Ambuvācī festival as reflected in the Gaṇgājalam

Main Article Content

Dr. Maitreyee Goswami.

Abstract

We the Indian people are the lover of festivals and prayers. We celebrate thirteen
festivals in twelve months. Ambuvācī is a popular festival held annually in the great
shrine of Maa Kāmākhyā at Guwahati. It falls under the seasonal festival of the
Hindus that particularly associated with agriculture. Dāmodara Miśra in his
Gaṇgājalam stated that the earth is in her courses from the moment of the sun
entering in the Mithuna rāsi. On the seventh day at the same time the Ambuvācī
starts. According to him, during the time of Ambuvācī, seeds should not be sown
and all the religious rites like dāna, yajňa and vratas except the compulsory daily
rites should be abandoned. Basically, Ambuvācī associated with an ancient fertility
cult and incorporated in to the mother Goddess cult with Kāmākhyā as its Centre.
The Gaṇgājalam of Dāmodara Miśra, present some important guidelines on the
observance of Ambuvācī especially for the people of Assam and for the welfare of
the society which is elaborately discussed in this paper.

Article Details

Section
Articles