Guwahati

Guwahati museum

The guwahati museum has this wall painting outside…. It’s a take on textiles…and here I am with the  young guy who painted this…. His name is Neelim Mahanta, and he and rishi are going on this reke tour to find more walls to paint!!! The energy and simplicity is sooo nice to see…

It has always been my theory that it takes a generation after colonialism, for the colonial mind set to change totally. I feel we are seeing this now… I was born in 1948, and we were in the Nehruvian mindset…. It is our children, and the generation after that that we see the energy bursting out…

Kamakhya Temple:

Purab na jao …a famous classical song which says do not go to the northeast.. the women are so enchanting you will not come back……  it is the seat of the shaktipeeth , where shaktis vagina fell… it is the seat of tantra… the energy is amazing…. There is a place where sacrifice is done… blood on the floor….

And amazing statues…. But there is a huge huge line to go inside…. There are vip lines where you pay to go ahead of the free line.. But something in me says, no… anyway, don’t want any kids or any special request…. So bow down and the back ask for blessings…. And then we go to our next stop.

Maa Kamakhya Temple  located at Guwahati, Assam is a Hindu temple dedicated to the mother goddess Kamakhya. It is considered most sacred and oldest of the 51 Shakti Peethas on earth.

Kamakhya Temple is located on Nilachal Hills in western part of Guwahati on adjoining banks of Brahmaputra river. There is a complex consisting of several temples around Maa Kamakhya Temple. Apart from this, there are also the temples of 10 Mahavidyas in and around temple. These include Bhuvaneshvari, Bagalamukhi, Chinnamasta,Tripura Sundari, Tara, Kali, Bhairavi, Dhumavati, Matangi and Kamala Temples. Among these, Tripurasundari, Matangi and Kamala reside inside the main temple whereas the other seven are individual temples located on Nilachal Hills.

Kamakhya Temple is an important pilgrimage destination for all sects of Hindus and especially for Tantric worshipers.

http://www.kamakhyadham.com/

Pujas Conducted:

Durga Puja: Durga Puja is celebrated every year during the month of September-October, also known as “Navratri”.

Ambubachi Puja: This is also an annually celebrated fertility festival of Maa Kamakhya Devi. It is assumed that the Goddess experience menstrual during the period and the temple remains closed for 3 days and then opened with great festivity on fourth day called Ambubachi Mela.

 

Pohan Biya: This festival is celebrated as symbolic marriage between Lord Kamesvara and Kamesvari Devi during the Hindi month of Pausha during December-January.

 

Vasanti Puja: Vasanti puja is carried out at Kamakhya Devi temple in the Hindi month of Chaitra or during March-April.

 

Manasha Puja: This Puja is performed from Sankranti and continues up to the second day of Bhadrapad.

http://kamiyasindoor.com/16-secrets-kamakhya-devi-temple.html

Umananda Temple:

There is this temple in the middle of the river and after haggling with the boat people, and realise we are getting nowhere we take the boat across. For some reason, it feels very special, the  bhramaputara.. it is so huge and just has a feel and air about it.

Up on the hill, it’s a magnificent 360 degrees of water all around. I feel into a silence, almost automatically…. An island in the middle of the river. And it’s an old old temple…. Thoughts about being there, a space as quiet as the deepest Himalayas.

Parijat school:
Our hosts take us to Parijat school and we meet Uttam, the young dashing looks like a boy who had started this school in his cow shed with 4 students. Today it is a full blown school with hundreds of students. It offers a very fluid atmosphere, art and hobby centres, and amazing..meet two volunteers ,,, one is from England, a 70 year old lady who comes every year to teach history; and a 18 year American girl who is teaching crafts… every year this school gets volunteers from across the globe to contribute their knowedge. So here, tucked away the students get an international experience.

The morning ritual is so cute, with readings, chanting and even singing of the national anthem. Assamese kids are the cutest ever… and their shut eyes, and soft chanting, hundreds of them are mesmerising.

Principal of the School

Ulrike gives a talk about the skateboarding… and immediately in 2 minutes, in front of the kids a new programme is set up… 5 kids will come from MP and be with them, teaching skate boarding…and some will return with the MP kids…. The spontaneity is awesome!!!!

About Parijat Academy:

• Parijat Academy is a school for underprivileged children in Pamohi Village near Guwahati,Assam.
• Established in 2003 bu Uttam Teron,Parijat began with just 4 children in a small room with a pair of desks and benches.
• From small beginnings Parijat Academy has now proudly grown to a school of over 500 students.
• It is a non religious and non profitable school providing free education where children are encouraged to develop the positive qualities of loving kindness,compassion and universal responsibility.

We start of on the motor bike … to beyond shillong…

 

About Guwahati:

• A major riverine port city and one of the fastest growing cities in India, situated on the South Bank of the Brahmaputra River.
• Guwahati serves as the starting point for most itineraries.
• Guwahati is the largest city of Assam and Northeastern India.
• It’s a somewhat featureless city – a prosaic heap of glass and concrete for the most part – but there’s a scattering of interesting temples to explore.

Places to see in Guwhati:

• Kamakhya Temple
• Assam State Museum
• Pobitora Wildlife Scantury
• Old Guwahati