Northeast India · Assam
Guwahati, Assam
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia
Before you go
Kamakhya is the pre-eminent Shakti Peetha; the Ambubachi Mela (June) closes the temple for three days and then draws enormous crowds. Gateway to the Northeast.
About Guwahati
- Riverside
- Hills
Where it is
Guwahati is the largest city of Assam, spread along the south bank of the Brahmaputra between the river and the foothills of the Shillong plateau, and home to Dispur, the state capital.
History
Identified with Pragjyotishpura, capital of the ancient kingdom of Kamarupa, Guwahati later became a frontier stronghold of the Ahom kingdom, which in 1671 defeated a Mughal fleet at Saraighat on the Brahmaputra. The British made it their Assam headquarters from 1826 to 1874, and today it is the gateway to India's Northeast.
People
Guwahati speaks Assamese alongside Bengali and Hindi, and draws people from every state of the Northeast. Bihu, with its dances and drums, is the great festival, Assamese cooking favours rice, river fish and the sour masor tenga, and weavers at Sualkuchi make muga and pat silk.
Known for
- The Kamakhya Temple on Nilachal hill
- Umananda Temple on Peacock Island
- Brahmaputra river cruises
- Assam silk from nearby Sualkuchi
- Rongali Bihu
Did you know?
The Kamakhya temple has no image of the goddess; she is worshipped as a yoni-shaped cleft in the rock, kept moist by an underground spring.
Shrines and sites
- Kamakhya Temple on Nilachal hill
- Umananda Temple on Peacock Island
- Navagraha Temple
- Basistha Ashram
Traditions
- Hindu
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