The Red Goddess

                                                                                          

                                                                                                      

The Legend

   According to Indian mythology, the Goddess Sati married Lord Shiva in a Saymbar ceremony. In this kind of ceremony, an Indian woman can choose her husband by herself. Her father, Daksha, Son of God Brahma, got very upset because Shiva at that time was a half-naked unclean God living an ascetic life, a homeless mendicant and haunter of cemeteries, with followers consisting of demons, ghosts and goblins.

   Sometime after the marriage, Daksha organised a grand Yajna (a ritual sacrifice) and all the Gods were invited, except Sati and Shiva. For Sati this was a chance to visit her parents, her relatives and her childhood friends. Of course, she would disobey her father’s command: “Never return to this house again”.

   When Sati appeared at the ritual, her father started insulting her and the absent husband in front of all guests. Sati felt she was the cause of this dishonour to Shiva. So she invoked her yogic powers and self-immolated in front of all the guests. When Shiva learnt what happened, he went to Daksha and cut his head, took his wife’s body on his shoulders and out of grief and sorrow, started crying and reminiscing about their moments as a couple. He roamed around the universe and started a terrible Tandava (dance of destruction). The whole universe started collapsing.

   The other Gods worried so they called upon God Vishnu to restore Shiva to normality and calmness. Vishnu used his Sudarshana Chakra (a powerful disk weapon) and slowly started cutting Sati’s body piece-by-piece. As the pieces were falling on earth, Shiva’s shoulders and mind were getting lighter and lighter. Sati’s 51 pieces fell on various places around the Indian subcontinent, and those spots became major centres of pilgrimage known as Shakti Peethas.

   One of the most important pieces, her Yoni (“vulva”, “womb” or “source”), fell into the region of Kamarupa (which means “the form of desire”) where today is located the region of Assam. 

The Maa-Kamakhya temple is said is constructed upon this spot.

  

  

The Plan

Zeffi

   It was November 2017, when I called Zeffi to ask her opinion on something. I knew her for 9 years already and she was always giving me a great advice on my personal matters especially the more difficult ones. After talking for a while over the phone, we realised that we would be in India at the same period. It was a pleasant surprise! “Why don’t you come to Maa-Kamakhya to see me and see how it is?” she proposed. Yes… I could do that… I could go and find her after the Shivaratri (the big celebration for God Shiva in Varanasi) and Sikkim. Those two were booked already with tickets and accommodations but after Sikkim and until Holi (the famous Indian colour celebration) I could go and find her for sure. I said yes with joy and we continued talking about other stuff. Later on that night and thinking about the trip, an interesting idea passed from my mind: What if I would make a photo-story of Zeffi travelling in India? 

   A Greek-American Yogini(female spiritual guru) almost alone in a huge country, visiting sacred temples and monasteries and sits down equally with men, talking and sharing knowledge about religion and cultural mattesI believed it was a nice idea and I immediately sent her a message asking if she would be ok with it. She agreed! At that moment I knew nothing about Assam or Maa-Kamakhya but I was sure I could capture with my camera some really interesting and colourful moments of her.

I had no idea that this would be one of the most important decisions I ever took.

Nabu

   I arrived in Assam on a sweet February afternoon. The distance from Guwahati’s airport (capital of Assam) to Maa-Kamakhya temple is approximately 20km away and my driver’s natural kindness made me feel relaxed and welcomed. Nabu’s smile, the golden hour light, the high temperature of the season and Assam’s clean environment (they say is the cleanest region in India) were exactly what I needed after several weeks in the overpopulated and polluted Varanasi or the cloudy, noisy and cosmopolitan Gangtok in Sikkim. I met up with Zeffi in front of the stairs that lead you to the main temple.

   

   As a woman devoted to Shakti (the female principle of Divine energy), Spiritual Teacher of many in Europe and USA, a modern Yogini of secret tantric paths and student herself of great gurus from Tibet and India, Zeffi is the epitome of the person you need around you when questioning about the Divine Energy and the deepest secrets of the universe. Dedicated the last years on the awaking and empowerment of the female energy on the planet, she is visiting the temple as often as possible. She was there already for one month together with her good friend Sophia living in the little town around the main temple. I found them both chatting with a local named Chandan for things I could hardly understand: Artis, Pujas, Darshans, strange name temples, secret Mantras, Tantric initiations and more. They were talking about specific dates for specific places, and routes and paths that very soon I would also follow …

   

Chandan and his wife

   Zeffi knew Chandan from her previous trips in the area. He is not only a Priest in the main temple (which makes him a very respectful person) but also a good friend and a spiritual guide for all matters around Maa-Kamakhya. Around his thirties, tall with white skin, kind and smiley by nature, he is married to a lovely woman and happy father of a young boy. From the first day I arrived, we became good friends. During this trip with Chandan, beside his spiritual teachings and showing me how to tie my Dothi (the famous Indian men’s lower body cover), we shared many unforgettable moments. On that same evening, it was his son’s birthday. So I met for the first time all of his family. 

