("desiring
eyes") is a phrase used to describe someone who is looking for something A
specific manifestation of the Mother Goddess, whose temple atop Nilachal Hill,
just outside Guwahati, Assam, overlooks the Brahmaputra River.
This temple is part of the Shakti Pithas, a network of holy
places that stretches throughout the Indian subcontinent.
Each Shakti Pitha commemorates the location where a piece of
the goddess Sati's severed body fell to earth and took on the shape of a new
goddess.
The Kamakhya temple is where Sati's vulva hit the ground.
The goddess's figure is carved out of a natural gap in the
rock, which the temple is erected around.
Kamakhya is thought to be immensely strong since she sprang
from the most sexually charged region of the female anatomy.
Like many great goddesses, her production potential must be
constantly replenished by accepting sacrifices, particularly the blood of living
creatures.
In current times, the most common sacrifice is a goat,
however human sacrifices have been reported in the past.
When her current temple was established in 1565, Kamakhya
was reputedly promised 140 men.
This practice persisted until 1832, when the British put an
end to it.
The men who were given as human sacrifices were said to be
volunteers who thought they had been summoned by her.
They were revered as virtual divinities between proclaiming
their desire to be sacrificed and their deaths since they were thought to have
been devoted to the goddess.
More information may be found in George Weston Briggs'
Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis, published in 1973.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
