India (October-November 2019): Guwahati

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Located on the left bank of the Brahmaputra river, Guwahati is the largest city in the Indian state of Assam. Its commercial airport is the closest one to the western part of the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which was my main destination on that trip. (However, driving from there to Tawang, the main town in western Arunachal Pradesh, still takes two long days.) During my short stay in Guwahati I visited two Hindu temples, Kamakya Mandir, a major pilgrimage destination in northeastern India, and Chakreshwar Mandir, a smaller temple dotted with vivid statues of gods and goddesses overlooking the Brahmaputra.

Mountain sights during the flight between Delhi and Guwahati:

Mount Everest and surrounding peaks.

Kangchenjunga massif at the border between Nepal and India.

Kamakya Mandir:

Built on top of a hill in the western part of Guwahati, this temple is an important pilgrimage destination for practitioners of Shaktism, a tantric sect of Hinduism that worships female spiritual power (″shakti″ means ″energy″). It was originally built in the 8th century, but remodeled many times since then, especially between the 8th and 17th century. Today′s Kamakya Mandir consists of a main temple and several smaller temples dedicated to the ten Mahavidyas of Saktism (ten different forms of Goddess Parvati, the wife of the Hindu god Shiva). Three of the Mahavidyas reside in the main temple, whereas the other seven reside in the smaller temples. The main temple is reached via a meandrous alley bordered by souvenir shops and other individual temples.

Souvenir shops and people in the alley.

Small side temples along the alley, before reaching the main temple.

The main temple consists of four chambers aligned from east to west. The following two photos show this alignment from the northwest corner of the temple precinct.

The most impressive part of the main temple is the ″garbhagriha″ built in the 16th century. Located at the eastern end of the temple, it consists of a bulbous polygonal beehive-style dome standing over a cruciform base. Stone panels with beautiful sculptures of Hindu gods and goddesses ornate the base.

Other statues of deities next to the main temple.

Chakreshwar Mandir:

This temple, located a short distance northeast of Kamakhya Mandir, overlooks the mighty Brahmaputra. It is home to colorful vivid statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.

Statues flanking one of the entrance gates of the temple, with the Brahmaputra visible in the background.

Parashurama (meaning ″Rama with an axe″), the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu.

Lord Vishnu (left) and his wife goddess Lakshmi (right). This statue stands above the Brahmaputra′s water on a pillar erected to monitor water level in the river. Occasionally the water reaches the statue.

Lord Shiva.

Left: Narasimha, the part lion, part man, avatar of Lord Vishnu (4th incarnation) that destroys evil. Center and right: Goddess Lakshmi (?).

Left: Armed Durga (warrior form of goddess Parvati) riding a lion. Right: Ganesha, the son of goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva.

Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, one of the central characters in the Indian epic Ramayana.

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