   It is one of the oldest in the area. From father to son all the male members in the family are growing up to become one thing: Priests to the Goddess. Their strong connection with the Temple goes back for more than 13 generations. Chandan and his brother Biju – just like their father and their grandfather before them - are dedicated to serve the Goddess and the thousands of pilgrims arriving to Maa-Kamakhya every day from all over India and the other countries around.

                                           
   

On the Hill

   From the next day I started following Zeffi everywhere. There was a program we had to follow. The day started always with meditation and personal prays, for everyone. Then some vegetarian breakfast and delicious Indian tea and just before visiting the temples, some shopping for all the necessary: flowers, candles, essences, oils, milk, red kumkum and more. (Kumkum is that famous dust the Hindus use in their ceremonies and there is in many different colours. You can see it mostly in their foreheads after visiting a temple).

   Like in most religions, in all sacred places in India you need to remove your shoes. On Nilanchal hill (where the Maa-Kamakhya temple is) there are ten more temples dedicated to the ten Mahavidyas (the Goddess’s 10 aspects). Following Zeffi around the hill, I could easily understand that for the next 10 days I had to forget everything about my shoes. Soon I discovered that it was a very liberating experience. And just because my shorts were not so appropriate for such a sacred place I bought a red dhoti. As I previously said, Chandan showed me how to tie it and believe me it is not so easy.

   Depending on ancient beliefs and assumptions each day is dedicated to a different temple. For example as we know Saturday is the day of Saturn. In Assam, the aspect of Goddess Kali represents Saturn. On that day, priests and pilgrims are gathering for Pujas (sacred ceremonies) in her temple. On Tuesday, which is connected with Mars, the temple of Devi-Bagalamukhi has its priority in everything. In Assam, the powerful Goddess Devi represents the Greek-Roman God of war. And this is more or less how it goes during all week.

Kali's Temple

   

   There are many visitors who stay in Maa-Kamakhya only for a few hours or one-two days. In that case the pilgrim has to visit the maximum number of temples he can. And that’s why you see everyday - no matter what day it is - a huge interaction between pilgrims, priests and temples on the hill. Especially for the main temple, an amazing legendary building in the middle of the hill, the lines are going on for hundreds of meters and the minimum time you need to arrive in the main altar is never less than two hours. I really wonder how things are here on June where Maa-Kamakhya celebrates the biggest event of all: The Ambubachi-Mela (the Goddess’s menstruation). During summer the temperature in Assam exceeds the 38 degrees and the visitors in 2018’s celebration were 12,5 million people!

   
   

   There is only one word can describe my first impression of the place: Red! 

In Maa-Kamakhya everything is red: clothes, saris, dhotis, feet, hands, foreheads, hair, flowers, streets, buildings, even the birds and the animals. “Of course” Zeffi said. “The Goddess is red”. And she explained: “As I told you before, in yoga and in Ayurveda we name Chakras the wheels of energy throughout our body. There are 7 main ones and each one has a different colour. Specific organs are connected to specific chakras - usually the organs of the area but not only. In the lowest part of our spine and in that place between our yoni (or Lingam for men) and anus there is the root-chakra. It is called Muladhara. Its colour is red. The organs of the area are connected with it. Since the temple is built on the spot where Sati’s yoni fell, you can easily understand why the energy here is red. Also as a place dedicated to a Goddess’s yoni, the colour of her menstruation colours everything around. We have the honour to be in a very sacred, very archaic and very powerful place”.

Arti Time

   Talking about blood and ancient beliefs, it would be nice to mention here the sacrifices taking place in Maa-Kamakhya. From the moment I arrived, I noticed the lines of the little male goats tied around the main temple. I thought they were there for their blessing. Unfortunately, it is in the tradition of the area to offer a sacrifice “for the good” to the Goddess. There is a special part in the main temple where during the day young male goats (and some other animals that look like cows) get sacrificed. Around that part, there is everywhere waters mixed with blood. Priests specialised on this ceremony are giving services all day long.

   Many days after and while offering a private puja made by Chandan’s brother for me in the altar of the main temple, in front of me and during all procedures, between many flowers and other offers I had the heads of two baby, black coloured goats freshly cut some hour ago for some pilgrims before me. Their blood was still running from their necks...

