| During the
mediaeval period Kamarupa became a centre of Tantric worship. According to popular belief
Kamarupa (Assam) was the home of Saktism. "The birth place of Saktism as a definite
sect," writes Eliot, "seems to have been north- eastern India. Its present
sphere of influence is still chiefly Bengal and Assam. "1. H. H.Wilson in the preface to his translation of Vishnu Purana says:
"It is a singular and uninvestigated circumstance that Assam, or at least the
north-east of Bengal, seems to have been in a great degree the source from which the
Tantrika and Sakti corruption of the religion of the Puranas proceeded.
"2 It is too well known that from time immemorial,
India is the home of the worship of the Prakrti or later Sakti, Goddess Prithvi and a host
of Grama- devatas like Amba, Mata, etc. The most prominent Deity of the Indus Valley
people is the Mother of men, animals and plants. In historic period we are familiar with a
large number of goddesses. |
