Perched atop the Nilachal Hill in Guwahati, Assam resides the Maa Kamakhya Devi Temple, one of the most famous temples in India. It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Peethas in the Indian subcontinent. The temple does not have a sculpture to worship, however, what it does have is the yoni or vagina of Devi Sati, the wife of Lord Shiva, covered with a red silk sari.
Every year during monsoon, the goddess menstruates, and the temple is closed down for three days. It is also when the Tantric fertility festival or Ambubachi Mela is celebrated here, till the fourth day when the temple reopens. It is also said that the underground spring that flows in the sanctum of the temple turns red on these three days. Devotees are offered a piece of the red cloth used to cover the stone yoni during the days of menstruation as ‘prasad’.