   Two weeks ago I was in Varanasi where everything was yellow and orange. I saw the crowd getting “crazy” in Shivaratri’s night and one other evening somebody was really aggressive to me. I saw dead people getting burned in front of my eyes in Manikarnika Ghat and I saw Agoris covering their body with dead people's ashes. Also I saw so much poverty and sickness, especially in the suburbs… But this here was going too far: Blood, sacrifices, powerful energies, secret ceremonies, first chakra… Somebody even told me about leopards appear in the town in the evening… I started feeling anxious and uncomfortable. Suddenly the place looked really wild... I couldn’t stop thinking that under these circumstances turning all my attention on my first chakra I would agreed to wake up demons from the past that one day I locked in a dungeon deep inside of me and I threw the key far away. I got scared. I looked around me and there, in front of me, I saw Zeffi and Chandan walking peacefully like Jesus and Maria Magdalene talking for spiritual matters as always. I remembered that I was not alone. A priest and a priestess to the Goddess were my companions in this journey and they wouldn’t leave me alone. Besides, I was in one of the most sacred places in the world and I was surely protected. I raised my camera, I took a shot, I inhaled a deep breath and I kept following.

Zeffi with Chandan

Pujas

   

   All the temples in Maa-kamakhya have certain similarities. Some of them are built inside or next to huge red rocks. They say they are there for thousands of years and I remember I was trying to visualize how the hill looked like at the old times. Chandan showed me a photo of the area from the beginnings of last century. I wish I could travel on time...

   Usually each temple has its own yard. After some stairs and before you enter in the temple you take off your shoes. Here you need to wash your feet and your hands. Then, there are some more stairs and soon an entrance to the vestibule. In that little room often you will see a small secondary altar. Usually is dedicated to Gannesha, the sweet elephant-faced God or to Hanuman, the monkey-faced God. Then you enter the main room where thousands of essences and burning candles are giving an extraordinary fragrance and ambience in the air. Here, the floor is often sticky and dirty from oils and red kumkum (...so that’s why the famous red feet of Maa-Kamakhya’s citizens).

   Sometimes here in front of you there is the main altar of the Goddess you visit. But in other occasions, and then it is a really nice surprise, you will see at the end of the room a small hall, so small that each time only one person can pass that guides you to a small dark place where the Goddess is protected. In that dark, small, humid, often deep in the ground place, if you are a believer you will have a transit to the energy…

 "...In the beginning you can hardly see anything. The only light here is coming from 1-2 candles burning next to the altar. If it is the day of the temple, there is a priest here blessing everyone, one by one. Sophia and me had Zeffi to do that for us. You kneel, you light your candle and your essences and you throw the flowers and the holy red dust on the altar. Then you try to catch the water passing underneath and bring at least some drops on your head. You repeat what the priest chants, you leave some rupees for the good and slowly by going backwards you come out. Taking photos here is not allowed.

   It is an amazing experience. I was craving for this moment in every visit. The deepest the sacred room was, the biggest were my emotions. In one temple, I needed to step down in the dark, one by one, ten super narrow and slippery stairs. I was just following the candlelight and I was trying to hold myself standing by touching with my fingertips the wet, rough and dark rocky walls. 
   The idea that I was in a place that millions of people before me were doing the same, was giving me goosebumps almost in every step. My mind lost the meaning of time, I became a time traveler and pictures of ancient, deeply emotional people with trembling hearts and tears in their eyes, started falling in front of me. I saw them exactly like me trying to stand in the dark, fight their fears and offer whatever they had. I saw kings, priests, warriors and simple poor fathers and mothers standing alone and pray to the Goddess to keep their beloved ones safe. I could hear them asking the Divide Energy to heal their wounds or to have a better Karma in their next life. Once again, like many times in my meditations, I felt connected with all humanity..."

Tantra

   In all those temples Zeffi was busy everyday by offering her pujas. Several people from all around the world, from different religions, ages and sex, had asked her to do the ceremony and say some prays for their own good or their beloveds. Devoted to her mission and with great discipline, even the most difficult days (the ones she was working on her personal spiritual growth) she was following tireless the procedure. There and when the distance from one place to the other was allowing me to ask her some questions, we were talking about Tantra:

   “...Wrongly in western world Tantra is connected with sex” Zeffi said. “It is an approach that misrepresents the real meaning. Our Yoni is not only a sex organ. It is the organ that we give birth to the world. In India, the Yoni represents the Universe and truly it is the organ with the most powerful life-forcing Energy on this planet. Unfortunately today, people use it only for sex. And even worst, the majority of Men on the planet, for thousands of years now, they have condemned it in complete obscurity. Why..?Because is Powerful. 

