When we came back from Kaziranga we had to write a report on the days on boat clinics, so we spent a few days in Guwahati. As we hadn’t had the chance to visit Guwahati before, we decided to take the time to visit the main landmarks of the city.
ASSAM STATE MUSEUM
This building assembles a general picture of the Assamese culture and traditions, including painting, sculpture, textile and other etnographic objects. It was curious to see some of the everyday utensils used by the tribes we visited throughout our journey. Also, we got to know some of the other tribes that live in the North East of India. Although it was very interesting, we felt like it was a bit outdated and quite hard to follow, since many of the objects has just the name on them without further explanation.
KAMAKHYA TEMPLE
We went to the temple early in the morning as it quickly gets very crowded. They told is this is one of the most sacred places of all Hindustan, and it’s a pilgrimage point for the people from India and Nepal.
The story behind this temple is associated with the legend of Sati, who was the wife of Shiva and daughter of Daksha. Daksha was unhappy with his daughter’s choice of husband, and when he performed a grand Vedic sacrifice for all the deities, he did not invite Shiva or Sati. In a rage, Sati threw herself onto the fire, knowing that this would make the sacrifice impure. Shiva was stricken with grief and rage at the loss of his wife. He put Sati’s body over his shoulder and began his tandava (dance of cosmic destruction) throughout the heavens, and vowed not to stop until the body was completely rotted away. The other Gods, afraid of their annihilation, implored Vishnu to pacify Shiva. Thus, wherever Shiva wandered while dancing, Vishnu followed. He sent his discus Sudarshana to destroy the corpse of Sati. Pieces of her body fell until Shiva was left without a body to carry. According to various myths and traditions, there are 51 pieces of Sati’s body scattered across the Indian subcontinent. The Kamakhya temple was said to have been constructed on the spot where the vagina fell.
A panda, sacred man working and living in the temple, guided our visit in Kamakhya. We were surprised that eventhough we don’t share the same religion, they encouraged us to do the pujas (prayers) for our families and offerings to the mother goddess.
There was a long line to enter the temple, separated from the outside by a metal fence. Once inside, we noticed that the prayers were said out loud, and the atmosphere was not at all silent as we are used to… As we walked out of the temple we had no words to describe the experience.
SHIVA TEMPLE
This is not a tourist sight of the city, but as we were staying at Bhaswati Goswami’s house we accompanied her for the morning prayers of the Maha Shivaratri celebration. It’s fascinating to see how colorful ans soothing hinduist prayers are. As in many other temples in India you have to leave your shoes at the entrance as a sign of respect. The unfortunate consequence of this action is that sometimes your shoes are gone when you com out. This is what happened to Mariona. Luckily, Guwahati shops have very colorful sandals to compensate for this loss. The best pair we could find were these pink-cherry flip flops that would delight Barbie.
MISSION SMILE
On our last morning in Guwahati, Dr Rao took us for a quick but extremely interesting visit to the Mission Smile center, which is under the umbrella of the Guwahati Medical College. This organization works for the reconstruction of mainly cleft lip and pallate, but also other facial deformities. They are an NGO that provides this service for free; half the expenses are covered by the Government of India, and the other half by private benefactors and diverse fund-raisings. We talk more extensely about this project on this other entry.
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