Maha Ashtami is the eighth day of the waxing Moon in Ashvina and the height of Durga Puja, the largest public festival of Assam's towns. Guwahati alone has several hundred pandals, and the night of Ashtami is spent walking between them. At Kamakhya, the great Shakti Peetha on Nilachal hill, the puja lasts a full fortnight, from the ninth day of the dark half to the ninth of the bright.
The story
Kamakhya is where the yoni of Sati is said to have fallen. There is no image in the cave sanctum, only a cleft in the rock kept wet by a spring. Durga Puja here follows its own old rites, with the offering of animals.
The Ahom kings took up the worship of Durga in the seventeenth century, and the Devi Dol stands beside the Sivadol at Sivasagar.
How it is kept
- PushpanjaliThe morning offering of flowers.
- Sandhi PujaAt the meeting of Ashtami and Navami.
- Kumari PujaA young girl is worshipped as the goddess, at Kamakhya on each day of the puja.
- PandalsVisited through the night.
Why this date
Maha Ashtami is the Ashtami of the bright fortnight of Ashvina, on the day it is present at sunrise.
Maha Ashtami in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday | |
| 2027 | Thursday | |
| 2028 | Tuesday | |
| 2029 | Sunday | |
| 2030 | Friday | |
| 2031 | Thursday |
More Assamese festivals
9 OctoberMaha Navamiমহা নৱমী
10 OctoberBijoya Dashamiবিজয়া দশমী
19 OctoberKati Bihuকাতি বিহু
4 SeptemberGanesh Chaturthiগণেশ চতুৰ্থী
24 AugustJanmashtamiজন্মাষ্টমী
17 AugustRakhi Bandhanৰাখী বন্ধন
Where to see Maha Ashtami
In Assam
- Kamakhya Temple, GuwahatiAssamThe fortnight-long puja, called Pakhua Puja.
- GuwahatiAssamThe pandals of Latasil, Bishnupur and Pandu.
- Devi Dol, SivasagarAssamThe Ahom temple of the goddess.
- Ugratara Temple, GuwahatiAssamA Shakti shrine in the old city.
Across India
- KolkataWest BengalThe eighth day is the height of Bengal's Durga Puja.
- AgartalaTripuraThe Durgabari, with a puja begun by the kings.
- CuttackOdishaDurga against backdrops of silver filigree.