Ambubachi Mela 2025 — Kamakhya Temple, Menstruating Goddess, And The Tantra Of Shakti

Kamakhya Temple in Assam marks Ambubachi Mela 2025, a sacred celebration of the menstruating Goddess, Shakti worship, and ancient Tantric rituals.

Explore the sacred rituals of Ambubachi Mela 2025 at Kamakhya Temple, where the goddess’s divine menstruation symbolises power, purity, and rebirth.

Source : Pinterest/viharadarshani

In the heart of Assam, every year in June something extraordinary unfolds on the Nilachal Hills. The Ambubachi Mela at Kamakhya Temple, one of the most sacred Shakti Peeths, shuts its doors to honour a truth the world often shuns, the menstruation of the Goddess Kamakhya, often referred to as the menstruating Goddess in Hindu Tantra traditions.

Kamakhya Devi is not worshipped in the form of an idol. There's no murti, instead, she's venerated as a yoni shaped cleft, a natural stone formation. This formation is the premordial womb, the cosmic source of all creation and dissolution.

During Ambubachi, this sacred spot is believed to undergo ritukala, the Goddess's annual menstruation. For three days, the temple remains closed and the rituals are paused. On the fourth day, a series of purification ceremonies and opening rituals mark her rebirth. This is believed to symbolise not reopening, but a reawakening. 

Kamakhya Temple In Assam: A Living Yoni Peeth

Located in Guwahati, Assam, the Kamakhya Temple is among the most potent Shakti Peeths. This is the place where tantra and bhakti merge. The powerful energy of Kamakhya Temple attracts Tantriks, Aghori sadhus, and spiritual seekers from across India and Nepal who come to perform rare tantric rituals like agni tap, maun vrat, and Shakti sadhana. It embodies the transformative spirit of Shakti worship at Kamakhya Temple.

Here, the yoni is not taboo, but moksh. The divine is not demure, she bleeds, births, burns, and blesses. 

Kamakhya Devi: A Fierce Fusion Of Kali And Tripura Sundari

In the Kalika Puran, Kamakhya is described as a 16-year-old girl with six heads and twelve arms. She's believed to be seated on a lotus that's emerging from Lord Shiv's navel, who is resting on a lion. The lion is Vishnu and the lotus is said to be Brahma. Together with Shiv and Kamakhya, they symbolise the cycle of creation, preservation, destruction, and the power behind it all, Shakti. 

Kamakhya embodies both Kali’s fierce power and Tripura Sundari’s serene grace. She is at once desire and detachment, creation and destruction.

Ambubachi Mela 2025 Closing Rituals 

As Ambubachi Mela 2025 concludes today, thousands of pilgrims and tantriks gather for the sacred reopening of the Kamakhya Temple after three days of divine seclusion. Temple priests are set to perform elaborate rituals like Mahasnan to reopen the garbhagriha, the sanctum that symbolises the Goddess's womb. Devotees are lining up for the first darshan of Kamakhya Devi post-menstruation. Holy water from the spring will be sprinkled, tantric chants will echo through the hills, and the air will be surrounded with the energy of Shakti awakening.

As the temple doors open, the sacred Angabhastra, a piece of the cloth that adorned the Devi during her menstruation, is distributed to devotees. Considered a powerful symbol of fertility and divine feminine energy, the Angabhastra is treasured as a rare and sacred blessing.

At Kamakhya, this is not believed to be just a folklore. It's a living, breathing, and bleeding truth, where you stand before the womb of existence.