Top News

All over the globe, menstruation is covered with silence, shame, and taboo. However, something out of the box annually compounds in Guwahati's hills. India has the most potent Shakti Peethas, the Kamakhya Temple, closes its doors for over three days, not because of the impurity but because of the divine menstruation of the goddess Kamakhya. This is not only a religious occurrence. It is not a slight reminder, but a clear indicator that womanhood is sacred. And now we should hear.

1. A Goddess Who Bleeds: Breaking the Taboo at Its Roots

India has the most potent Shakti Peethas, the Kamakhya Temple, closes its doors for over three days, not because of the impurity but because of the divine menstruation of the goddess Kamakhya

Kamakhya Devi is the form of Shakti, the creator, sustainer, and destroyer- the power in Hindu mythology. It is said that the goddess also gets her menstruation during the Ambubachi Mela annually. This is the closure of the temple, which lasts three days, as a symbol of rest and admiration. There will be no puja, no farming and no rituals. The earth stops, even. Compare this with society today, where menstruating women are often made to feel dirty, excluded from kitchens, temples, and even their own dreams. Ambubachi flips this narrative. It proves that menstruation isn’t a curse—it’s the seat of creation. When a goddess can bleed and still be worshipped, why can’t our daughters?

2. Sati's Sacrifice: A Story of Pain, Power, and Rebirth

The goddess we worship bled, suffered, and rose in power. Why then do we shame women who carry the same power within?

Kamakhya is rooted in an ancient love broken. The death of Sati as she burnt herself when her father insulted her husband caused Shiva to get depressed to the point of destroying the whole universe. In order to save the universe, Vishnu hurled her body into the land. Her womb known as yoni, has fallen at Nilachal Hill, on which there is a temple today called Kamakhya Temple.This is not only mythology-it is metaphor. The womb of Sati was sacred because it represents life cycle, continuity and strength. However, when we are home, girls are advised not to speak about their periods, not going and touch pickles, not to go inside the temple. Our goddess menstruated, gave birth and was reborn stronger. So why do we disgrace those who also hold the same power, women.

3. The Temple Closes: A Pause to Respect, Not Reject

If a temple can shut its doors to honour this, why can’t we open our hearts?

Over the period of three days, during Ambubachi, the Kamakhya Temple shutters down its sanctum. This is not to incubate impurity- it is to exalt the necessity of rest, to recuperate by the goddess. No rituals. No visitors. Even the nature is told to go slow. What would happen if we did it to women? What would it be like to honor their own time instead of forcing them to go through pain regularly with hushed tones and sanitary pads in brown bags? Being on your period is not a weakness, it is natural and powerful. A temple can close down doors in order to pay tribute to this, why can we not open our hearts?

4. The Fourth Day: Celebration, Not Secrecy

Ambubachi celebrates what society hides. It teaches us to rejoice in the feminine cycle, to see it as divine. If a bleeding goddess is welcomed with drums and flowers, should any woman feel ashamed?

On the fourth day the temple was reopened, and the rejoicings are bliss. Believers flood in. Worships re-start. The earth is reformed fertile and blessed and the time of new beginnings has come. The blood is not lamented over. It is gratitude. This is what a contrast to how we raise our girls, saying to them that you need to hide your pain, clean quickly, and never talk about it. Ambubachi is a celebration of what is hidden by the society. It teaches that we should celebrate the feminine cycle and we should envisage it as divine. When a seated goddess released blood, when the company greet her combination with drums and flower-wreathed company, will any woman be ashamed?

5. Tantric Traditions: The Power of the Feminine Unleashed

Our modern society needs to unlearn centuries of fear and patriarchy. The power of a woman isn’t just her mind—it’s her body, her cycle, her ability to bleed and still rise.

Kamakhya is not only a temple. It is one of the most sanctified Tantric places in India. People who come with intentions to have secret rituals during Ambubachi include spiritual seekers and sadhus all over the country. These are not somber rituals, these are feastings of savage hyper-energy of creation. Tantra looks at the yoni as the access to the divine: the gateway exercises by feminine principle. It is not embarrassed about it. It idolizes it. Centuries of fear and patriarchy are the things that our modern society has to forget. The strength of a woman is not only in her mind, it is her body, her period, her capability to bleed and to rise. Ambubachi brings that primeval truth to our minds.

6. The Real Message: Honour Women. Don’t Silence Them.

It teaches us that creation is sacred. That rest is divine. That the body is not to be hidden—but honoured.

Ambubachi is more than a festival—it’s a lesson. One we urgently need to learn. In a society where periods are still whispered about, where women are still made to feel unclean, here stands a temple that shuts its doors to worship a bleeding goddess. It teaches us that creation is sacred. That rest is divine. That the body is not to be hidden—but honoured.
So, the next time you hear someone call periods “impure,” tell them about Kamakhya. About the lakhs who gather to celebrate it. And about a goddess who reminds us: every woman is a temple. Treat her like one.

What Kamakhya Teaches Us—If Only We Dare to ListenLet this not remain just a ritual observed once a year in Assam. Let Ambubachi echo in every classroom, every home, every temple that still shuts its doors to women. Let girls grow up knowing that they are powerful—not despite their cycles, but because of them.Because when the goddess bleeds, the earth rejoices.And so should we.

Explore the latest trends and tips in Health & Fitness, Travel, Life Hacks, Fashion & Beauty, and Relationships at Times Life!

---