Umananda Temple – Peacock Island Guwahati Assam

Umananda is another name for lord Shiva and the temple of Umananda is situated in the peacock island on river Brahmaputra. The temple on the island is on a small hillock called Bhasmachala. As per the Mythology, Shiva resided here as Bhayananda. After imparting knowledge to his consort Parvathi, Shiva sat for Tapas, but was disturbed by Kamadeva. Angered by interruption, Shiva burnt Kamadeva into ashes. Hence this name Bhasmachala. The temple was built by the Ahom King Gadadhar Singha during the period 1681-1696. The original temple was devastated by an earthquake in 1897. But the temple was rebuilt by a rich local merchant. The lingam is slightly below and is known as Ardhinarishwara lingam as there is a figure of Ardahnarishwara carved on the lingam. The island can be reached from Northern bank by hiring a ferry independently or by steamers either from Sukreshwar ghat or Fancy bazar ghat.