16 Secrets of Kamakhya Temple no one knows

Kamakhya Temple, Assam is one among the 52 shakti peeths of India. Kamakhya Temple is situated at the top of Ninanchal Hill (800 feet above sea level) in the Western part of Guwahati city. There is no image of Shakti here. Witin a corner of the cave in the temple, there is sculptored image of the yoni of the goddess, which is the object of reverence. A natural spring keeps the stone moist. Other temples on the Ninanchal Hill include those of Tara, Bhairavi, Bhuvaneshwari and Ghantakarna. 

The temple consists of three major chambers. The western chamber is large and rectangular and is not used by general pilgrims for worship. The middle chamber is a square with a small idol of the Goddess, a later addition. The walls of this chamber contain sculpted images of Nara Narayana, related inscriptions and other Gods.

The middle chamber leads to the sanctum of the temple in the form of a cave, which consists of no image, but a natural underground spring that flows through a yoni-shaped cleft in the bedrock.

Sati married Lord Shiva against the wish of her father, king Daksha. Once king Daksha was having a yagna, but he didn’t invite Sati and Shiva. Sati was very upset, but she still went to her father’s palace. When she reached there, her father insulted her and Shiva. Sati was unable to bear this disrespect for her husband Shiva, so she jumped in the yagna fire and killed herself.

When Lord Shiva came to know about this, he got very angry. Enraged Shiva wondered while holding the dead body of Sati in his arms. He started the dance of destruction of the universe. Lord Vishu in order to save the universe, cut the body of Sati into pieces with his Sudarshan chakra. Body parts of Sati fell at different places and these places are known as shakti peeths. 

Story about the stair case of the temple

There was a demon Naraka who fell in love with Goddess Kamakhya and wanted to marry her. Goddess put a condition that if he would be able to build a staircase from the bottom of the Ninanchal Hill to the temple within one night, then she would surely marry him. 

Naraka took it as a challenge and tried all with his might to do this marathon task. He was almost about to accomplish the job when the Devi, panic-stricken as she was to see this, played a trick on him. She strangled a cock and made it crow untimely to give the impression of dawn to Naraka. Duped by the trick, Naraka thought it was a futile job and left it half way through. Later he chased the cock and killed it in a place which is now known as Kukurakata, situated in the district of Darrang. The incomplete staircase is known as Mekhelauja path.