The Nabagraha temple of Assam

The Nabagraha temple in Guwahati, Assam,  is an important  astrological and astronomical center in the Northeast of India.  It is situated on top of the Chitrasal hill in the south–eastern part of Guwahati. It is believed that the ancient name of Guwahati, Pragjyotishpur originated from this temple. The word Pragjyotishpur is derived from the Sanskrit words, ‘Prag’  ‘Jyotishi’  and ‘pur, meaning the ‘city of eastern astrology’ or ‘city of eastern light’. ‘Jyotish’ means the study of astrology.

Views of Guwahati from the Nabagraha temple

The Nabagraha temple  was built by  the Ahom King Rajeswar Singha, son of Rudra Singha or Sukhrungphaa in 1897 but much of the temple  broke down in the great earthquake of 1954.  However, the garba griha – the main sanctum sanctorum survived the quake.  It was rebuilt during  1975-78 and inaugurated on 27^th June, 1979.

A high flight of stairs  leads to the temple from the street.  Made of red burnt bricks with ancient inscriptions on them,  the temple is circular with a high domed roof. Due to this dome-shaped roof, the chanting of  mantras during a religious ritual resonates throughout the temple causing  a sensation that the mantras are coming from every corner of the temple.

The Navagrahas are the nine main celestial bodies which have deity status in Hinduism. These planets are believed to have significant influence on the lives of earthly living beings. According to legend the Navagrahas were born from the rage of Lord Shiva.

While most Nabagraha temples in India are dedicated to  a single diety, the Nabagraha temple of Assam contains representation of all the nine deities which constitute the nabagraha (‘naba’ means nine and ‘graha’ means planets).  The grahas are represented as Lingas – a linga is a symbol of divine generative energy, shaped like a column with a flat base.

 In earlier times,  the sun and the moon as well as the two lunar nodes were included   in the count of planets. So the nine planets in the Nabagraha are :

Surya, the  Sun,

Soma, the Moon.

Mangala, Mars.

Budha, Mercury.

Brihaspati, Jupiter, also called "Guru" the master of all graha.

Shukra, Venus.

Shani, Saturn.

Rahu, North Node/ascending node.

In the main sanctum sanctorum of the temple,  the  Nabagraha lingas of the nine planets are  arranged in a circle with Surya at the center.  Each graham is covered with different coloured cloth  in accordance with the requirements of the linga.  

The Nabagraha Lingas inside the temple

To the right side  of the main temple, idols of Lord Ganesha, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Laxmi devi are installed. On the outer wall of the temple, the Dasavatar (10 avatars) of Lord Vishnu are beautifully engraved.

A large number of monkeys throng the temple and one needs to be very careful with flowers and fruits brought for offering  at the temple. The priests however  take care of the monkeys, feeding  them when necessary.

A Priest feeding monkeys

A tank, known as the Silpukhuri, was excavated at some distance from the temple at the base of the Chitrasal hills to supply the temple and the devotees with continuous water.  But nowadays,  a number of houses and other buildings have come up between the temple and the tank and the Silpukhuri is no longer associated with the temple.

 Yagnas  for the grahas  are conducted at the temple by the devotees.  Yagnas are ritual offerings with a specific purpose. The purpose of the yagnas at the Nabagraha temple is to  smooth  out the effects of   Rahu, Ketu and Shani which can cause disturbances in life. Yagnas also increases the influence of benevolent planets like Jupiter and Venus. The yagnas are  believed to be particularly helpful for people who are suffering from some misfortune in life, either personal or professional. A devotee can offer yagnas or pujas to propitiate one  particular deity who is influencing his/her life at the moment or can  propitiate all the deities at the same time.

The annual Mahayagna at the Nabagraha temple begins on the Sankranti  of the Hindu months  of Magh-Phagun ( approximately the beginning of February) with a three day program. A  sacrificial fire pit is situated on the northern side of the main temple wherein offerings are performed on the first day, after obtaining fire from the sun by chanting various mantras.  Various offerings are made to the nine grahas every day – flowers, fruits, cow ghee mixed with paddy, mustard, sesame seed etc. On the last and final oblation of the mahayajna, the priest  makes the offering with the chanting of ten thousand  slokas. Thousands of devotees  visit the temple at this time.

The Nabagraha temple is a beautiful   structure representing  the architecture of the 18^th century of Assam. Although it is well-preserved, more needs to be done to preserve the burnt brick pieces, stones etc from the original temple  seen lying here and there. These may soon disappear if not taken care of. These materials as well as the stone plate (silalipi) fixed on the walls of the temple should be well preserved for the interest of future generations.