AMBUBACHI MELA, 2015

Editor

Yami Landi

The Ambubachi Mela is being celebrated in the capital city of Guwahati of the North-Eastern state of Assam in India.

During the Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple remains closed for three days. This year, the Ambubachi Mela starts from 22nd of June and ends on June 26. It is believed that the Mother Earth becomes unclean for three days. During this time any kind of farming work will not be taken on. Daily worships and other religious performances will also be stopped during the Ambubachi Mela of Guwahati in Assam. After the completion of three days, the doors of the Kamakhya Temple will be reopened.

On the fourth day, the devotees of the Goddess will be allowed to enter the temple for worshipping Devi Kamakhya. Thousands of pilgrims are found to visit the Ambubachi Mela in Guwahati, who comes from all over India.

When we inquired about the preparation and various arrangements for the smooth management of the mela, the debutter officials of Kamakhya Temple Complex assured for more convenience and stricter security arrangements. They told us that Kamrup Metropolitan Deputy Commissioner M Angamuthu had announced keeping in mind the various health issues that, prior certification of food would be done which will be served to the pilgrims.

Also, the entire area of the mela, including the rest camps, have been divided into five zones, each zone to be looked after by a government official. While Zone 1 ranges from  Kamakhya entry point to entire Neelachal Hill, Zone 2 ranges from Kamakhya foothill to Bharalu, Zone 3 is from Kamakhya foothill to Maligaon Tinali,  Zone 4 is from Maligaon to Pandu Devalaya and Zone 5 is from Maligaon Tinali to Jalukbari point.

The in-charge of each zone will be looking up to the uninterrupted power supply, sufficient lighting, supply of drinking water, toilets, safaikarmis, crowd and vehicular traffic management, and maintenance of cleanliness and hygiene.

The officials also told us that, this year around, all pilgrims will be registered at the time of their entry into the Mela.

Meanwhile, the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) will provide 60 buses to carry pilgrims up to Kamakhya Dham during the mela with effect from June 22 to 26. Initially 20 buses will be allotted to each camp.

The Kamakhya Debutter Board has installed 101 CCTV cameras in and around Kamakhya Temple for the Ambubachi Mela. Around 1000 volunteers have been deployed to look after smooth movement of pilgrims. Additional forces of police and paramilitary have been deployed to look after the security arrangements. It needs to be mentioned here that the Kamakhya Temple is on the hit list of terrorist organisations like Indian Mujahedeen as it is one of the most thronged Hindu shrine of the country.

Thousands of devotees have come down from different parts of the country to pay their obeisance to Goddess Kamakhya. It has been learnt that after  53 years, this time, the Naga Sadhus have also come down to Kamakhya. The Naga Sadhus are known for their weird lifestyle and always maintain a distance from the society.