Fairs have always be Part of rural India.Fairs are example of Indian Culcture.Ambubasi Fair or Ambubasi Festival known as Ambubachi Mela held annually monsoon season at Kamakhya Devi Temple Guwahati Assam of India.The fairs Duration is 3 to 7 Days.large numbers of people visit this fair and celebrate festival.Here is Some Information about Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival at Kamakhya Temple Guwahati Assam India.
Location : Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam
Celebrated In : Kamakhya Temple, Guwahati, Assam
Dedicated To : Goddess Kamakhya
Time of the festivity : Monsoon Season
Duration : Four to Seven days
Significance : One Part of Indian Culcture
Nearest Railway Station: Guwahati station
Nearest Airport: Guwahati Airport
More Information about Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival
The Ambubasi fair is one of the numerous religious fairs and festivals celebrated with devout fervour in India.The Ambubasi fair is organized every year during monsoon in the Kamakhya temple at Guwahati Assam.The fair attracts thousands of devotees from all over the country and abroad.Ambubasi is closely related to the tantrik rituls that are performed during this festival.According to religious belief and mythology, Demon Narakasura fell in love with Goddess Kamakhya and wanted to marry her.But as a goddesh cannot marry a demon or asura, Goddess Kamakhya played a trick to save herself.She laid down a pre-condition that she would marry him only if he built a temple for her overnight.Narakasura agreed to it and akmost finished building the temple just before dawn.This frighted Goddess Kamakhya, so before the final steps of the temple could be completed, a cock was sent to cry 'cock -a-doodle-do' to announce the arrival of the morning, before it was actually dawn.This made Narakasura very angry and he killed the cock on the spot.But Narakasura couldn't marry Goddess Kamakhya owing to the condition.It is said that the present Kamakhya temple where Ambubasi fair is held is the same that Narakasura had made for the goddess.Attractions of Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival
The Special Attraction of the Ambubasi Fair ,The temple remains closed for three days during which the
devotees gather in the temple premises and wait for the auspicious fourth day when they are allowed to worship the goddess inside the temple.The congregation of sadhus and pandas from all over the country and locally available art and craft items for sale on the roadside, make it an interesting place to visit and witness the festivities involved.The pandits chanting mantras on behalf of the devotees, the pilgrims perfoming puja, all these make the fair worth a visit.Large number of devotees make a mad rush when the temple reopens to receive the unique ‘prasad’ which is small bits of cloth, which is supposedly moist with the menstrual fluid of Goddess Kamakhya. It is considered highly auspicious and powerful.
Rituls of Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival
An inportant aspect of the fair is the worship related to the tantrik cult.Generally , this is the peak of monsoon time in Assam.It usually rains during this time for almost a week, a phenomenon known locally as xaat.It is belived that this rain purifies the earth, making it ready for harvesting.According to an ancient belief, one should start partaking of summer fruits only after this fair and this spell of rain.
Legend of Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival
Legend has it that Parvati had, since childhood, decided that Lord Shiva would be her husband.She underwent rigorous fasts and meditation to please Shiva, who finally agreed to her wish and accepted her as his wife.However, Parvati's parents were not happy with the match.Once ,when Parvati's father King Daksha organized a yagna, he did not invite his daughter and son-in-law to participate in it.Parvati, who was angry at this treatment, went to her father's palace to ask the reason for it.Daksha insulted Parvati again by calling Shiva poor and wild.Being the ideal consort of Shiva ,Parvati could not bear the fact that her husband was being insultrd in front of all the already present guests.She immediatly jumped in to the yagna fire out of shame and killed herself.When Lord Shiva got to know of this, he was very angry and came to daksha's palace.On seeing the dead body of his wie, he was so enraged that he put the body on his shoulder and started dancing the tandav or the dance of destruction.The dancing continued for several days, so much , so that the earth was on the brink of being destroyed.
Ten, all the other gods and goddesses appealed to Lord Vishnu to help remove the Siva's shoulder as this would make him stop his dance.With the help of his chakra, Lord Vishnu started cutting Goddess Parvati's body fell at different parts of the country , which are all considered centres of power, or Shakti peeth.One of the pieces fell at the place where the Ambubasi fair is held.
Information about Kamakhya Temple Guwahati Click Here
Picture Gallery of Ambubasi Mela (Fair) Festival
