Kamakhya temple doors open for devotees after four days

Guwahati, Jun 26 (PTI) The doors of the Kamakhya temple were reopened to devotees on Monday after four days of the annual Ambubachi Mela.

     The doors of the temple, located atop the Nilachal hill here, were closed from the intervening night of June 22-23, marking the belief in the annual menstrual cycle of Goddess Kamakhya during the period.

     "Worshipping in the temple was stopped from pravritti and the doors were reopened to the devotees this morning after 'nivriti," a temple official said.

     The annual Ambubachi Mela is held in the temple premises during this period and is one of the major tourist events in the state.
     The Mela this year commenced on June 22 amidst elaborate security and other arrangements. It attracted several lakh visitors, an official of Kamrup Metropolitan district said.

     To accommodate the large number of devotees, three temporary camps have been set up at Pandu Port, Kamakhya railway station and Sonaram Higher Secondary School field.
     Besides the police personnel, volunteers, private security guards and others were engaged to ensure that the Mela is held smoothly, the officials said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)