Kamakhya Temple

Rebuilt in 1565 by the Koch king Naranarayana after the destruction of an earlier temple, Kamakhya on Guwahati's Nilachal Hill developed the distinctive beehive-domed shikhara form that defines Assamese temple architecture, quite unlike the towers of neighbouring Bengal or Odisha. Its sanctum is unusual even among Shakti Peethas: rather than an image, worship centres on a natural rock cleft venerated as the goddess's yoni, making Kamakhya the foremost Tantric centre of India and the most important of the 51 Shakti Peethas, associated with the fall of Sati's womb. The hilltop complex includes shrines to all ten Mahavidya goddesses. The annual Ambubachi Mela, marking the goddess's menstruation, draws hundreds of thousands of Tantric ascetics and pilgrims, making Kamakhya one of the subcontinent's most distinctive living pilgrimage sites.