Print.
Sengupta,Saswati. The Song Seekers. Zubaan, 128B Shahpur
Jat, 1ST Floor, 2011. Print.
Taylor, Charles.
“Foucault on Freedom and Truth.” Foucault:
A Critical Reader, 69-102.Basil
Blackwell,
1986. Print.
The Srimad Devi Bhgavatam. Vijnananda Swami.n.pub,n.p. Print.
Tyson, Donald. Sexual Alchemy: Magical intercourse with
Spirits. St.Paul, MN. Llewellyn
Publications.2000.pp.
28-29. Print.
Van Kooji, K. R. Worship of the Goddess according to the Kalikapurana.
E. J. Brill, 1972. Print.
Woodroffe, John. Principles of Tantra: The Tantratattva of
Sriyukta Siva Candra Vidyarnava
Bhattacarya Mahodaya. Ganesh and Co., 1960. Print.