| Naraka was pious
and ruled his country righteously. He strictly adhered to the injunctions of his father,
respected the Brahmanas and worshipped the goddess Kamakhya. One day when goddess Kamakhya
appeared before him, he was captivated by the charms of the goddess and made overtures of
love to her. The goddess gave her consent to Naraka’s offer on condition that in
course of a single night he should construct a temple, a tank and a masonry road from the
foot of the hill to the top. As the lust for the Possession of the wily goddess was so
great in him; he accepted the proposition and commenced the mighty task straightway. He
almost completed the construction, when under the secret inspiration from the goddess a
cock crew before it was daybreak." The goddess claimed this as a proof that the day
had come, evaded her Promise and refused to marry him. Naraka grew furious and slew the
cock. The place where the cock was killed is still known as ‘Kukurakata
Chaki’. According to the above accounts,
the temple of Kamakhya seems to have existed from hoary antiquity. The original temple was
destroyed in the early part of the 16th century A.D., by the vandalism of the
iconoclast Kalapahar. The story goes that Kalapahar was originally a Brahmana by name
Rajiv Lochan Roy. He was ostracised from the Brahmana fold when he married the daughter of
Badshah Suleiman Kararani of Bihar. Even after the marriage Rajiv Lochan Roy desired to
live as a Brahmana and even went to Puri, perhaps to undergo purifactory ceremony. The
Brahmanas there refused to oblige him, whereupon he became a staunch Mohammadan and took
the new name of Kalapahar. He determined to avenge the humiliation suffered by him at the
hands of the Brahmanas by destroying Hindu temples. He organised an army, efficient and
well equipped, invaded Kama rupa, and sacked the temple of Kamakhya, the ruins of which
are still seen scattered all over the hill. He also sacked the Jagannath temple at Puri. |
