The four-day annual Ambubachi Mela at Assam’s famed Kamakhya Temple began on Wednesday with devotees allowed to participate after a gap of two years due to the COVID pandemic but the state government has decided to observe it in a subdued manner due to the prevailing flood situation.
As a part of the rituals, the temple doors were symbolically closed for four days with the ‘pravritti’ on Wednesday and the ‘nivriti’ or the opening of the door will take on June 26 morning, Maa Kamakhya Devalaya’s Head Priest or the ‘Bor Doloi’ Kabinath Sarma said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had announced that in view of the current flood situation, Ambubachi this time will be observed in a subdued manner only with the basic rituals.
”We apologise to the devotees for this inconvenience and we sincerely ask for your cooperation”, he said in a statement.
The Chief Minister in a tweet said, ”as the auspicious Ambubachi Mela begins from today, I pray to Maa Kamakhya to bless everyone with good health, happiness and prosperity, besides helping us to ward off evil”.
”One of the holiest Shakti peeth in Bharat, the Mandir is dedicated to the divine energy of Maa Kamkhya and attracts devotees from all over the world. I welcome all devotees to our beautiful land Assam for this holy pilgrimage”, he said
The Kamrup Metropolitan district administration has made elaborate arrangements for the devotees who are going to visit the temple atop the Nilachal Hills here but no personal vehicles or public transport will be allowed, Deputy Commissioner Pallav Gopal Jha said.
Senior citizens and other devotees with special needs will be ferried in vehicles provided by the district administration to the top of the hills, he said.
Three tented accommodation, housing around 30,000 devotees in each, have been set up with toilet facilities at three areas below the hills at Pandu Port camp, Maligaon and Old Jail complex at Fancy Bazar.
Distribution of drinking water, food and keeping of footwear will be done at designated places along the road to the temple from the foothill.
Many sadhus from other states West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have arrived and were seen moving around the city though they were not allowed by the authorities to go up the hill.
The doors of the temple remain closed for four days, marking the belief that the annual menstrual cycle of Goddess Kamakhya falls during the period, and reopens on the fifth day when devotees throng to the temple to seek the blessings of the Goddess.
Ambubachi, associated with the belief of fertility cult, is the most important religious event of the temple and also of the state’s tourism calendar with around 25 lakh of footfalls usually recorded during the festival.
The Kamakhya temple was closed to the public during both waves of the pandemic and the Ambubachi rituals were performed only by the temple priests with no devotees allowed to visit the temple during the last two years
The temple was closed to the public from March 20 in 2020 and reopened on October 11, 2020 while during the second wave it was closed since May 13 and reopened on August 21 last year.
