Kāmākhyā is an amazing tīrtha (pilgrimage place). It’s not a place for the faint of heart to visit, though. It is the tantric epicenter for Goddess worship, so animal sacrifices are an everyday occurrence. That being said, there are plenty of vegetarian options on menus in the area, the people are extremely kind and generous, and the temples… well, they hold immense spiritual opportunities for those who approach them properly.
It had been 14 years since I last visited Kāmākhyā. This time, I stayed at the Shreemoyee Hotel adjacent to the temple. This way, I was able to wake up and walk straight to any number of adjacent temples (each of which is a powerful tīrtha of its own). There is a dedicated temple for each of the Daśamahāvidyas. The main temple houses three of the ten Goddesses: Tripurasundarī (aka Śoḍaśī), Kāmalā, and Mātaṅgī. On the first day we arrived, I was overwhelmed with an urge to go find a quiet place to sit and chant, which proved harder than expected. First, I tried to chant in the inner-sanctum of Dhūmavatī, but the pūjāri shooed me out, essentially saying, “Take your blessing and go, no long recitations in here,” so I decided to sit atop the Dhūmavatī temple after paying my respects to Her inside. As soon as I started, I bawled like a baby crying for Mother, struggling to see where I was on the page through the tears. Then, a pravrājikā interrupted me, saying it's not proper to chant on a temple roof. I knew it wasn’t ideal, but it was the quietest, least busy place I could find. Nonetheless, I was forced to move once again. Finally, I finished my chanting Caṇḍī by the fireplace outside Dhūmavatī's temple. Mā Kāmākhyā's presence is electric everywhere on this mountain complex. A fellow sādhaka took this video of me chanting adjacent to the main temple. Jaya Mā.
Chanting here with my Guru family
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KFK-rmsLm1Q