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A Visit to an “Astronomical” Temple in India
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
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In Assam, near Gauhāṭī, on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra, there is one of the most famous places of pilgrimage in India, I mean the temple of Kāmākhyā. Kāmākhyā is one of the names for the Indian devī, Kālī, or Durgā; in fact, Kāmākhyā is the devī herself in one of her most jolly aspects, as may be gathered from the Paurānic and the Tāntric literature connected with her cult, as for instance the Kālikā-purāṇa, the Yoginī-tantra, the Kāmakhyā-tantra, the Kāmarūpa-tantra, etc. The temple and all its neighbourhood for twelve krośas is considered one of the pīṭhas, or holy and consecrated places: the hills and rivers near it have been identified with some of the most renowned tīrtha-sthānas of India, with the purpose of associating with that revered spot some of the most sacred religious traditions of India.
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page 247 note 1 A description of all the places near the Kāmākhyā temple which are visited by pilgrims can be found in the Yoginī-tantra or in the Kālikāpurāṇa (ed. in Bengali type, Baṇgabāsī Press, pp. 491 ff.). My friend, Professor Bhūyūn, who is in charge of the Assamese Museum founded in Gauhāṭī and is himself an enthusiastic research worker in the field of Assamese history, has found in one of the Buranjīs or Assamese chronicles a list of all the sacred places as recorded in the Yoginī-tantra, with their vernacular names and the exact distances from each other. The chapter will, when published, be of the greatest importance for the study of the topography of the Kāmākhyā hills. For other references see the Kāmākhyā-māhātmya (in Sanskrit and in Bengali) compiled from various sources by the pāṇḍās of the temple (Śivakṛṣṇa Śarmā and Viṣṇukānta Śarmā).
page 248 note 1 Each one of these planets has many names. The most common are given in the Rāja-mārtaṇḍa, a book on astrology attributed to the famous king Bhoja, but quite different from the work of the same title and ascribed to the same author (Winternitz, , Gesch. Ind. Lit., iii, p. 461Google Scholar) (Venkatesv. ed., p. 1):—
(a) sun: Ādityaḥ savitā sūryo bhāskaro 'rko divākaraḥ,
tigmāṃśus tapano bhānuḥ sahasrāmśuḥ prabhākaraḥ.
(b) moon: Śītāṃśuś candramāh somo mṛgāṅkas tu niśākaraḥ,
śītaraśmir niśānāthaḥ śaśāṅkaḥ śaśalāñchanaḥ.
(c) maṅgala: aṅgārakaḥ kujo bhaumo lohitāṅgo mahīsutaḥ,
āraḥ kṣitisuto vakraḥ krūrākṣaś ca nigadyate.
(d) budha: budhaś candrasuto jñeyo vibudho bodhanas tathā,
kumāro rājaputraś ca tārāputras tathaiva ca.
(e) bṛhaspati: suramantrī surācāryo gurur jīvo bṛhaspatiḥ,
aṅgiromśaḥ smṛtas tajjñair girīśovacasām patiḥ.
(f) śukra: bhṛgujo daityamantrī ca daityādhyakṣaḥ purohitaḥ,
uśanā bhārgavaḥ kāvyaḥ śukro daityagurus tathā.
(g) śani: sauriḥ śanaiścaraḥ paṅguḥ koṅaḥ sūryasutas tathā;
mandaḥ śaniś ca mātaṅgī chāyāputro'sitāmbaraḥ.
(h) rāhu: upaplavas tamo rāhuḥ suraṛiḥ siṃhikāsutaḥ
(i) ketu: ketur brahmasuto jñeyo dhūmravarṅaḥ śikhī tathā.
page 249 note 1 The vedī is always an elevated altar: the rules of its construction are rather complicated, as may be gathered from the various rituals connected with it. The maṇḍala or sacred enclosure which is designed upon it is quite different from the yantra or symbolic image of the various gods; in fact, the maṇḍala is a sādhāraṇāsana, as every divinity can be adored upon it, while the yantra is a viśeṣāsana, viz. it is particular to each god. I have dealt very largely with all these points, specially so far as the Paurāṇic and Tāntric rituals are concerned, in my forthcoming book on the Durgā-pūjā.
page 250 note 1 Cf. Yājñavalkya-smṛti, 290–303. The Graha-yāga-tattva by Raghunandana has recently been critically edited in Bengali type and with a very useful introduction in Bengali by PanditSiddhāntabhūṣaṇa, Satīścandra in the Saṃskṛta-sāhitya-pariṣad-grantha-mālā, No. 10, Calcutta, 1925Google Scholar. Fig. 1 has been reproduced from that book.
page 250 note 2 The door of the temple must face the pūrvā or prācī dig of the maṇḍala (cf. Pūjā-prakāśa, by Mitramiśra, , p. 240Google Scholar).
page 251 note 1 There are many editions of the Stava-kavaca-mālā. One of the most popular in Bengal is that collected by Kālīprasanna Vidyāratna, where stotras, dhyānas, and mantras to the various grahas may be found in the third khaṇḍa. Other anthologies, such as the Stotra-ratna-mālā (Veṇkatesvara ed.) and Bṛhat-stotra-ratnākara (id.), must also be mentioned here.
page 251 note 2 The abhaya-mudrā consists in stretching the arm in front of oneself in an almost horizontal direction so that the top of the hand is as high as the head. The thumb is bent upon the palm; the palm of the hand looks towards the earth. Varada-mudrā or simply vara-mudrā: arm stretched as before, but a little inclined towards the earth; thumb as before, the back of the hand towards the earth. There are very many mudrās: cf. Pūjā-prakāśa, p. 123, Bṛhat-tantra-sāra, 391.
page 257 note 2 In order to give an idea of this kind of literature I reproduce the mantras as they appear in their esoteric language, adding, however, a translation of those passages which convey some meaning.