Some selected sculpted images of Chamunda found in Assam : A glimpse into their iconographic features

Chamunda is none other than Kali/ Chandika/ Durga who came to known as such after crushing and slaying the powerful demons Chanda and Munda. This is according to the Devi Mahatmyam [ 7. 27 ]. She is none other than Durga/ Chandika herself and she is the destructive energy of Sakti/ Devi. The text Amsumadbhedagama describes the form of Chamunda as having four hands, having a fearsome appearance and having the colour of her body as red. She is said to have three eyes and have abundant, thick hair that bristles upwards. She is said to carry in her one hand a Kapala (skull), in other hand a Shula while her other two hands are posed respectively in Abhaya and Varada. She is further described to wear a garland of skulls in the manner of a Yajnopavita and is seated upon a Padmasana or lotus seat. Draped in a garment of tiger skin, her abode is described to be under a fig tree. The Vishnudharmottara describes Camunda to be seated on a corpse or a dead body of a human being. She is said to have a terrific face having protruding powerful tusks. Her body is described to be emaciated and she has sunken eyes. She is said to have ten hands and a thin belly. According to the description in the Matsya Purana [ CCLXI. 33- 37 ], Chamunda appears in three aspects or forms namely- Jogeshvari, Chamunda and Kali. Jogeshvari is said to have (or to be made/ sculpted/ crafted as having ) a long tongue and long hair adorned with pieces of bones. She is said to have ferocious teeth, a slender waist and wearing a garland of skulls and heads covered with flesh and blood. Her figure is endowed with two hands, out of which the left one is described to be holding a head soaked in a fatty liquid whereas the right hand is said to carry a Shakti or a spear/ javelin. Her mount or vehicle is described to be either a crow or a vulture. She is said to have a scanty stomach, a lean body and a ferocious appearance. In the form or aspect of Chamunda, the goddess is said to carry a bell in one of her hands and wear a tiger skin as her garment. In her Kali or Kalika form, she is said to be holding a skull in one of her hands , naked, adorned with red flowers and riding an ass or a donkey.

As hinted out in the Chandika Stotram of the Markandeya Purana , Chamunda only is Chandika and all the seven Matrika-s are nothing but different forms of her. In the ritual practice of worshipping nine different medicinal plants or leaves collectively known as Navapatrika forming an intrinsic part of the annual worship of goddess Durga or Chandika, mainly in the eastern Indian traditions, Chamunda is invoked as residing in the Mankocu or Arum plant. The goddesses including Chamunda residing in each of the nine plants are worshipped as Nava Durga or the nine Murti-s or forms/ aspects of Durga. Durga or Uma herself is said to reside in the Turmeric plant. Again, in the rituals of Durga Puja in eastern Indian traditions, Durga has been worshipped as Chamunda or Candika during the auspicious hour of Sandhi Puja- the juncture period between the Asthami and Navami Tithis of Durga Puja. Sandhi Puja is said to be the most important part of the ritual of Durga Puja and it is believed that during this particular juncture period, Durga assumed the form of Chamunda or the fierce Chandika and vanquished the Asuras Chanda and Munda . There has been a tradition of offering 108 lamps during Sandhi Puja and it is said that goddess Durga in the form of Chamunda bestows upon her votaries every boon or merit if invoked with pure mind and either Pashu ( animal ) or Phala ( fruit ) Bali ( sacrificial offering ) during this juncture period. So, it can be said that in the Shakta traditions in eastern India, Chamunda has been conceived as the supreme Durga or Chandika who destroyed Mahisasura. Chamunda has been venerated as one of the presiding deities of the Kamakhya Pitha and in her Pranama Mantra she is invoked as Mahishaghni or the vanquisher of Mahisasura or the buffalo demon. The Pranama Mantra is as follows :

Mahishaghni Mahamaye Chamunde Munda Malini,

Ayurarogyam Vijayam Dehi Devi Namostute.

In the regional Sakta Hinduism of Assam, Chamunda is none other than Kali, Kechaikhaiti, Ugratara, Tara and Kamakhya. Chamunda is better known as Kali, Bar Kalika, Ugra Tara, Ai, Kechaikhaiti and Tara in the culture of the region. The Kalika Purana, too, points out the inseparability of Kali, Tara and Chamunda and says that Chamunda is none other than Tara who emanated from Ugratara or Ekajata who has been worshipped as Kechaikhati by the Kacharis ( Sutiyas ) and later, the Ahoms in eastern Assam. There are different folk mythical narratives prevalent in eastern Assam elaborating how the worship of Kechaikhaiti passed from the Sutiyas to the Ahoms. One of such narratives has been mentioned by Chetia ( 5-6 ). It narrates how king Siu K? Ph?, the founder of the Ahom kingdom/ dynasty encountered Kechaikhaiti in the form of a dark skinned, long haired woman busy stealing the fish stuck in the bamboo baits and consuming them at night. It is seen that in the folk, tribal and sylvan beliefs prevalent in certain pockets of Assam, any goddess portraying fearful dreaded morphological and iconographic features and bearing symbols of death, war, calamity and killing is identified as Kechaikhaiti or Kalika or even Ai- the goddess of smallpox and epidemics. The use of the name Chamunda is very rare. Even an image of Chamunda is not known or worshipped as Chamunda by the local people, instead she is worshipped and identified as Kechaikhaiti or Kalika/ Bar Kalika.

