In pictures: Devotees pray at Kamakhya temple during the Ambubachi festival

SUMMARY

Kamakhya, one of the many traditions of Hinduism, celebrates the woman's power to give birth. The four-day Ambubachi festival marks Kamakhya's yearly menstrual cycle, and it brings hundreds of thousands of devotees to the temple in Gauhati.

By APJul 11, 2019 4:24:28 PM IST (Published)

Monika Deb Nath, 45, offers prayers before taking a dip in the temple pond at the Kamakhya temple during the Ambubachi festival in Gauhati, India. Monika, 45, and her husband have visited the Kamakhya temple four years in a row for the annual Ambubachi festival, praying for a miracle to heal their son from cerebral palsy, which has left him with almost no control over his own body. The temple is presided over by the goddess Kamakhya, the most important goddess of tantric worship, an esoteric form of Hinduism. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Devotees gather at the Kamakhya temple for the Ambubachi festival in Gauhati. The four-day Ambubachi festival is a celebration of Kamakhya's yearly menstrual cycle, and it brings hundreds of thousands of devotees to the temple. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

The temple doors are closed to devotees for the first three days of the festival, akin to the way menstruating women are often kept in seclusion in this region. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Devotees perform rituals beside idols of goddess Kamakhya during Ambubachi festival at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

The temple is presided over by the goddess Kamakhya, the most important goddess of tantric worship, an esoteric form of Hinduism.(AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A devotee dressed as goddess Kamakhya attends the Ambubachi festival at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Devotees perform rituals sitting on steps of the Kamakhya temple during the Ambubachi festival in Gauhati. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)