two miles below
Gauhati. It is mentioned in the Padma Purana. The temples have been
rebuilt several times, and in the eighteenth century were munificently
endowed by an Ahom king, and placed under the management of a Brahman
from Nadia in Bengal, with reversion to his descendants who bear the
title of Parbatiya Gosains. Considerable estates are still assigned to
their upkeep. There are ten[733] shrines on the hill dedicated to
various forms of the Sakti. The situation is magnificent, commanding
an extensive prospect over the Brahmaputra and the plains on either
bank, but none of the buildings are of much architectural merit. The
largest and best is the temple dedicated to Kamakhya herself, the
goddess of sexual desire. It is of the style usual in northern India,
an unlighted shrine surmounted by a dome, and approached by a rather
ample vestibule, which is also imperfectly lighted. An inscription has
been preserved recording the restoration of the temple about 1550 but
only the present basement dates from that time, most of the
super-structure being recent. Europeans may not enter but an image of
the goddess can be seen from a side door. In the depths of the shrine
is said to be a cleft in the rock, adored as the Yoni of Sakti. In
front of the temple are two posts to which a goat is tied, and
decapitated daily at noon. Below the principal shrine is the temple of
Bhairavi. Human sacrifices were offered here in comparatively recent
times, and it is not denied that they would be offered now if the law
allowed. Also it is not denied that the rites of the "five m's"
already mentioned are frequently performed in these temples, and that
Aghoris may be found in them. The spot attracts a considerable number
of pilgrims from Bengal, and a wealthy devotee has built a villa on
the hill and pays visits to it for the purpose of taking part in the
rites. I was informed that the most esteemed scriptures of the sect
are the Yogini Tantra, the Mahanirvana Tantra, and the Kalika
Purana. This last work contains a section or chapter on blood,[734]
which gives rules for the performance of human sacrifices. It states
however that they should not be performed by the first three castes,
which is perhaps a way of saying that though they may be performed by
non-Aryans under Brahmanic auspices they form no part of the Aryan
religion. But they are recommended to princes and ministers and should
not be performed without the consent of princes. The rit