   Imagine now if you could learn somehow to use that Energy for your own Enlightenment. In yoga we know that the source of this Energy is located at the base of our spine. It is called Kundalini. As a knowledge forgotten (or secret for many) for thousands of years, nowadays more and more people learn how to activate it. With deep meditation and secret, high tantric techniques, we come closer to that source. It takes many years of practicing and having a teacher in this procedure is essential. It is not possible to achieve this knowledge in a “three days course”, by watching a video or by reading a book… Real Tantra takes years of practicing and as I said has nothing to do with sex”. 

   
   

   And she continued: “We already talked about the Red colour you see everywhere around you. We said that represents the root chakra, the blood of menstruation and the fire that activates the energy inside of us. By wearing Red in Maa-Kamakhya, the Priests activate that energy in every aspect of everyone's life. As a visitor here, no matter if you are a priest or a pilgrim, a Hindu or a Christian, a man or a woman, that Red colour reminds you of the activation you agreed to participate. And by activating the energy, you become the God and the Goddess inside of you”.

  

Finally, Zeffi talked to me about Shiva and his role in all of this. “You asked me yesterday why there is a Shiva temple on a hill that is dedicated to the Goddess and all her aspects. You asked me the same question the other day when we visited that Shiva temple in the island inside the river Brahmaputra. In Indian tradition, wherever there is a Goddess there is always a God to love her, to protect her and to bring the most wanted balance to her. If you noticed, that temple in Brahmaputra looks towards the hill. His role is to remind her “I will always be here for you”. Female Energy is powerful but without her other equal, the male Energy, is standing unbalanced and alone in a world full of opposite forces. You always need a lingam to activate the fire inside a yoni. The two parts complete the Divine Union and like this they bring balance in the Universe. And just because inside every human being, there are these two parts asking always for balance, this is what we believe in Tantra:

   Bring in balance the man and the woman inside of you and achieve the Enlightenment you search...”

Leaving Shiva's Temple in Brahmaputra river

Holi Celebrations

   

   The days passed quickly. It was a brand new world for me far enough from everything I knew or I had heard. Here, the doors of the temples were opening for us out of nowhere. People we hardly knew were offering us presents, services or just tea and cookies. Strange “coincidences” and lovely confirmations of who we were and what we were doing were surprising me all the time. Families and priests from Nepal, the south of India or Varanasi became our friends without even trying. Zeffi was happy and I came so much closer to her, discovering how deeply focused she is in her mission and how funny she can be as a person. Chandan was making everything perfect all the time. We became part of his family. With him just in two weeks we had all: celebration of his marriage anniversary, his uncle’s funeral, his son’s birthdays, shopping in Guwahati, excursions to Brahmaputra river, finding the best momos in town, dinners almost every night and the funniest of all chewing together paan-masala (the famous and strange chewing thing made by betel leafs and areca nut) and laughing like crazy with my face-expressions because of the taste!

Chandan's uncle funeral

    

   I was supposed to leave Maa-Kamakhya on Wednesday 28^th of February. Before I fly back to Brussels on the 4^th of March, the plan was to stay a couple of days in Dirdavan (city in the south of New Delhi) and celebrate the most famous Holi in India. But I couldn’t. Actually I didn’t want to. All these incredible discoveries and experiences had stolen my heart. I changed my ticket, I even lost money on that but I didn’t care. I stayed to celebrate Holi with my new friends in a way that only a Goddess knows how to: Red.

A winning Photo Award Picture

The End

    Kunal is the 25 years old son of the Guru that gave the last initiation of Tantra to Zeffi some days before I arrived in Maa-Kamakhya. As long as I was there, he was part of our close friends group. He, like Chandan, was supposed to follow the tradition that wants all the male members of the family continue what the father does already: become a priest of the Goddess in the temples of the hill. However, Kunal is a Cricket player and he plays already in Assam’s regional team. His dream is to play in the National championship and why not see himself playing for England, Australia or New Zealand. When I heard it, I asked him if I could take some photos of him and his fellas practicing Cricket. He said yes and finally one afternoon he took me with his motorbike to drive me to Guwahati. 

Kunal

   He had traveled already a lot and he was always dressed with a very cool style that had nothing to be jealous of his age men in USA or Europe. On the way to the stadium, I asked him if he, as a young man, full of energy, interests and dreams, would like to live somewhere else around the world and where. 

His reply surprised me a lot: 

   “I had the chance to be born in a place that is blessed from God. Many people would love to have that chance. Yes, I want to travel more but I will always return here. Maa-Kamakhya is my Home"