Dirgheswari Temple

History

State tourism publications group Dirgheswari with Ashwaklanta, Doul Govinda and other North Guwahati sites that preserve Ahom and earlier Kamarupa temple traditions along the river’s northern channel.

Stories

A brick temple raised by an Ahom king

The present Dirgheswari temple in North Guwahati was built under the Ahom king Siba Singha, who reigned from 1714 to 1744, with Tarun Duwarah Barphukan, the Ahom viceroy of Lower Assam, supervising the work. It is made of brick and stands on a rocky hill.

A rock inscription at the back entrance names the king and the viceroy and records the royal order for the building and for land grants to the temple. Whether an earlier Durga temple stood here is not known.

Markandeya's penance at Dirgheswari

Tradition says the sage Markandeya, counted among the immortals, came to this hill and performed long penance to the goddess Durga. She is said to have appeared before him and blessed him, and this is why the place became a seat of Durga worship.

A second belief links the hill to the story of Sati, whose body is said to have fallen in parts across the land after Shiva carried it in grief. Kamakhya on Nilachal is the best-known of these places, and local belief counts this area as sacred too.

A silver hat from a king's visit

According to the temple's recorded history, the Ahom king Rajeswar Singha visited Dirgheswari in 1756. He granted more land and people to look after the shrine. He also gave a silver japi, the traditional Assamese hat, which is still used to cover the main image of the goddess. The temple's biggest gathering today is the annual Durga Puja.

Good to know

Listed on assamtourism.gov.in/Temple.php and Guwahati festival guides

Shakti shrine on the Brahmaputra bank at Amingaon

North Guwahati circuit alongside Ashwaklanta and Doul Govinda

Getting there

Road access from Guwahati to North Guwahati (Amingaon). Nearest airport: LGBI Guwahati. Ferries and bridges link the south and north banks.