Agartala, June 22: Hundreds of Hindu married women assembled at the Laxmi-Narayan temple in Agartala today to observe the four-day annual ritual of Ambubachi.
This sacred event, primarily celebrated at the renowned Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, sees devotees across regions honoring the same customs and traditions.
Ambubachi, rooted in ancient Hindu practices, marks a significant period where married women engage in various rituals to pray for the long life and wellness of their husbands.
The festival is observed with a series of traditional activities that emphasize fertility and the sanctity of marriage.
During the celebration, women adorn each other with vermilion, a potent symbol of fertility and marital bliss in Hindu culture.
They gather at the temple to offer prayers for the well-being of their husbands and families, seeking blessings for a harmonious and prosperous life.
Devotees present offerings of milk and mango to the deities, light candles, and incense sticks, enveloping the temple in a serene and holy ambiance.
The temple walls are adorned with special ‘Sastik’ symbols drawn in vermilion, believed to bring auspiciousness.
A particularly poignant ritual involves women smearing vermilion on each other’s faces, reinforcing their prayers for their husbands’ long life and their own enduring marital status, signified by the vermilion on their foreheads.
Ambubachi, known for its Tantrik means, celebrates Shakti rites and is intrinsically linked to the belief that the presiding goddess of the Kamakhya temple, Devi Kamakhya, undergoes her annual menstruation cycle during this period. This occurs from the seventh to the tenth day of the Hindu month of Asadha, adding a deeply spiritual dimension to the observance.
The gathering at the Laxmi-Narayan temple in Agartala highlights the widespread reverence for Ambubachi, reflecting a deep cultural and spiritual connection among Hindu married women, transcending geographical boundaries.
