Potable water, parking, security: Madan Kamdev temple set to receive visitors on New Year’s Day
Madan Kamdev Temple, located near Baihata Chariali (AT Photo)
Baihata Chariali, Dec. 30: The Madan Kamdev Devalaya, an archaeological heritage site located on the Diwangiri hill near Baihata Chariali, popularly known as the 'Khajuraho of Northeast India' for its similarity with the erotic rock sculptures found at Khajuraho and Konark of South India, is all set to receive visitors, tourists, and devotees on the New Year's Day.
The management committee of the Devalaya has already cleaned the surroundings of the tourist spot along with adequate arrangement of potable drinking water, parking for visitors' vehicles, garbage disposal, etc. The secretary of the Devalaya committee Mukul Kumar Deka has informed that on New Year's Day, thousands of devotees and visitors will throng this historical place from dawn to dusk, and therefore three-tier security measures will also be arranged including police and para-military forces, NSS cadets from Pub Kamrup College and volunteers from the Devalaya management committee, local organizations and woman organizations.
In the last week of the year 2024, a good number of visitors and picnickers were seen visiting the archaeological site, most of whom were students, as a botanical garden, a cactus house and a bio-resource centre are also located here. Students from different educational institutes come here every year for their field studies, the secretary added.
Besides these, the Devalaya is an ancient holy place for the Hindus as the rock sculptures of Uma-Mahesh, Surya, Vishnu, Ganesh, etc., are also located in the Madan Kamdev Devalaya. The most unique feature of the sculptures of the Devalaya is that they depict various aspects of love, desires, and various scenes from daily life, mythology and romantic escapades for which the Madan Kamdev Devalaya is also known as the "Temple of Love' and thousands of unmarried boys and girls visit the Devalaya every year and worship the deities.
Another attraction of this picnic place is the 'Shiva Gahbor', a rock- cut cave which was connected by a tunnel to the 'Parvati Kotha' located near another historic temple of the area 'Goreswar' in ancient times.
- By Gautam Kumar Deka