Kamakhya

Kamakhya is an important Tantric goddess that evolved in the Himalayan hills. She is closely identified with Kali and Maha Tripura Sundari. According to the Tantric texts (Kalikapurana Stotra, Yoginitantram) that are the basis for her worship at the Kamakhya temple, a 16th century temple in the Kamrup district of Assam. The earlier manifest of the goddess sanctified at the Garo hills is destroyed, although the Vatsayana priests are said to have carried away the manifest of the goddess to the Hindu kingdom in Kashmir and later sanctified in a remote hill forest in Himachal. Her name means "renowned goddess of desire," and she resides at the present rebuilt Kamakhya temple replacing the lost manifest now in the form of a stone yoni (female generative organ) symbolic of the goddess in 1645 C. The temple is primary amongst the 51 Shakti Peethas related to the myth of Sati, and remains one of the most important Shakta temples and Hindu pilgrimage sites in the world.