Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati will open for devotees from 30th June, the temple head informed ANI. The grand Ambubachi mela was cancelled this year in the wake of Covid-19. The mela was scheduled from 22nd June to 26th June.
Temples across the country were reopened more than a week ago after the central government allowed operations under its Unlock 1.
The Kamakhya temple is one of 51 Shakti Peethas, that are spread across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, China and Sri Lanka. The head priest of the temple, Mohit Chandra Sarma informed that the temple had never been closed off to devotees before, even during the turbulent Assam Agitation in the early 1980s.
Every year nearly 30 lakh devotees gather at Kamakhya temple from across the country and abroad to observe the festival.
The Ambubachi Mela is the celebration of the yearly menstruation course of goddess Kamakhya. It is believed that the presiding goddess of the temple, Devi Kamakhya, the Mother Shakti goes through her annual cycle of menstruation during this time stretch.
The temple doors are closed for 4 days during the mela. Then the doors of the temple are reopened and prasad is distributed.
In an earlier press release, temple management had requested devotees not to visit the temple this year.
(Feature image source: kamakhyatemple.com)
