Guwahati, June 24: The annual Ambubachi mela, when thousands throng the ancient Kamakhya temple atop Nilachal hill here, makes Pranab Narayan Dev, a descendant of Koch king Naranarayan, sad for two reasons.
Firstly, he can't visit the temple according to the age-old belief that the royal family had been cursed by the goddess after King Naranaryan and his brother Chilarai had secretly watched her dance. Secondly, the fact that the two had re-constructed the temple in 1565 continues to be neglected by the Assam government, which is "going big" this year to put it on the country's tourism map.
"The promotional video prepared by the state tourism department on Ambubachi this year and put up on social media and television channels talks about the spiritual aspect only. The wall inside the main temple has stone inscriptions of both Naranarayan and Chilarai and how they had rebuilt the temple after it was demolished by Mughal general Kalapahar. Devotees, however, can't see the inscription properly because of inadequate lighting and the rush inside. So we want the statues of both Naranarayan and Chilarai to be installed on the temple premises with details of the history," Dev, the scion of the royal family of Darrang Koch Kingdom, told The Telegraph today.
He belongs to the 16th generation of the royal family.
After the death of King Naranarayan in 1584, the Koch kingdom was divided into Koch Behar and Koch Hajo. Koch Behar, now Coochbehar in Bengal, was ruled by Naranayan's son Lakshmi Narayan and Koch Hajo, which covers large parts of present-day Assam, was ruled by Chilarai's son Raghu Narayan.
According to archaeologists, the origin of Kamakhya temple, one of the 51 shaktipeeths in the country, dates back to the eighth and ninth centuries. Religious literature says the original temple was built by Kamdev with the help of Vishwakarma but it was demolished in the 15th century by Mughal general Kalapahar. The ruins were discovered by Koch king Viswasingha and he revived the worship of the goddess. His son Naranarayan reconstructed it with the help of his brother and Koch general Chilarai. The temple was, however, rebuilt later.
Arup Jyoti Das, director of Guwahati-based Centre for Koch Rajbonghsi Studies and Development, said according to legend Goddess Kamakhya used to dance inside the temple when Kendukoli, a priest during Naranarayan's reign, performed puja with his eyes shut. Naranarayan and Chilarai convinced the priest to make them watch the goddess's dance. This act angered her and she not only punished the priest but also cursed the duo and Koch king descendents against visiting Kamakhya temple.
"The belief is still maintained," said Mohit Sarma, the head priest of Kamakhya temple, while confirming the stone inscriptions of both Naranarayan and Chilarai .
More than 10 lakh devotees have visited the temple during the ongoing Ambubachi mela, which will conclude on Monday. The organisers this evening termed it a record turnout at the mela.
The temple door is kept shut for the four days as Goddess Kamakhya is believed to be in her menstrual cycle.
"We had submitted memoranda to the erstwhile Congress government and the current BJP government in the state. The present government promised to meet our demands but it has neglected the history in its publicity campaign. We (royal family) have decided to put up a stone inscription on the temple premises but we can't construct the statues as it would require a lot of money," Dev said.