Sculptural Representations of Chamunda in Assam

In most of the sculptural representations or images of Chamunda found across Assam, the goddess is either shown as seated or standing. Images featuring Chamunda as dancing are not found in the sculptural art of Assam. The sculpted images of Chamunda belonging to the time period from 8^th to 12^th century CE, are, to a major extent similar to the Chamunda images sculpted in the contemporary Pala style of Bengal and Bihar, but there are certain characteristics or iconographic attributes that distinguish them from the images from Bengal and Bihar. In all the images of Chamunda found in Assam, she is either shown as having two, four or ten hands.

Chamunda was worshipped as an independent goddess and like Varahi and Narasimhi/ Pratyangira, had a flourishing tradition of worship and ritual practices centred around her as evident from the different sculpted images/ icons of her. Most of these icons or images of her different iconographic aspects like Charchika, Attahasa, Dantura etc. are found in eastern India, which also include Assam. In the following paragraphs, we will try to give a look into three images of Chamunda from found in Assam.

Two Stone Sculpted Images/ Icons of Chamunda from the Kedareshvara Temple at Nilachala in Guwahati

Two exquisite stone sculpted images with stone stelae featuring Chamunda, dating back to the 9^th- 12^th century CE are presently kept at the complex of the temple of Kedareshvara Shiva near the Kamakhya temple in Nilachala, Guwahati [ Figures 1 and 2]. In both the icons/ images, the goddess is portrayed four- handed and seated in Padmasana on a Preta/ Shava or corpse lying upon either a Padmapitha or lotus pedestal ( ? ). She is shown as bearing her characteristic terrific and dreadful appearance with sunken fiery eyes and an emaciated body with prominent ribs and nerves. In one of the images, the front hands of Chamunda are shown to be carrying a skull bowl or a bowl made of the Cranium of the human skull known as Kharpara, and a Trisula or trident ( damaged in one of the images ). The back hands are seen to be holding a severed human head and a Kartrika the design of which resembles a Gri Gug - an important ritual crescent shaped flaying knife used in the Tantric ceremonies of Tibetan Lamaism and Tantric Buddhism. The other image too, portrays her as holding a Kharpara in one of her front hands and a Kartrika and a severed human head in her back hands. the object held in her other front hand is damaged. It may be identified either as a Trisula or a Khatvanga. The goddess, in the two images, is shown as having matted hair tied to a bun or chignon bound by a garland of skulls or heads and snakes. The coiffure portrayed in these two images is said to be a very unique one in the context of the imagery of Camunda in the extant art of the Indian subcontinent.

The combination of attributes like the Kharpara and the Kartrika in two hands, and the snake like ornament adorning the hair bun of the goddess in the two images allow us to identify her more with Ugratara described in the Kalika Purana. Ugratara, according to the description in the Kalika Purana [ 79. 79b- 82 ], carries a Kartrika or flaying knife, Kharpara, a sword and a lotus, and her matted hair bun or braid is adorned with garlands of snakes. So, are these two images featuring Ugratara and not Camunda ?

As per Kalika Purana [ 61. 89a- 95 ], Chamunda is described to have emerged from the forehead of goddess Ugratara who is none but an aspect of Kamakhya. Here, she is addressed as Kali and also Tara. As Chamunda is said to have emerged from the forehead of Ugratara, it means that she is undoubtedly a part of the latter. She is not different from Ugratara. In the two images from the Kedareshvara temple, the artist might have tried to project the inseparability of Chamunda with Ugratara by portraying the attributes characteristic to Ugratara.

A Stone Relief Sculpted image of Chamunda featured on the Architecture of the Maghnowa Doul, Lakhimpur

In a niche or Devakoshta on the outer wall of the Garbhagriha of the Maghnowa Doul at Padmapur in Lakhimpur in eastern Assam, built under the patronage of the Ahom dynasty around 17^th to 18^th century CE, a stone relief sculpted image of Chamunda is depicted as having four hands and riding a vulture.

Her right hands are seen holding a bowl and a sword or Khadga. Her lower left hand is shown holding a severed human head. The object held in the upper left hand is not clear. She is shown as wearing garlands or wreaths of human heads and her exceptionally long tongue is portrayed as sticking out from her mouth. Its tip almost touches her chest. She may be wearing a crown made of human skulls, heads and bones. From the features like vulture as the mount of the goddess, the long tongue sticking out of her mouth, the severed human head held in one of her hands and the garlands of human heads adorning her neck and chest, we can say that somewhere her form in this image or icon had been made by the artisans inspired by that of Yogeshvari described in the Matsya Purana (discussed above). But, unlike Yogeshvari, she is shown holding a Khadga or a scimitar/sword and a bowl.

Siddhant Medhi

Siddhant Medhi is Lecturer of Fine Arts and Art Education, Barpeta B.T. College and Research Scholar, Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University. Views expressed are the author's own. He can be reached at [email protected]

Photo : Siddhant Medhi